Newsletter - 2022-08-06

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Collection ROZAN et Chien Qui Saute [trade : chocolate : O/S - Paris, France] "Les Savants" - Serie 19" (1950s) 1/? Today in 1881 saw the birth of a little Scottish boy who would grow up to become Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of the wonderful healer, in conjunction with the Australian, Howard Florey, and the German, Ernst Chain. However there is another Brooke Bond, in "QEI - QEII" (1983) 39/50, which is an actual photo of him at work in his laboratory. And Brooke Bond issued another portrait of his as well, in conjunction with Liebig, in 1973, card four in a set dealing with the fight against microbial infection - that is  called "Cacciatori di Microbi", and its code is F.1860 or S.1859, depending whether you lean towards the Fada or Sanguinetti system

In fact his "Rookie" card is usually supposed to have been issued in Ireland, by Barkers, with bubblegum, in 1961, and, the following year, issued with `Lyons Maid` ice cream. It`s the same card, save the issuer`s details. However, this card may be earlier, as many sites date it to the mid 1950s, and that could make it his true "Rookie" card.  It all hinges on whether it was issued before , or after, the company was bought out by Lindt, in 1961.

Chocolat Rozan was named for Maurice Rozan de Mazilly. He was born in 1893, in Normandy, and went to sea at the age of fifteen. Then, when the First World War broke out, he jumped ship, literally and joined the army. It was not a good move and he sustained what today would be called life-altering injuries, to his face, which saw him spend two years in hospital having it virtually rebuilt in a series of ever more painful and invasive surgeries. However, he was made of tough stuff and survived, though he also realised that he wanted to find other employment, something that made people happy, not sad. What he came up with, quite by accident, was making chocolate, which he was reasonably successful at. His breakthrough came on a trip to Austria, where he was completely shocked by the range of pastries, and he suddenly wondered if he could make a chocolate in the same way. And he did, though it took him two long years, and countless failures. The chocolate was called "Les Pyreneens", named after his factory in Oloron-Sainte-Marie in the Pyrenees mountains, and it was not only amazing chocolate, it had a gimmick, because it had to be served straight from the fridge.

Now the other name on this card, Chien qui Saute - or leaping dog - is sometimes said to be another chocolate maker, who also issued the set. This is seems to be incorrect though, as both names appear on official documentation like bills and letterheads. It seems more likely that the leaping dog was their logo on their standard chocolates whilst the Pyrenees appeared on the special refrigerated brand that was only available as Christmas neared.

The cards in our set are 

1. Fleming (Alexander) 
2. Edison
3. Einstein
4. Branly
5. Pasteur
6. Jenner

There is a bit of confusion though because there are two distinct groups of these cards, and I`m not sure which version was issued first.  

Our sets have a much fuller back, and it says at the bottom that your supplier will supply you with the special album in which to collect these images. The sets seen with this back are as follows : 

1. Les Sports
2. Dans les airs
3.  
4.  
5.  
6.  Les Fondateurs de l`Empire Colonial
7.  
8.  
9.  
10. Madagascar
11. Indochine
12. Antilles et Guyane (12 cards)
13.  
14.  
15.  Automobile
16.  Habitations
17.  Edifices Religieux
18.  
19. Les savants

The other version has a fuller back, all text, and at the bottom mentions that in order to get an album you have to send three francs and a four franc stamp. The sets seen in that version are 

1.  
2. L`Automobile

Cope [tobacco : UK] "Happy Families" (1937)

Today in 1840, almost a centenary after the issue of this card, Master Smut was probably smiling, for on that date the United Kingdom passed a regulation that child labour, of anyone aged under sixteen, should no longer be used by chimney sweeps. 

The truth was that it would have been quite difficult to fit a teenager up a chimney, which were extraordinarily narrow in parts, so most of the children were what we call today pre-teenage, and some not even yet in double figures, and despite the fact that in 1788 another act had stated that the minimum age was eight, it also allowed a loophole as it said that minimum age was for "an apprentice" and not just a sweep`s boy.

In 1834 another act levied a minimum age of ten for "an apprentice", but also gave a minimum age for a chimney cleaner, of fourteen. That was updated to sixteen by the act passed today in 1840. However it was seldom obeyed, and that raised the hackles of one Charles Kingsley, who wrote a book about a small child, maltreated and eventually turned into a "water baby", by drowning It is a strange book, for all its good intentions, and today a lot of people would find it offensive in its language and treatment of other races. Anyway it was serialised in a magazine, and became a book in 1863, and the next year another act appeared. That was pretty useless, but people were at last taking notice and in 1875 The Chimney Sweepers Act did finally contain enough force to stop the cruelty, though it did not extend into Scotland. 

Now if you look at this card, you will see "By the courtesy of the Chad Valley Co. Ltd."  and that is because they had already published these images, on playing cards, seven years earlier, under the title of "Happy Families - Grotesque Cards - Beautifully Coloured - An Amusing Round Game for any number of Players". And you can see those at the World Of Playing Cards site

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Cia. de Cigarros Castelloes [tobacco : O/S - Sao Paulo, Brazil] "Film Stars" (1930s) 75/?

