Newsletter - 2021-10-08

Wrights Biscuits Ltd [trade : biscuits : UK - South Shields] "Mischief goes to Mars" - "Join The Mischief Club" (1955) 12/24 - WRI-200.B : WRJT-1.B : WRE-1.B

Now all this talk social media and e-mail is fine enough, but what about the postal service, especially as today, Saturday 9 October, will be World Post Day.

These days few people seem to post letters which is a great shame. And also strange, how quickly we forgot the postal service - after all, in 1955, when this card was issued, they still thought we would be posting letters, albeit by rocket mail, well into the future.  And be worrying about catching the last post !

As for a little background info, the Universal Postal Union was actually founded in Switzerland on 9 October 1874. And it was the 1969 UPU Congress in Tokyo which marked the event by making that day into World Post Day. 

The pillar box was first invented by the author Anthony Trollope, but they do not appear on cards quite as much as you may think. The set entitled "Royal Mail" has one,  or three if you count the versions by Wm. Clarke, Ogdens, and W.D. & H.O. Wills Australia -  and a Royal Mail Van and Post Box appear in J Millhoff`s "Things To Make" (1935). However, we had an email from Anthony Marks recently, who actually produces modern cards in standard size, and two of their sets are on postboxes, series 1 being of the free-standing pillar boxes and series 2 being the type which are inset into walls. These are very attractive sets, in colour, each of twenty cards.

Our set first appeared in our original British Trade Index part two, where it is described as :

MISCHIEF GOES TO MARS. Sm. 68 x 37. Nd. (24) ... WRE-1
   A. Base of back "Issued by Wright's Biscuits Ltd.."
   B. Base of back "Join the Mischief Club". 

You can see a card from the "A" printing as our Card of the Day for the 27th of  May 2022

By the time British Trade Index part three was issued in 1986 there was a change to this listing, and that reads : 

WRIGHT`S BISCUITS - WRE in II. This firm is out of alphabetical order. Renumber sets WRE-1 and WRE-2 as Sets WRJT-1 and WRJT-2.

WRJT-3 (Mischief Goes to Mars). Add (C) base of Back plain

W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Drum Horses" - "United Service" brand (1909) Un/32 - W675-528 : W62-382 : W/192.C : RB.16/192.C: RB.21/200-192.B 

A rather odd one, but today is National Hug A Drummer Day on October 10th. I don`t remember writing about drums before but there are many cartophilic links to these very impressive instruments, and not just cards, because American Tobacco had “Drum” Cigarettes, in which was issued one of the most famous baseball sets of all, T.206, and John Player had “Drumhead”. Not too far off the theme, a round tin of cigarettes or tobacco is also called a “drum”. 

You can also find cards which show the material which hung from the drum in John Player`s “Drum Banners & Cap Badges” (issued in 1924) and a Drum & Fife Band on card 22/30 of Stephen Mitchell`s "A Model Army” (1932).  A Side Drum appears in "Musical Instruments" issued by both W.A. & A.C. Churchman and Edwards, Ringer & Bigg", and this is a card that many military enthusiasts may be interested in as the drummer is in uniform; in fact there are a few military uniforms in this set.

More recently the drum has been a vital part of pop and rock music – check out bubble gum cards by Topps "The Beatles" (1964) for Ringo Starr #28 and A & BC "Rolling Stones" (1965) for Charlie Watts #17. to name but two. And ephemera collectors are well catered for by the advertising material which was issued by Drummer Dyes! 

Our set is most attractive, though oddly it took until our Wills reference book part IV (RB.16, issued in 1950) to be mentioned. In there it is catalogued as :

192. 32 Drum Horses (adopted title). Size 63 x 38 m/m. Unnumbered. Fronts lithographed in colour. Export issues, between 1905-10. 

"SCISSORS" ISSUES - Backs in red.
    A. Vertical format. With illustration of open "Scissors" packet. 
    B. Horizontal format. With illustration of closed "Scissors" packet and "Speial Army Quality" label
    C. "UNITED SERVICE" ISSUE. Backs in red, with illustration of open "United Service"packet. 

GENERAL OVERSEAS ISSUES - 
    D. Backs in green, star circle and leaves design (see Fig. 22, page 58)
    E. Plain backs, anonymous issue
       Nos. 3 and 6 are inscribed "Drum Horse". All others are inscribed "Drum Horse of the...."

