Newsletter - 2021-11-13

Saturday, 6th November 2021

In our original Ogden reference book this was catalogued as O/86 and it is one of the first full-colour football sets. There is lots to talk about here, but the most important is that whilst the first 50 cards all say "50 in a set", there is an extra card which says "51 in a set" and shows the Captain of the South African Team which were in England for the season starting in Autumn 1906. If you go to Alan Jenkins` https://cartophilic-info-exch.blogspot.com/2013/07/ogdens-cigarettes-football-club-colours.html it tells you more about the 50/51 discrepancy. On which note, here is a puzzle for you as these cards are un-identified as far as the subject, but they are starting to be tied to actual footballers and it looks like our man has a name, Stephen Smith; he also managed the team from 1906 to 1908. However some are proving elusive – have a look at https://cartophilic-info-exch.blogspot.com/2014/11/ogdens-cigarettes-football-club-colours_29.html   and if you can help him out in his quest please do. The contact details are on the website. And do please mention the Cartophilic Society whenever writing to anyone about cards! 
Another oddity is that there are two cards for Northampton; in one the footballer wears a cap, in the other he does not. Also, the backs are stated to vary in colour, from lightish blue to almost black, one suggestion is this may have been caused when some of the cards were lithographed by an inattentive inker, but it is known that the cards were printed by Mardon, Son and Hall, so such an error would be hard to fathom. And amongst all the well known teams are some that are more obscure, but this is because eleven of the "football clubs" are actually Rugby Union; if you are thinking this is why you don`t recognise New Brompton AFC, well you would be wrong, as it was an Association Football Club, and it appears on other cards including Gallaher “Association Football Club Colours” 87/100 which shows T. Strang, 1909-1910. According to the reverse of our card, it was “started in 1893 as an amateur association … adopted professionalism in 1894, and they are now the only First Division Southern League club in Kent. It is also still in operation, but under a "new" name, Gillingham Football Club, though "new" is perhaps not the right word as the change occurred just before the 1912/1913 season. By the way, their former name is kept alive by a new team “New Brompton 1893” who play in the Medway Area Sunday Football League One.
The 1950 London Cigarette Card Company catalogue sold the Ogden version as numbers 1-50 for between 1/9d and 5/- a card, or £12 a set, and card No.51 was sold separately for 10/- each. Their Handbook tells us that similar series were issued by Churchman (C504- 270 as a titled and numbered set with backs in brown) and by Franklyn Davey (F756-440) untitled and unnumbered). However the only set with the extra card 51 is our Ogdens, probably because the Churchman and the Franklyn Davey sets were not issued until January 1909, after the South Africans had departed. However for some reason, despite being younger, these were more valuable/less plentiful in 1950, for the LCCC catalogue has Churchman listed at £30 a set and Franklyn Davey at £37 a set.
The Churchman set is reported to be illustrated in Notes & News Vol.1 No.6, and Vol.3 page 90. At that date this N&N has to be the Cameric magazine and not ours. I nearly had 166 of those Cameric magazines on Saturday morning but would you believe that phantom sniper who beat me on those Bulletins only popped up and nabbed these as well. But it was a fun fight and I did briefly lead with seconds to go, until their final salvo saw me off into the sunset, to lick my wounds and hone my skills until the next encounter, with but a passing thought of well fought, whoever you are....

Sunday, 7th November 2021

These first appeared in our Wills reference book part III (RB14, issued in 1949). They were given the code W/35 and already it was known that there were two printings, but you need to be pretty eagle eyed to spot the difference which is in the I.T.C. Clause. One set, presumably the first as it given the A classification, has it ending "& Ireland), Ltd." whilst B ends "& Ireland) Ltd."
If you still haven't spotted it, there is a comma after the bracket.
I am fairly certain this error was first spotted by Colonel Bagnall, as it appears in his LCCC Catalogue for 1950. From the pricing it appears that the one without the comma was scarcer, as this was 1/6d. to 4/6d. a card, compared to the comma version which was only 7d. to 1/3d. a card. Interestingly it says "With comma (or stop)", so the tail cannot have been very receptive to the ink during the production... The sets were listed only at the top, not tied to a printing. This probably meant that whichever set was in stock would be supplied unless a preference was made. These sets were 70/-.
Another barely noticeable error is in the style of the date the set was "passed by the Press Bureau" for it can be found as either 30.11.16 or 30-11-16; it was quickly realised that cards with and without commas could be found with either date style.
There is also a reference to slight alterations in the text and to changes in the rank of the subject, which I have not done a study of, but wonder if anyone out there has? And whether you would like to share your findings on our site ?
Horatio Herbert Kitchener died in June 1916, whilst these cards were being prepared, so his name appears on the front as “LATE F.-M EARL KITCHENER” The “F.-M” is Field Marshal. On the back it adds “K.G.” for Knight of the Garter. His death, quoted as being “Drowned while on his way to Russia, June 1916”, is now the subject of much speculation, most now not believing it was not an accident that his ship was lost at sea. You can see the wreck and read more,  via https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3654119/The-underwater-grave-Lord-Kitchener-736-men-died-warship-hit-100-years-ago.html  - whilst other interesting sites include https://www.liquisearch.com/herbert_kitchener_1st_earl_kitchener/death/conspiracy_theories - and - https://anilbalan.com/2013/10/06/the-curious-case-of-lord-kitchener/

