Our second clue is here simply because it is called "The Smiler Series", though I am not entirely sure that it is a smile, its more of a grimace, but perhaps that is because it must be hard to hold a cigarette in the corner of your mouth and smile at the same time !
This set was issued in two formats, and this is the larger version. If you want to compare it to the standard sized set, well we used that as our Card of the Day for the 4th of April, 2024. That smaller size is much more readily available than the larger ones and, curiously, it has the same image on the front, but only the wording "What`s The Joke? SEE OVER", whilst on the back is the a little wittiscism about the profession depicted. However on our larger card they have crammed the wording on the front beneath the picture, and then added a large image of a smiling man with the words "NUT FLAKE CIGARETTES" in his open mouth. I have no idea why they did this, for it is rather a strange use of the space - surely it would have been better to just make the picture larger on the front and the wording larger on the back ?
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists them as :
- THE "SMILER" SERIES. Caricatures, mouths inscribed "Nut Flake Cigarettes". ... S72-22
A. Small, 67-68 x 37. Back with series title, inscribed "This Series Consists of 24 cards." Nos. 1/12 only issued.
B. Large, 82 x 56, rounded corners. Backs with caricature of "Nut Flake" smoker only, no series title. Nd. (12)
The first thing I pick up from that entry is the fact that the back says it is inscribed "This Series Consists of 24 cards." Nos. 1/12 only issued". Indeed I have only found these twelve, in both sets, which are :
- The Officer
- The Diner
- The Angler
- The Cricketer
- The Irishman
- The Skipper
- The Lawyer
- The Scot
- The Temperance Orator
- The Old Gent
- The Witness
- The Street Urchin
As far as the other twelve, all I can think of is that there are two of each size, and that makes the twenty-four ? But if so you would have thought that fact would have been better explained - unless it was a deliberate deception to keep the collector hunting for those other twelve long after he had actually acquired a set.....?