The January connection to this card is that at this time of year, or at least at one time, we would have been phoning our friends relentlessly and wishing them a Happy New Year. Today we tend to do this online, and often without actually speaking. I am not sure if that is an improvement or not...
This is a set with a huge story, which all begins with our Card of the Day for the 27th of July, 2022 - which shows one of the cards from this set, but issued by, and branded for Ogden`s, and not only that, which had been issued as Ogden`s first series, five years earlier, in October 1912.
In fact all the Churchman cards were issued later than the original sets by Ogden, which started in January 1911 and went through to September 1914.
Reprinting this Ogden set that we feature today for Churchman in a new format was not so different, the back being more or less identical apart from the "Churchman" and "Ogden" wording, and it was also aided by the fact that this had been the first set issued by Ogden - who would start the first set with card one, but then run them continuously, one after the other, through five sets, starting from number one and ending with number two hundred and fifty. Churchman actually chose to stick to one format, and each of their three sets begins at card one and ends at card fifty. That is almost certainly because the printer used the same artwork for this set and all the subsequent ones, only needing to change the number of the series in the small banner.
Curiously, Churchman chose to issue their third series twice, once with a brown back and once with a blue back. Ogden also did this, but for all their "Boy Scouts" sets, in blue and green
The Churchman group is recorded first in our original reference book RB.10, which was devoted to Churchman issues, and issued in 1948. This is quite a detailed description that reads :
- 21. Jan. 1916. 50. BOY SCOUTS (titled series). Size 2 11/16" x 1 7/16" or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-50. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in brown, with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall. Also issued by Ogden (Boy Scouts, 3rd Series)
- 22. Aug. 1916. 50. BOY SCOUTS. Inscribed "2nd series". Other detail as (21) but different subjects. Also issued by Ogden (Boy Scouts, 2nd Series).
- 23. Oct. 1916. 50. BOY SCOUTS. Inscribed "3rd series of 50". Other detail as (21) but different subjects. Also issued by Ogden (Boy Scouts, 1st Series). Note : Cards 39/40 have backs transposed.
- 24. 50. BOY SCOUTS. Inscribed "3rd series of 50". Identical to (23) but backs in blue..
We know that the London Cigarette Card Company retailed them as follows in their 1950 catalogue -
- series 1, odds from 3/- to 8/-, complete sets at £17
- series 2, odds from 3/6 to 10/-, complete sets at £20
- series 3, brown back, odds from 3/6 to 10/-, but no complete sets
- series 3, blue back, odds from 12/6 to 35/-, but no complete sets
From our original Churchman reference book, they are moved to our original World Tobacco Issues Index, where the listing, much shortened, for the group is :
- BOY SCOUTS. Sm. See H.62 ... C82-14
1. "Series of 50". Back in brown. Nd. (50)
2. "2nd Series of 50". Back in brown. Nd. (50)
3. "3rd Series of 50". Nd. (50). Back in (A) brown (B) blue
This is repeated, exactly, in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, save a new card code, of C504-210