New week, and sunshine, rather aptly, as we celebrate the arrival of April with cards from sets we know to have been issued within that month in decades past.
So far that tally stands at eighty-two, the oldest being Wills "Kings & Queens" - the short card, grey back version [which is in the newsletter, so you must scroll down to Tuesday, 27th June to see it]. That was issued in 1898. After that we have ten from the 1900s, twenty from the 1910s, twenty-three from the 1920s, and twenty-three from the 1930s, ending with Wills "Railway Equipment", dating from April 1939. We had nothing after that until a little group of them were supplied by a reader, including Saturday`s card. So if you can fill in any date gaps from the post Second World War period, please do.
As for the most prolific years, the winner was April 1928, with seven sets, narrowly beating 1913, with six. Though purists may put this the other way around, for 1913 had but one set that was issued twice in a different format, Wills "Historic Events", in the Australian printing, as either `Havelock` or `Specialities` [in newsletter, scroll down to Monday, 19th September] - whereas 1928 consisted of two versions of Drapkin`s Palmistry", in large and standard size, and three sets of "National Types of Beauty", a standard printing by Drapkin and standard and a large pair by Sarony.
You can see the full list at https://csgb.co.uk/research/blog/cartophilic-year.
And so to this week`s clue cards, which again had two clues each
Saturday the 4th of April saw us feature Hans Fredrik Jensen, who, despite the Bundesliga connection on this card, was actually born in Porvoo, Finland. He seems to have nothing to do with this month, but his card number on this set is 426, and April is the fourth month of 2026. Well done if you worked that out. The other clue was that this set was issued, but only in Germany, in April 2021. That made it the latest ever April card on our month date list to have a link to an illustration and write up.
On Sunday the 5th of April, our first clue was again a set which was issued in April, of 1914. The second clue was a bit more fiendish as the first win for this jockey. William "Bill" Dollery, came in his first race, on Easter Monday, April the 14th, 1884, at Chandler`s Ford, a racecourse long gone, but which once saw much action, and many thundering hooves. It was, also, convenient to the railway station, which has also changed its name, to Valley Park. Actually our man was lucky, for its first race took place in 1883 and its last in 1885 - which makes my "much action" rather an overstatement.
And closing us off, on Monday the 6th of April, was this spring scene, which was from another set issued in April, of 1930. And it also shows sights that are common in the countryside in that month. This was a pretty easy clue, sometimes they are. I did not associate the month with the arrival of the seagull, but apparently it begins their breeding season. That makes them noisier, and also more eager for food, plus, once the eggs are born, more protective of their personal space. As for spring lamb, I would much rather mine was allowed to gambol in the fields, and grow up to die of natural causes. Violets seem to be getting scarcer, and also flowering earlier, in March. Daffodils are also, at least in these parts, past it, but Narcissi are still about, as they bloom later. That is why a lot of gardeners mix both, so that the Narcissi follow on from the daffodils and you don`t really notice the subliminal change.
On which note, if anyone else would like to send us any information or scans from their collection which relates in any way to our theme of the week, please do - simply email us at webmaster@card-world.co.uk - and this is the same for any corrections, or for general cartophilic correspondence and chat.