Similar series issued by Player and with "Drum Major" Cigarettes in Canada. 

The cards, being unnumbered, are also listed, as :

The next time this set turns up is in our reference book to the issues of British American Tobacco, (RB.21, issued in 1952). This simply summarises the variations as  : 

200-192. DRUM HORSES. The recordings in W/192 and RB17/77 are summarised below. 

A. Wills` "Scissors" issued 
     1. Back in vertical format.
     2. Back in horizontal format
B. Wills` United Service Issue
C. Wills Overseas issue
D. Anonymous issue, with plain back. Burdick C.92
E. Player Overseas issue

The 32 subjects are listed in W/192

Now there are a few loose ends to be tied from these

We know that both the "Scissors" versions of this set, listed as "A" and "B" above were printed in Great Britain and exported to India, and that they were issued in August 1909. Whilst the General Overseas Issue with the green backs, listed as "D" above, were also printed in Great Britain and exported, and issued in October 1909. Our "United Service" version, listed as "C", which was issued in the Channel Islands, and the plain back ones at "E" must have been printed locally, and we also have no idea when they were issued. There is also a slight mistake above for surely "UNITED SERVICE" ISSUE ought to have been on a separate like as "SCISSORS" was, with section "C" below it. 

The similar series issued by John Player was issued with Player`s Navy Mixture in Malaya and Siam, and they too are unnumbered. I have a code on them though, of RB.17/77, which takes me to our original John Player reference book, RB.17, issued in 1950. This reads : 

77. DRUM HORSES (adopted title). Size 63 x 38 m/m. Fronts in colour. Backs in red inscribed "Smoke Player`s Navy Mixture - John Player & Sons, England". Unnumbered Series of 32. Overseas issue, September 1911. No`s 3 and 6 below are inscribed "Drum Horse". All others are inscribed "Drum Horse of the..." 

Similar series issued by Wills, and with anonymous plain backs 

These plain back ones are the ones with the Burdick C.92 reference, which is for the American Card Catalogue by Jefferson Burdick. He knew they were Canadian, hence the "C" code, but he puts them under the Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada, Montreal, , under section C, "Cards without name of set or issuer". He describes them as "C.92, Drum Horses (32) Br."  and values them at ten cents a card. He does not mention "Drum Major", which was a brand issued by Dominion Tobacco Co., also of Montreal - and this set does not appear in our original World Tobacco Issues Index. But it might under Imperial.

In our original World Tobacco Issues Index all these sets are separated. Ours appears under section 4.H "UNITED SERVICE CIGARETTES" Issued in the Channel Islands and areas where British Garrisons were stationed". Our set is described as :  

DRUM HORSES (A). Sm. 63 x 37. Unnd. (32). See W/192 and RB.21/200-192.B ... W62-382

The same text appears in our updated version of this volume but with a new code, of W675-528.

Nabisco Foods [trade : cereal : UK - Welwyn Garden City] "Footballers" (1970) 7/24

On the 11th of October 1937 Robert "Bobby" Charlton was born in Ashington, Northumberland. The back of this card tells us that "Bobby Charlton" are the best known words in the English language"  and looks forward to a time when "he`ll win his 100th England Cap". It is gratifying to be able to write that this prediction did come true, and in his playing and managing career he did win over 100 caps as well as taking part in that game of all games, the 1966 World Cup. 

According to the Trading Card Database/BobbyCharlton he appears on over three hundred cards starting with two sets issued in 1958 - Cadet Sweets "Footballers" and Master Vending "Cardmaster Football Tips", drawn by Paul Trevillion. I'm not sure which actually came first and it does not help that the Master Vending cards show hints and tips on the reverse, not biographical details. If you are a fan of these cards, do note that Paul Trevillion writes for “The Card Scene” magazine, and also maintains his own website at https://www.paultrevillion.com/

This set was issued with Shredded Wheat. 

Nestlé  & Kohler [trade : chocolate : O/S - Switzerland] "Les Merveilles du Monde" (1960) Serie 148 No.2

Today is “Finding Ada Day” - so let us investigate. And it is a very curious tale. "Ada" is often referred to as Ada Lovelace, though this is not her real name, she was born on December 10th 1815, as The Hon. Augusta Ada Byron, and yes she was the daughter of Lord Byron. Later on she became Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace.

She was also the first computer programmer, as during her work with Charles Babbage on his mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, she realised that the machine could do other things than just work with numbers and published the first ever “algorithm”.

