If you look online you will be told that the earliest Donkey Derby was at the 1928 Kingsbridge Show in Devon, but that cannot be right as our set was issued the year before.
The interesting thing about our card comes near the end, where it says "Donkeys as a class can hardly be described as keen racers, but some of them possess the proper spirit of emulation. Such an one was recently brought all the way from Ireland to win a race near London and, piloted by the younger Donoghue, duly did it."
That "younger Donoghue" was Steve Donaghue`s brother, George, who died in 1926, aged thirty-seven.
However Steve Donoghue has a huge connection with donkey derbies, and not just as a rider, for during the 1920s and 1930s he actually organised them too, to raise money for charities, especially St. Dunstan`s. Mind you I have yet to find out his connection to St. Dunstan`s, which is a charity for blinded ex-service personnel. What he did was arrange for a squadron of donkeys to be brought to a fete, and then make his fellow jockeys turn up and ride them. Of course there was much fun in seeing these champion jockeys struggle to make the wilful donkey even move off the starting line. He also made sure that the newsreel cameras were there to capture the races, and you can still see several of them online at Pathe News.
The set is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index under Carreras section 2.B - "TURF CIGARETTES" ISSUES. 1925-27. Inscribed "Made by a Branch of Carreras ...". Issued through the Boguslavsky branch. Except for Set C-18-23 [Races - Historic and Modern] all cards are very highly glazed on fronts." It is described as :
- RACES - HISTORIC & MODERN. Nd. ... C18-23
A. Small. (25)
B. Large. (25)
C. Cabinet Size (12)
As for the entry in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, that is identical, save a new card code, of C151-170
The sizes are given in both volumes as "Small size 67-68 x 35-37 m/m., medium 67-70 x 60, cabinet size 133-135 x 69-71 m/m., unless stated".
What none of these books tell you is the identity of the artist, but I can now divulge that it was William Hounsom Byles, a Londoner, who was born in 1872. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1894, and was made a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1901. During the First World War he joined The Artist`s Rifles, and 1916 was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps.
Click on the images below to view and purchase our paintings by William Hounsom-Byles…
As for the cards in this large size, they are as follows
- Flat Racing (Horse) (100 years ago)
- Flat Racing (Horse) (modern)
- Steeple-chasing
- Hurdle Races
- Point-to-Point Races
- Pony Races
- Donkey Derby
- Bending Races
- Trotting and Pacing Races
- Mexican Horse Races
- Hungarian Horse Races
- Races in Paraguay
- Flat Racing on Ice
- Riderless Horse Races in Italy
- Ski-Joring
- Cossack Horse Races
- Trottting Races on Ice
- Russian Sleigh Races
- Roman Chariot Races
- Steeple-Chases for Allied Officers
- Canadian Dogsleigh Races
- Camel Races
- The First Steeple-Chase on Record
- Greek Horse Races
- Gondola Races