Here we have a very unusual calendar indeed. It is branded for "Ringer`s Cigarettes", but if you look in our original World Tobacco Issues Index under that name it re-directs you to Edwards, Ringer and Bigg. And once there, your initial delight at seeing "Calendars" listed under section 2.D, soon fades, as there is no calendar for our year, 1900, the listing there simply reads :
- CALENDARS. (A). Sm. Calendar in red. See X1/Ha.492-6. Single card issues : ... E14-51
1. Calendar for 1905. Back in brown,, "Exmoor Hunt" wording
2. Calendar for 1910. Back (a) in blue. "Empire" wording (b) in red, "New York" wording.
Even looking at X1/Ha.492-6 does not turn up what may be a later version of our card, for the backs shown are completely different.
There seems to be a glimmer of hope in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, for there you will find three calendars, namely :
- CALENDAR FOR 1899 (A) Sm. 67 x 39. Red and black. Back with lighting-up table, etc. Unnd. (1) "Ringer`s Cigarettes" Brand issue ... E265-910
- CALENDARS (A). Sm. Calendar in red. See H.492-6. Single card issues : ... E265-920
1. Calendar for 1905. Back in brown,, "Exmoor Hunt" wording
2. Calendar for 1910. Back (a) in blue. "Empire" wording (b) in red, "New York" wording.
Yet, sadly, once more, none of these are ours, which is but a simple date calendar, not a Lighting-up times one.
We have, however, identified the set which includes the beauty on the front, for she also appears in a set which has come to be known as "Beauties FECKSA". That is an acronym made of some of the issuers, namely Faulkner, Edwards Ringer & Bigg, Churchman, Kennedy, Shepherd, and in an Anonymous form. Today we know that these cards were also issued by Glass, the Planter`s Stores in Calcutta, and The B.C. Co. - and that there are actually fifty cards in one of the anonymous printings. plus a coloured version (issued anonymously), and a titled one, The B.C. Co. version, which is also printed up as "Wonderful Series of Well Known British and Foreign Actresses and Beauties". And from that set we even know the name of this lady; she is Lise Requier. Tracking her down seems impossible, though I will persevere.
Now if you return to the original World Tobacco Issues Index, and look at the listing for that set under Edwards Ringer & Bigg, the truth is revealed, for our cards are there, listed as ;
- BEAUTIES "FECKSA" (A). Sm. 67 x 36. Deep plum. Unnd. (25). 1900 Calendar back - "Ringer`s Cigarettes" brand issue. See H.58 ... E14-1.
And this wording is repeated in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, apart from a new card code, of E265-010