Monday, 8th November 2021

The difference here is in the reference code, because as this set is post 1970, it does not appear in our newest British Trade Index, so the reference code we use actually comes from our vintage volume, RB31, the British Trade Index Part III, which was published in 1986. I think this is a great image for Movember, and can almost hear him saying "I`m going to leave that moustache right where it is and join in ..."
The inventor celebrated here is King Camp Gillette, born on January 5th, 1855. Contrary to popular knowledge he was not actually the inventor of the safety razor, he merely invented a better version than the ones currently being used which used a thin, disposable blade. He died on July 9, 1932. You can read more about him at https://www.britannica.com/biography/King-Camp-Gillette 
And yes, his name still lives on with "Gillette" razors - in fact their new brand is entitled The King C. Gillette brand

In fact there is another brand of razors that cartophilists should know. This is F.C. Cartledge, who issied a set of "Prizefighters" in 1938. You can see many of the cards in this set, collated from various auctions and sales, at https://www.collectors.com/trading-cards/1938-fc-cartledge/23637  Now as to why Cartledge issued a set of boxing cards, well their razor was called "The Knockout" and the packaging featured a boxing ring image In fact I dont know how long it will remain online, but you can see a lovely assortment at https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/269201184/rare-1940s-fccartledge-knockout-razor?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Tuesday, 9th November 2021

This may be a terribly tatty Taddy but it just happens to be the only Taddy Card I own. It came to me in a mixed lot and I never had the heart to part with it.
Taddy isued three groups of Royalty cards.
The first we will deal with is this set of twenty-five cards, which were actually entitled ”Royalty Series” - this is stated to have been issued with “Backs in Myrtle Green, with advertisement for “Myrtle Grove” Tobacco. Now I thought that was a bit odd, because I was sure my back was blue, and indeed it is, but not only is it not green, it is entirely different, having the advert for variously sized tins of “Premier Navy Cut [Tobacco], Mild Medium and Full Strengths”. In addition there is no illustration of this back within our original Taddy reference book (RB12, issued in 1948). There is an illustration of a “Premier Navy Cut” back which accompanies “Natives of the World”, but it it much more modern in style, or it could be the back that is quoted for “Boer Leaders” which states “Taddy`s Premier Navy Cut” but does not describe further so might be the same as the one which is shown. Are there any Taddy experts who can clarify this?
There were also two smaller groups, the first being a small five card set(?) which was untitled and un-numbered, and early researchers gave that the name of English Royalty, the cards show Queen Victoria and the two generations below her, these being King Edward VII and King George V, plus their Queens – whilst the second is usually considered as part of a mixed lot known as “Royalty, Actresses, Soldiers” which are again un-numbered and untitled. The Royalty cards in that lot were the Emperors and Empresses of Austria and Germany, the King and Queen of Italy, the Czar and Czarina of Russia, and our own Prince and Princess of Wales. This seems to cover European Royalty, so I tend to lean towards the original theory, that this was a set all its own of ten cards, perhaps with that name, and that the Actresses and Soldiers were also supposed to be alone as separate sets.
I seriously think we need a Taddy specialist to get in touch! 

Wednesday, 10th November 2021

In our original John Player Reference Book (RB17, issued in 1950) this group of cards appears as “Film Stars or Screen Celebrities”. The first set, ours, was titled “Film Stars” and in the album clause it says “Series of 50 cards”. It had adhesive backs, ready to be stuck in the special album, and it was not issued overseas. The second 50 subjects said “Second Series” and were also issued in Ireland, omitting the cost of the album; whilst the “Third Series” was also issued in the Channel Islands and in Ireland, where the cards were re-printed and specially entitled “Screen Celebrities”.
Again this was simply picked for being a man with a movember moustache, but I did like his smile, and think the Tatler got it right. (see https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Tom+Walls%3a+Actor%2c+producer%2c+policeman%2c+Derby-winning+owner-trainer.-a0102650066 )
He turned out to be Thomas Kirkby "Tom" Walls, not just “a stage and screen star, producer, hunting and racing man”, but to have been “winner of the Derby in 1932” with a horse called April the Fifth who appears on John Player "Derby and Grand National Winners" 25/50. He also worked in a locomotive works, was a jockey, formed part of a seaside Pierrot troupe, was manager of the Shaftesbury Theatre from 1922 and was the assembler of the Aldwych Farces in the 1920s, may of which were remade as films in the following decade. And sixteen cards of him are listed at https://www.tcdb.com/Person.cfm/pid/202204/col/1/yea/0/Tom-Walls?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand= 

Thursday, 11th November 2021

 To read this in its entirety, click through to https://csgb.co.uk/news/lest-we-forget-life-discovered-2021-11-11

Friday, 12th November 2021

This is a most attractive set, and you can see all of the cards at https://buttes-chaumont.blogspot.com/2013/12/whilst-we-sleep-with-typhoo-tea.html
If you have pinterest you can also see them at https://www.pinterest.co.uk/gene1897/whilst-we-sleep-typhoo-tea-cards/ but I can only look so far before they block me for not having an account. 
Many of these workers would find themselves and their jobs well and truly caught up in The Second World War in less than ten years, this air mail pilot and his trusty aeroplane both almost certainly being swept off into the RAF, though perhaps he might have found himself part of the Army Postal Services, which was pretty much run by the Royal Engineers (Postal Section).
I think the way the cards are drawn definitely foretells the change in the air with its shadows, and its dark backgrounds, and its use of torchlight illumination. We will never know who these men were modelled on, because nobody thought those sort of facts worth recording, and the same is true for most cards of non-celebrities, which is a very great shame.  
Typhoo Tea is still going, dare I say it, "strong" (or is that just the way I make it?) and it has a website, not just to sell its wares, though this is of course the primary purpose of most websites. It also includes the story of how the business came to exist, at https://typhoo.co.uk/about-us/great-british-tea-since-1903/  - during which it even mentions that from 1906 John Sumner included "circulars .... and picture cards ... inside the packets. These are still collectable to this day!"