Here we have a newspaper as background, but also as subject, of a sort, as the title is "Another Newspaper Stunt".
Actually, though, there are two newspapers named on this card, if you look closely, the large newspaper to the right being "The Daily Telegraph" (which was founded on the 29th of June 1855, as the Daily Telegraph & Courier), and the wording on the sack being for "The News of the World" (which you may be surprised to learn pre-dates The Daily Telegraph, for it was founded on the first of October 1843).
Even the phrase "Newspaper Stunt" is nothing new, and was commonplace in the nineteenth century, often taking the form of a journalist writing a story as if they had been on the scene when they had not. And it was especially prevalent during and after the American Civil War.
This set is getting scarcer, and it is a mixture of domestic animals and wild ones. Some of the cards show the animals dressed, and one shows an elephant riding a bicycle, which are thankfully things which we no longer find acceptable, but there are a few of those cards, all featuring chimpanzees, which refer to sports, these being cricket (No.35, How`s That), football (No.40, "Playing to the Gallery"), and boxing (No.46, "Down and Out").
The set is almost certainly first recorded as a New Issue in the "Cigarette Card News", and I will try to find that before this goes to print. Its next appearance comes in our original Godfrey Phillips reference book, RB.13, published in 1949, where it is listed as :
- 111. "Our Favourites". Medium cards, size 60 x 53 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in black and white, varnished. Backs in black, no descriptive text. Issued 1935
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, this has been shortened to read :
- "OUR FAVOURITES". Md. Black and white. Nd. (48) ... P50-118
And this remains the same in the updated version, save a new card code, of P521-464. In no reference does it mention something that I only saw when I laid out this card, and that is that on the horizontal format fronts, the back is actually sideways on. But this picture makes that clear.