Newsletter - 2022-04-09

Saturday, 2nd April 2022

Clue Number One was this card for Barnsley F.C., and amongst their nicknames is “The Tykes”. you may think this is a bear, but look closer, he has a tail like a dog. It turns out that "Tyke" is a northern dialect word, centuries old, for a dog of low breeding, or sometimes a person, if the teller is being rather unkind. Tyke is also the son of Spike, the bulldog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. And Churchill, the man of the week, was nicknamed the British Bulldog”, so much so that if you look online you will find photos and postcards of Churchill with bulldogs, or creepily, with his head on a bulldog`s body  

This set first appears in our original RB.15, the guide to Ogden`s issues, printed in 1949. There it is described as : 

15. 50  A.F.C. NICKNAMES. Humorous Sketches on Club colours. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Home issue, 1933. Similar series issued by Hignett. 

You can see the Hignett version as our card of the day for the 21st of May 2022. 

In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, this text is very reduced, to just "A.F.C. NICKNAMES Sm. Nd. (50)" Though they do add "See Ha.571.2" but that is just a list which shows all the sets which were issued both by Ogden`s and by Hignett, rather than adding any more information about the set.

Sunday, 3rd April 2022

The first odd thing about this set is the date of 1928, which was considerably after the First World War but not late enough for the Second. I think what may have happened was that they were designed earlier, but when cards did not return they were left on the shelf, perhaps the brainwave was to celebrate ten years after the end of the War. However I doubt we will ever know for certain as no wording to this effect was added.

The signs and symbols, include some very obscure units, like ours, which is the 22nd  Motor Ambulance Column, whose symbol “.…was the Sphynx, indicative of wisdom combined with silence”.

That sounds a good connection with Churchill, whose speeches sometimes said more in their silences than in their words. However we also have a connection with ambulances, as our first President Charles Glidden Osborne, was attached to the American Ambulance Brigade. 

Of course, our Card of the Day Connection refers to Churchill’s famous Victory Sign (or V-Sign). 

In 1950 these were the lowest priced B. Morris odds in the London Cigarette Card Catalogue, cards being on sale for 1/2d each. The sets were more comparable in value, at 2/6d. though they were one of the sets stated to be on special offer in the Abridged Catalogue. The reason for this was probably that it was a set of 50 cards, so the value of the odds sorted themselves out to the value of dearer ones in the shorter sets which Morris traditionally produced during the 1920s and 1930s, only four sets of fifty cards being issued as opposed to eleven sets of twenty-five cards, plus a thirty-five card set (M884-410 : M142-31 “At the London Zoo Aquarium” – 1924), a twenty-four card set (M884-370 : M142-28 “Shadowgraphs” - 1925), a thirteen card set (M884-380 : M142-29 “Treasure Island” – 1924)  and a twelve card set (M884-540 : M142-39 “Horoscopes” – 1936) 

Monday, 4th April 2022

This card comes from a set designed to show that we were getting ready for war once more. There are no descriptions on the backs, which is a shame. 
The tank we show links to the fact that Churchill promoted the development of the initial tanks during the First World War, and the newly created Churchill Tank named in his honour was first used in 1942. I still don’t know what tank is shown here, but I will do my best to name it asap...

Louis Gerard was part of Rothmans Ltd, and had just the one outlet, 18 Burlington Arcade, which was almost certainly a shop, though they did have a factory in Underwood Street, North London. The shop would not have been large; you can tell that because today it is being operated as a handbag shop, and they also took the next door unit. 

This set consists of fifty cards and it can be found numbered or un-numbered. Oddly in 1950 the numbered version was more expensive/scarcer but today the un-numbered version commands a slightly higher price. 

