Card of the Day - 2022-07-02

Here we have William Flint of Notts County, a “right half-back” and “for many years captain”.  The text also tells us that he “Has been long enough with his present club to earn two benefits” but does not say what they are. A free sandwich and a cup of coffee at half time perhaps? (You can tell from this that I am but a very simple soul). And it says he “Is not very big – he only stands 5 ft 6½ ins”, though that is taller than I. 

His full name was William Arthur Flint and he played for Notts County, though he was also a first-class cricketer, playing for Nottinghamshire; and his brother was also a cricketer. You can read more about that at the Trent Bridge website  but I am not sure if he, or his brother, appear on any cricketing cards – if you know do tell us 

Our Trade Indexes seem to vary with info. The size is given as 76 x 51 m/m in our most modern British Trade Index, whilst our original British Trade Index part one puts medium size in the listing, though it gives the same dimensions in the header.

Then there seems to be a difference of opinion as to the colour of their printing, the original part one calling it brown and the modern version black. Having looked at a few cards now I think we could probably say that the cards vary along the brown/black spectrum.

However the most interesting difference is that in the original part one of our British Trade Index it says there were twenty two in the set and they were dated from the 23rd of January 1926 to the 3rd of April 1926. And our card is dated at the bottom 20-2-26. However in the modern version of our trade index the quantity is given as 24 cards, and it says they were issued one card a week from 25-9-26 until 11-12-26. 

We have had a bit of correspondence on this already, including being shown card number one, which turns out to be Frank Hudspeth of Newcastle United, given with “Triumph” on the 23rd of January 1926. This supports the vintage trade index, not the modern. Likewise card twenty two, which has also been shown, that being Arthur Grimsdell of Tottenham Hotspur, given with “Champion” on the 3rd of April 1926. So why is there a different date in the more recent volume?

The above information also tells another story, as if you look at a whole set of cards you will see some of them say “given with “Champion” and others  “given with Triumph”.

What actually happened was that a different card was given in each of these magazines, making two cards a week. This was a good marketing strategy as the collector had to buy both magazines to get a full set. 

By the way six cards of William Flint are listed at the trading card database

but there are more – including Godfrey Phillips Pinnace brand “Footballers” (1922) card 47, and Clarnico "Footballers" (also 1922). We can add any more you find.