This is a new issuer for us, so I am most grateful to the reader who supplied it.
You may not realise this, but India has a long connection with smoking - it was almost certainly their first true industry, and today they are the second largest producer in the world..
As for historical references, smoking is mentioned in the Atharveda, for medicinal purposes, and that was written about 1200 B.C. However tobacco was only brought to India in the seventeenth century - before that they smoked cannabis.
The Star Tobacco Co., of Bombay, India was established in 1888 , but did not start to issue cards until 1895-1905. It issued lots of cards of what we call "Beauties" and two sets of cards with playing cards inset, like ours, the other one showing heroes of the Transvaal War.
I have to say that its star is remarkably similar to the logo used on the back of W.D & H.O, Wills` "Star Cigarettes", and maybe that is why their issuing was curtailed.
Our set is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
- INDIAN NATIVE CHARACTERS. (A). Sm. 62 x 36. Front 2, with playing card inset. Back 4. (52).. Illustrated in "N. & N.", Vol.7, No.4 ... S114-3
The text in our updated version is a little different as it deletes the reference to "N. & N." - it just reads :
- INDIAN NATIVE CHARACTERS. (A). Sm. 62 x 36. Front 2, with playing card inset. Back 4. (52). ... S762-400
Both these have photos, and I will see which scans best. The reference to "N. & N." is not much help to me finding the original photo, as that refers not to our "Notes and News" but to the "Cameric Notes and News", and my copies do not go up that far yet...