Louis Gerard only issued three sets of cards, ours and a pair of film related sets both released in 1939. These are: 

 “Screen Favourites” (G275-700 : G30-2) a set of twenty-four un-numbered cards printed in brown with a yellowish tinge to the front, though the reference book also says the cards were varnished, so perhaps the yellow was accident rather than design. The cards can be found with either Louis Gerard & Company” or “Louis Gerard Limited” to the address. Check your set to see you have not got “a marriage”. The set was also issued by the parent company Rothmans, but it was re-titled to “Prominent Screen Favourites”.

and 

“Screen Favourites and Dancers – from actual photographs”, (G275-800 : G30-3) a set of forty-eight un-numbered cards with fronts in brown and the same back style as our set but different wording. Recently it was discovered that the cards were issued varnished and unvarnished and the backs are so slightly different that you will probably never see it – so I will try to remember to extract the picture from our current World Tobacco Issues Index. You will also find these same cards without any issuer (though it was actually a Teofani set) with the fronts in green, and with the wording “One of this attractive series of 48 Modern Movie Stars and Cinema Celebrities….” And they were also issued by The Premier Tobacco Mfrs., as “Eminent Stage & Screen Personalities – reproduced from actual photographs.

Tuesday, 5th April 2022

The first thing that I pick up on is the rather odd text calling the King of Burma “…an insolent native”, presumably for daring to try and protect his country against ours. Its no wonder that Empire has become such an objectionable word over the centuries. 
This of course is Lord Randolph Churchill (1849 – 1895), who is called “a descendant of Marlborough”, and whose own descendent, his son, was Winston Churchill. Lord Randolph Churchill also appears on a Guinea Gold, number 32 of 62 in the “Politicians” series, as “The Late Lord Randolph Churchill Secretary in Lord Salisbury`s First and Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Salisbury`s Second Ministry.

Cousis also shows him, not as "late", though it says the card was issued in 1905. Both these cards are from Chartwell Booksellers, a New York retail outlet devoted to Churchilliana. 

Another of his ancestors is on Lea “Miniatures”, First Series 30/50 – this is John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough K.G. from an original by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The intriuguing thing here is that it says he was the “Second son of Sir Winston Churchill”. You can read of his exploits direct on the card at the New York Public Library. The same portrait of John Churchill, but in brown and white, also appears in Nicolas Sarony “Celebrities and Their Autographs” card 36 – and do note that he signs his name not as John Churchill, but as “Marlborough

Wednesday, 6th April 2022

This card shows Churchill in his earliest military posting, for the 4th Queen`s Own Hussars, who he joined in January 1895. By the end of that year he had been to war, in Cuba, and won two medals, though he was only there for just over a fortnight. These are usually cited as the Cross of the Order of Military Merit and the Cuban Campaign Medal. 

Now the first one is usually just called the Cross of Military Merit, and it is awarded to members of the Spanish Armed Forces, the Spanish Civil Guard, or to civilians, which presumably include members of Foreign Forces. 

The second one is a bit confusing but it is presumably what is known as the Army of Cuban Occupation Medal. This was an American medal, given to forces who pretty much mopped up and attempted to keep the peace after the end of the Spanish American War, between July 1898 and May 1902. Now the main grounds for believing it to be this medal is the timeline, for Churchill is recorded as getting this medal in about 1914, and it did indeed take that long to make, and to get around to presenting them. 

This set was issued in 1965 to commemorate the death of Churchill, and it celebrates his life in a most spectacular way, starting with a childhood portrait, and working through all his achievements in time order. It seems, with hindsight, to have been a bit of a waste to market it at children. 

Now it first appears in our original British Trade Index part II, where it is listed with a slightly different title, as

"WINSTON CHURCHILL CARDS. Md. 82 x 55. Black. Nd. (55)." ... ABF-31

This is slightly different in our updated version, where it reads :

"WINSTON CHURCHILL. 1965. 82 x 56. Black. Nd. (55). Album issued. Also issued in Australia". 

Before we head over there, let us have a chat about the album, and wrappers.

The first ouch is that it was not a special album for this set, it was just the standard A & B.C. album with the little box on the front cover in which you wrote the title of the set which was building inside of it. And at the bottom of each little space where you stuck the cards there was a number, and nothing more. The text was irretrievably lost once the cards were stuck down. Is this why A. & B.C. Gum cards are now so scarce and sought after? 

The wrappers were also uninspiring, just a blue background with repeating lozenges inside which is what may have been intended to be the title "The Story of Sir Winston Churchill." Each packet cost 2d. 

