Getting near to Christmas now - just seventy-one days. Lets see if we can make it our best ever, but we need your help to do that, so keep sending in all your Christmas cards and we will banish the gloom - and the power cuts. Some of us remember all this before, and we got through it then, didnt we - and without the added assistance of a Card-World to bring us a heady mixture of excitement and nostalgia.
But lets look forward now.....
Gallaher [tobacco : UK] "Tricks & Puzzles" black back (1933) 90/100 - G075-215 : G12-59
An odd fact to start this with, for today Samuel Pepys recorded his first sighting of a garment called a waistcoat, being worn by His Majesty the King, Charles II, though he had been sporting one for just over a week before Samuel Pepys saw him doing so.
The website of The Merchant Fox, tells the full tale, and fascinating it is, so head off and read it. And note they were founded, just over 100 years on.
Our card shows a slightly less reverent action, how to remove someone`s waistcoat without taking off their coat. Why you would need to do this is not stated. Sadly few people wear waistcoats these days so it is probably not a skill that is worth learning, but you never know... and it could be fun practising...
There are two versions of this set, all printed by E. S. & A. Robinson of Bristol. It was first issued in 1924 with a green back, then reprinted with a black one in 1933.
Our black back set is listed in our original Gallaher reference book (RB.4 - issued in 1944) as :
1933. 100. TRICKS & PUZZLES SERIES (titled series). Size 2 1/2" x 1 1/2". Numbered 1-100. Fronts lithographed in full colours with white margins. "Gallaher`s Cigarettes" incorporated in each picture. Backs printed in black with descriptions and "Issued by Gallaher Ltd., Belfast & London." In general this set differs from the original series. Probably printed by E. S. & A. Robinson Ltd., Bristol.
This is shortened in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes to just "TRICKS & PUZZLES SERIES. Sm. Back in black. Nd. (100)
The London Cigarette card catalogue of 1950 seems to suggest that this black back version was issued in two parts, 1-50, and 51-100, or maybe that was just the way they retailed it?
Topps [trade : USA] "The World`s Champions" (2008) card 276 -
Today in 1854, in Dublin, Ireland, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born.
His father was famous for being the Country`s top eye, and ear, surgeon and he was even knighted for it. He seems to have also enjoyed the past, studying folklore and archaeology.
Oscar had a large family, an older brother and a younger sister, plus there were children by his father but not with his wife, some having been born before the marriage and some after. Two of the daughters were tragically killed by fire in 1871.
Oscar was educated at Trinity College in Dublin and then went to Oxford. It was here that he developed his delight in the theatre, and started wearing his hair long. He took after his mother, and loved poetry. He would write prose too, and plays. He had many friends of both sexes, and considered marriage, but did not marry until 1884, to someone he had met a few years before. They had two sons. However after a series of what some would call unfortunate occurrences and others by a determined attempt to ruin him, he was tried for indecency and sent to prison in 1895, eventually ending up in Reading, from where he was not released until 1897.
From his experience he wrote two works, The Ballad of Reading Gaol and De Profundis. He seems to have forgiven the two men who sent him there, for he collaborated on a book with one and lived together with the other for a brief few months until the families caused it to end. Which makes it seem that it was those families who just might have caused the trouble all those years ago.
Sadly Oscar Wilde was never in good health after his release and he died, of meningitis, on 30 November 1900.
Wills [tobacco : UK] "Golfing" (1926) 17/25 - W675-181 : W62-144 : W/228
Today in 1860 saw the first Professional Golf Tournament take place at Prestwick. Our card tells us of a legend that "the ancient monks played golf here at the time of King Robert the Bruce..."
The twelve hole course was built in 1851 on the border between the beach and the town by golfer Old Tom Morris, who was the original keeper of the green and the ball, plus the maker and mender of the clubs, and as part of his salary he had a place to live. The first Open event took place today in 1860 and because it was only a twelve hole course each had to be played three times. Eight people took part, and the winner won a belt made of red leather. It was not called the Open for several years, and at some point the prize became the top prize, with cash to the runners up. Old Tom Morris` son won it from 1868 to 1870. This led to a problem for if anyone won the belt three times they were allowed to keep it, so there was no prize and no contest in 1871. However in 1872 it restarted, without the belt, but Young Tom Morris won anyway. It was still held there until 1925, but it was becoming a victim of its own success and the crowds were encroaching on the course and spoiling the game, it was really too small with just the twelve repeating holes. And the Open never has returned, though other events are still held there.
The date of issue of this set seems to vary. Wills own records, printed in their Works Magazine, state it to be June 1924, but it seems to generally be listed as 1926.
W.D. & H.O. WILLS [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Flowering Trees & Shrubs" (1924) 4/50
Today is the annual celebration of the apple, Apple Day.
Our card may not show an enormously edible apple, for I did not see until I loaded it into place that this was the crab apple, but it remains because it is an apple, which has the other name of Wild Apple, and it which was one of the earliest British native trees. Above all else it was from those crab apple tress that the cultivated ones bearing our eating apples are descended.
The earliest apple tree was grown in Asia, and its seeds slowly moved across Europe. It is unknown who planted the first seed in this country, but from Europe the seeds also sailed to North America.
