Our second November set was chosen because it will allow us to explore this set and all its various versions.
it is also it is a lovely set, and even better in this larger format than the standard sized one which is more readily available, and which we featured in our newsletter for the 13th of August, 2022, as the diary date for Thursday the 18th of August. This is the larger version, variously described as medium or large.
It first appears in our original reference book RB.16, "The Cigarette Card Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills Parts I, II, and III (revised) and Part IV", published in 1950. That entry reveals it to be a much more complex issue that we could fit into a newsletter, so I have been waiting to use one as a Card of the Day ever since. It reads :
- 196. 26. ETCHINGS (of dogs). Fronts printed by gravure in black and white. Backs in black. Nos. 12, 13, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 25 are vertical, other numbers in horizontal format. Export issue, between 1925-30.
- GENERAL OVERSEAS ISSUES
A. Small cards, size 69 x 37 m/m. Wills` name at base of back
B. Medium cards, size 78 x 54 m/m. Wills` name at base of back. A and B are known to have been issued in New Zealand, and were probably also issued elsewhere
C. Small cards, size 69 x 37 m/m. "Gold Flake Cigarettes" above Wills` name at base of back
D. Small cards, size 69 x 37 m/m. Anonymous issue
- DUTCH LANGUAGE ISSUES - entitled "Een Serie Van 26 Plaatjes". Small cards, size 69 x 37 m/m. Backs in Dutch, Wills` name at base.
E. With framelines to back, numbered top right.
F. Without framelines to back, numbered top left. Cards of this printing have been seen with back in dark brown.
This listing is updated in RB.19, "The Cigarette Card Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills Parts I to IV (revised) and Part V", published in 1951, to add :
- 196. ETCHINGS (of dogs) - see page 139.
This series is known in the B.A.T. records as "Kirmse Dogs". Series A and B were issued in November 1925, series D in October 1927.
This single word is the key to a lot more informations, for it allows us to discover Marguerite Louisa Kirmse, born in Bournemouth, on the 14th of December, 1885 to a German father and a Swiss mother. They ran a private school, and taught both her and her slightly older sister, Elizabeth Persis Esperance Kirmse. Both became very talented artists, specialising in animal subjects, mostly dogs. However, Marguerite Kirmse went to the Royal Academy of Music, did not seem to enjoy it and was regularly upbraided for drawing rather than studying. Then, in 1910, aged twenty-five, she went on holiday to America - and did not come back. In 1921 she started etching, using a strong acid to cut deep lines in metal, which are then filled with ink and printed. She started with dogs, and it became her speciality, giving her an income from her work and leading her to find a husband, George C. Cole, who ran a kennels in Connecticut. She died on the twelfth of December 1954.
Returning to our sets, they next appear in our reference book RB.16, devoted to the issues of the British American Tobacco Company, and that adds another issuer. That text reads :
- 200-196. ETCHINGS (of dogs). The recording in W/196 is summarised and ameded below.
A . Wills` Overseas Issue
1. Small cards
2. Medium cards
B. Wills` Gold Flake Cigarettes issue. Small cards
C. Wills` overseas Issue, with Dutch language back. Small cards.
1. Back with frameline
2. Back without frameline
D. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back. Small cards.
E. Lambert & Butler overseas issue. Medium cards. Back inscribed "Trumpeter Smoking Tobacco - Lambert & Butler, England
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, though, these sets are all split up. The Wills sets at A., B., and C. above are now in section five of the Wills listing, as :
- ETCHINGS (of dogs). Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196 ... W62-445. .
A. Back with Wills` name at base, no brand quoted. Size (a) small (b) medium 80 x 54
B. Back with Wills` name and "Gold Flake Cigarettes". Small size.
You will find the Dutch issues under section 5.F, for "Dutch Language issues, issued in Dutch speaking areas, 1925-27" - as "ETCHINGS (of dogs). Sm. Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.C. (a) Back with framelines, in black (b) Back without framelines ... W62-514.
The set that was formerly "D" is now listed at the back of the book under "Anonymous Issues (1) - with letterpress on back", as "ETCHINGS (of dogs). Sm. Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.D ... ZB6-24". We also know these were issued through British American Tobacco.
As for "E", this does not appear in our original Lambert & Butler reference book RB.9 because that was only for home issues, not export ones. It does, however, appear in the original World Tobacco Issues Index, under Lamber & Butler section 3, for "English Language Issues. 1924-28. Chiefly in New Zealand". as : "ETCHINGS OF DOGS (A). Md. 80 x 54. Black and white. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.E ... L8-91".
Our updated World Tobacco Issues Index lists the Wills versions in section 6.B of the Wills listing, for "English Language issues 1923-30. Issued chiefly in New Zealand, some series in Malaya. Malta and elsewhere". It is recorded as :
- ETCHINGS (of dogs). Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196 ... W62-641 .
A. Back with Wills` name at base, no brand quoted. Size (a) small (b) medium 80 x 54
B. Back with Wills` name and "Gold Flake Cigarettes". Small size.
The Dutch issues are under section 6.F, for "Dutch Language issues, issued in Dutch speaking areas, 1925-27" - as "ETCHINGS (of dogs). Sm. Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.C. (a) Back with framelines, in black (b) Back without framelines, in (A) black (B) brown ... W675-727
The anonymous set that was formerly "D", remains at the back of the book under "Anonymous Issues (1) - with letterpress on back", as "ETCHINGS (of dogs). Sm. Black and white gravures. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.D ... ZB07-280".
There has been quite a change to the Lambert & Butler version though, and that is now listed as : "ETCHINGS OF DOGS (A). B & W. Nd. (26). See RB.21/200-196.E. Issued in Denmark. (A) Sm. 68 x 36. Back with "Viking Navy Cut Cigarettes" (B) Md. 80 x 54. Back with "Trumpeter Smoking Tobacco". Numbering different from above... L073-780"