And now, off to our original Australian and New Zealand Index (RB.30, published in 1983), it is catalogued under A. & B.C. Gum as :

"WINSTON CHURCHILL CARDS. 82 x 56. Black. Nd. (55). Issued in Australia, 1965". 

However the heading is more useful, as that states "British Manufacturer, Series listed were distributed in Australia through Scanlens, and/or in New Zealand through Allens & Regina.". The Allens and Regina section does not mention this set, but the Scanlens one says : "WINSTON CHURCHILL CARDS. 82 x 55. Issued 1965, wrapper not studied, see A & B.C. Set ABF-31".  So does anyone out there have any of the cards, or the wrapper, of the Scanlens version? If so do get in touch. 

Thursday, 7th April 2022

Now here we have Winston Churchill as you have probably never seen him before. It is a strange, very modern set, looking a bit like a cross between a Lego and a Be@rbrick. And it was drawn, even more unusually, at the same time Ole Kirk Christiansen was inventing his wooden original of what would come to be called Lego two years later, in 1934.

This set is described in our original reference book to the issues of Godfrey Phillips, RB.13, as :

114. 25. PERSONALITIES OF TO-DAY. Small cards. Size 68 x 35 m/m. Fronts printed by offset process in colour. Backs in black, with descriptive text. Issued 1932.

In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes this has diminished to just :  "PERSONALITIES OF TO-DAY. Sm. 68 x 35. Nd. (25)"

The curious thing is that the artwork for these caricature cards are drawn in a very particular way, and yet nobody seems to know who drew them, not even the National Portrait Gallery, on whose website you can see all the cards in the set displayed. And do note that there are two sporting subjects amongst these personalities, which are often extracted and sold for more, leaving their compadres behind to be disposed of, quietly, and cheaply.  

Friday, 8th April 2022

Here we have Churchill at a mid point in his career, after his wars in Cuba, Malakand, Tirol, Egypt, and South Africa, where he was a war correspondent, as well as a spell as the First Lord of the Admiralty, which began on October the 25th, 1911. Gallipoli was his undoing, and he was removed from office and sent to the Duchy of Lancaster, a post that he did not enjoy, and from which he resigned in November 1915 - going off to join the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front.

Look at the bottom of the front, and you will see "Bassano" - this is Alexander Bassano, whose first studio was opened in 1850, in Regent Street, London. In 1876 he moved, to Old Bond Street. We can date this card quite well, because he retired in 1902, but the business was carried on as Bassano Ltd., advertising themselves for the first time as "Royal Photographers". There is no "Ltd." here, so it is pre that date. 

I found the set first in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, where it is listed as :

BRITAIN`S DEFENDERS. Sm. 63 x 36. Nd. (50) ...ZB4-9
(a) Front in blue-grey. Back inscribed "This Series consists of 50 Subjects". See W/51.G
(b) Front in mauve. Back inscribed "A Series of 50". See W/51.H

Our updated version of this volume is virtually the same listing but is without the W/ mention, and is, of course, a different code.

This W/ code means that this set was also issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills,and that turns out to be in nine different formats - including ours - the others being Wills "Specialities" numbered, and unnumbered, Wills "Havelock", Wills "Scissors" red back, green back, and a version with blue-grey fronts rather than mauve, A Wills "Star and Circle" back, and two anonymous issues, one of which has just text on the back and no ornamentation, and one of which is our set.

Thanks to the listing in the Wills "Works Magazine", we know that the Australian and Indian versions were printed in London and were issued in December 1915. 

The Wills set appears in Wills booklets parts three and four, the first being the main listing, part four only being a correction which does not concern us. The header, and listing of our set reads  :

51. BRITAIN`S DEFENDERS. Size 64 x 37 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress, unicoloured. Backs with descriptive text. Issued 1915-1916.

H. "A Series of 50". Fronts in mauve, with captions. Backs per Fig.40.H in green, no brand or maker`s name. Anonymous issue. There are two grades of board (a) glossy white (b) matt cream. Two titles are found for many numbers of the (a) grade of board, H.1 and H.2 in the summary, and the matt cream card is referred to as H.3.

These summary lists prove that our card is either H.1 or H.3, because in H.2 card number 3 is listed as "Birdwood".