As far as why this date was chosen, nobody seems to know. But you can read about her at 
https://findingada.com/about/who-was-ada/

Despite the fact that computers started so early, they did not feature on many cards. Churchman Modern Wonders shows a super calculating machine as 45/48 and Tom Thumb "Wonders of the Modern World" has computer graphics as card 30. You will also find many computers on trading cards of science fiction films, but some of those look rather dated now. 

This set was part of a huge issue in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Our volume, six, covered twenty-one series, which each had ten cards - two of which were larger than the other eight. The series here are : 

• Series No. 133: Legendary countries
• Series No. 134: The Saharan epic of oil
• Series No. 135: Beautiful headdresses of France
• Series No. 136: Hunting without a gun
• Series No. 137: By car through the ages
• Series No. 138: Deep-sea fishing sailors
• Series No. 139: Was the Star of the Magi an artificial satellite?
• Series No. 140: The Commedia dell'arte
• Series No. 141: Children of the ''Green Earth''
• Series No. 142: French Aircraft Today
• Series No. 143: The Great Orders of Chivalry
• Series No. 144: The Mysterious Orinoco River
• Series No. 145: When the Hour Strikes
• Series No. 146: Multiple Uses of the Parachute
• Series No. 147: The Pilgrim, This Adventurer of the Middle Ages
• Series No. 148: From Abacuses to Electronic Brains
• Series No. 149: Art and Hair
• Series No. 150: The World of Rockets
• Series No. 151: The Louvre
• Series No. 152: Knowledge of the Earth
• Series No. 153: Great French Achievements

W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Do You Know" - 3rd Series (1926) 7/50 - W675-165

Today, and every second Wednesday in October, is "Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day".  A bit of fun, and do let us know if you do; pictures as well if you like.

Apparently it is also Take Your Teddy Bear to School Day, something which probably goes down well with little ones, but is almost certainly not so popular with teenagers. 

This is the only card I have found of an actual teddy bear - at the base of the tree. There is also a toy train there, which railway enthusiasts may not have yet added to their thematic list. And a dolls house. Something for everyone.

And if you know more teddy bears on cards, do let us know.

Fleer/Marvel [trade/commercial : cards : O/S - USA] "The Amazing Spider-Man" (1994) 62/150 

The Second Thursday of October is World Sight Day, which raises awareness about the fact that a lot of forms of vision impairment and blindness have simple causes and are treatable, if caught early enough. On which note if you have eye glasses that you no longer wear, even broken ones, do donate them, but not to charity shops as they are hard to resell. Check out https://www.reducereuserecycle.co.uk/where_can_I_recycle/glasses.php instead.

It is also Spider Man Day, which is very apt because Spider Man`s human form, Peter Parker, wears glasses, in fact as the original story tells us, he had to wear them until the fateful day he was bitten by the spider, and once bitten he no longer needed them. https://www.cardboardconnection.com/spider-man-trading-cards is a great starting place to read about Spider Man cards. Strange to say the character only appeared in 1962, which makes him the same age as The Incredible Hulk, but quite a young superhero compared to Batman (1939) 

Pacific Trading Cards [trade/commercial : O/S - USA] "I Love Lucy" (1991) 1/110

Today is I Love Lucy Day. Now Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6, 1911 in New York. Her first film is said to be "Roman Scandals" in 1933, with Eddie Cantor (she was one of The Goldwyn Girls) but there are rumours that she was briefly on screen before that.

In 1940 she met a slightly younger man who was an actor and also a musician, his name was Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III - but he used Desi Arnaz. They were married that November.

In 1948 she appeared in a radio play, she was the wife of a banker, who seemed to have very crazy ideas but always ended up coming out good. Two years later the play was somehow mooted as a TV series, as it had been very popular, and she was offered the leading role. She agreed, but with one request, that her husband in real life played her husband on the screen. A short time later they managed to convince the studio to give them creative control, the rights, their own studio (DesiLu) and to rename the show as "I Love Lucy".

The first episode aired on October 15, 1951, It was one of the most successful shows of all time, and is still repeated all over the globe. Sadly the duo divorced in 1960. He died in 1986, amd she died three years later.

According to The Trading Card Database/LucilleBall there are 158 cards of her to collect! But if you include larger items in your collection do note that she was also often featured in advertising for Philip Morris Cigarettes.