Today in 1910 Sophia Kosow was born in New York. Five years later her parents divorced and she took the surname of her stepfather, Sigmund Sidney. John Sinclair`s "Film Stars" tells us that under that name she "entered the Theatre Guild School while still in her teens, made her stage debut at the age of twelve, and was famous on Broadway before turning to films"

Her first film was in the background of the D.W. Griffith "Sorrows of Satan" (1926). That was almost at the turn of silent pictures becaming talking ones, and luckily she had a good voice for it, but she became typecast as the girlfriend, or the gangster`s "moll".

The Second World War halted films, and after it ended she returned to the theatre, before turning to television, appearing in many popular series, which she much enjoyed. Towards the very end of her life she went back to the movies, and her final part was in "Mars Attacks", in 1996, a film based on the rather lurid trading cards of the same name. She died on July 1, 1999. 

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Liebig [trade : meat extract : O/S - South America] "Plaisirs d`amateurs" / hobbies (1909) Un/6 - F.0965 : S.968

Today is National Book Lovers Day, at which we must say that it might seem odd that though we are more and more coerced into spending all day online, the humble printed book in black and white still endures.

This card is part of a set devoted to hobbies, and the other ones are :

• Dilettantes musicaux (music)
• L`ami des fleurs (gardeners)
• L`ami des oiseaux (birds)
• Le bibliophile (books)
• Le collectionneur d`antiquites (antiques)
• L`entomologiste (insects)

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British American Tobacco [tobacco : O/S] "Birds, Beasts and Fishes" - BAT logo back (19) Un/50

World Lion Day is observed on the 10th of August every year, rather apt, as the star sign of the moment is Leo, the lion. 

You may wonder why we need a day for lions, but though they are seen as strong and fearless, they are hunted by man, and their habitat dwindles every year through colonisation and through climate change.

Strangely, although they are called the Kings of the Jungle, they live, like this card suggests, in grasslands and mountainous areas. 

This is an unusual version of the familiar cut out card and I have not been able to track down any other sets with this British American Tobacco logo, which even more oddly, is sideways on, when it would have fitted fine the right way up.

I presume that the C which surrounds it is for Company?

But happy to be corrected - also delighted to hear of you have any other sets which feature this logo reverse. 

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Godfrey Phillips [tobacco : UK - London] "Arms of the English Sees" (1924) 20/25

Today in 1093 the Foundation Stone for the new Durham cathedral was laid by Bishop Carileph. 

The Cathedral was erected to house the remains of St. Cuthbert, the Bishop of Lindisfarne. However a quick spot of research tells us that Bishop Carileph, or St Carilephus, was the name given to Bishop William of St. Calais, and that his name was in honour of William the Conqueror, who was actually present at his consecration.  

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CADBURY`S Chocolate [trade : chocolate : UK] "Locomotive Series" (1924) 6/6

Today in 1801 John Cadbury was born in Birmingham, though his parents were from the West of England. His parents were Quakers, his father sold linens, and they made sure he attended a Quaker school in Warwickshire.

When he was seventeen, he was apprenticed to a tea dealer, John Cudworth, in Leeds. He was immediately inspired by the work in the shop, and moved on to Sanderson Fox, in London, a bonded warehouse. In 1824, helped by a monetary gift from his father, he opened his own shop, at 93, Bull Street, back in Birmingham, selling drinking chocolate, coffee and cocoa, plus tea and some other goods. Seven years after that he was so successful that he opened a warehouse and started making his own cocoa and chocolate. Fifteen years on, his brother, Benjamin, joined him as a partner, moving to a new, larger, factory the following year, 1847. That changed the name of the company, to Cadbury Brothers, but just three years later both brothers handed the reins to John`s son Richard, though they remained behind the scenes until 1856, when their partnership was finally dissolved, with mutual consent. John retired in 1861, prompted by the death of his second wife, the mother of his seven children, from tuberculosis.

As well as his shop, he had many other interests and supported many charities and humanitarian groups; he was heavily involved with animal welfare, Sunday Schools, environmental reform, and the temperance movement. Indeed his was one of the first signatures on the pledge to form a temperance society in Birmingham. His voice was also one of the loudest against the exploitation of child chimney sweeps, so it is curious that we featured that earlier in this edition.  

He died on the 11th of May 1889, and was buried in Birmingham. In his will he left his home to his church and to the Religious Society of Friends.

His sons shared his beliefs, but also set about fulfilling his dreams. One of these was Bourneville, built in 1879, as a new town for his workers where they could breathe the country air and live in ideal circumstances, not crammed together in the middle of a smoky town. The only condition the workers had to fulfil was never to drink alcohol, and so although there were pubs and shops in the village, alcohol was never served or sold.

Our card was mainly chosen because the train is from the Midland Railway, which runs to and from Birmingham. It is one of a set of six, issued in 1906. However Cadbury actually owned fifteen trains that were used to transport milk and chocolate to and from its factories, warehouse, and Bournville, starting with the first, built in 1894, by Dick, Kerr (the company which had the famous ladies football team). However the track had begun to be constructed ten years before that, as one single siding, from which they eventually steamed over six miles of track running past and even through the warehouses and the factories, until they eventually even connected with the mainline. And it lasted right until the 1950s, seeing steam phased out first in favour of coke and coal, and then diesel taking over just before the decade closed. That lasted until the 1970s, when it was realised that it would be quicker, and cheaper, to transport the goods by road, not rail.