Today we have a wonderful initiative called Community Orchards, and these are springing up on neglected land. The aim is to have one in reach of all communities, and there is probably one near you. Some are operated by Common Ground, a charity which started this event, National Apple Day, in 1990. And they have events at harvesting and at planting time. Do go along, for they are always looking for volunteers to help them, even if only for a short time.
BERLINER Morgenpost [trade : newspapers : O/S - Berlin, Germany] - "Erfinder u Erfindungen" (12th-25th January 1913) card 10
Today in 1752, at the height of a thunderstorm, a man stood on open ground flying a kite.
His name was Benjamin Franklin, and he was attempting to prove that if you flew a kite into the heart of a thunderstorm, with a wire attached to it, it would attract electricity/lightning and this would be conducted down to the ground, or more correctly to the person at the end of the string, aided by the wetness that the rain caused. There is much confusion about the date, but this is one of the many given. There is also thought that though the electricity did travel down the wire it was not as spectacular as some pictures show, for a charge of that size would have killed Benjamin Franklin and probably his son who was assisting. You can also discount pictures showing his son as a small child, as he was in his twenties.
He actually wanted to experiment in a safer way, by getting lightning to strike the newly constructed spire of a Church, but the building was taking too long, so the kite idea was thought of whilst he fretted about someone else proving the theory first, for there had already been experiments in France.
I know a lot more about these cards than when I posted this one. And you can currently read that information in our newsletter for the 16th of November 2024, you just have to scroll down to Sunday the 17th of November. That reveals that our card of today was very close to the end of the second batch of cards, which ended with Serie 137, given away during the week beginning the 21st of December 1913 and ending the 27th of December 1913. At that time a hundred and thirty-seven sets were issued, and look, our set is just ten numbers earlier.
C.W.S. [tobacco : UK] "Famous Bridges" (1937) 32/50 - C792-510 : C130-25
One of England`s greatest architects was born today - though you may read that he was born on the 30th of October instead, and that was because in 1632 they were still using the old calendar, at which time the date was the 20th of October. However once we changed to the new calendar he was suddenly moved forwards by ten days.
He is known foremost as being an architect of Churches, and he did indeed rebuild over fifty of them after they were destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. However what is not so publicised is that he also designed smaller items, like this bridge in Cambridge, which was built by his pupil at the time, Nicholas Hawksmoor, who would go on to become another architect of great repute.
The first 48 cards of this set say "set of 48", however there are two cards that were added in afterwards. I did not know which these were, but reader Mr. Williams did and he tells us that number 49 is Tyne Bridge and number 50 is Westminster Bridge in London. However on both those cards the reverse says ""Famous Bridges - Set of 50". Now we don`t think that the set of forty-eight cards was re-issued, because I have asked about and not yet found any card that says other than "Famous Bridges - Series of 48".
Mr. Williams also provided details of the special albums, and he confirms that they were just standard Co-Operative Wholesale albums that would have taken any set, three cards per page, with the middle card straight up and the one on each side pointing slightly diagonal to each top corner. Each card fits in a rectangular box which is printed on the page and beneath each one it says "Name ...... Other Particulars ..............For further details remove card. Particulars will be found on back. Easily replaced." - and that means that the corner slots must have been pre-cut, because if they were not the cards would have been stuck in and you could not have removed the card as instructed. This is confirmed by the wording in the inside front cover, which reads "THIS Album, to contain 48 Pictures, will be found suitable for Cigarette Cards, no paste or gum required, the cards can be readily inserted, removed, and re-inserted, which enables the matter on the backs of the Pictures to be easily referred to at any time. They can be grouped and classified to suit the collector."
However that does not explain what happened when the two extra bridges were issued?
Edizioni PANINI [trade/commercial : stickers : O/S - Italy] "Sport Vedettes" (1974) 154/288
Today in 1984, Nicki Lauda won his third, and final, Formula One Driver`s Championship, despite being seriously burned in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix, a course he was not keen on and had frequently urged the introduction of more stringent safety measures. In fact a week before the race he had tried to organise a boycott until some of his concerns were met.
Despite extensive injuries he only missed two races though he then had to wear a bigger helmet so his bandaging would fit inside.
He retired in 1979 to concentrate on another passion, aviation, as he had recently founded Lauda Air. However in 1982 he was convinced by a pretty hefty purse to return to McLaren. He did not stay there long, but it did create a very rare statistic, in that he had driven for both Ferrari and McLaren. He would go on to become a consultant and manager for Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes. And he died in his sleep in May 2019, aged 70.
Now there is much debate about the "Rookie" card of Niki Lauda, because there are several possibilities. In 1973 he appeared as part of a set of cards called "Rennwagen", or racing cars, issued by Piatnik, but to the purist card collector these do not count as they are playing cards, not trade cards. His second possible "Rookie" card is the one we feature today, issued in 1974, but the problem with that is that it is not a card it is a sticker. And as for a set called "Escudo d`Oro`, issued in 1976, that is a set of postcards, with postcard backs. Another oft quoted option is the 1978 set of "Grand Prix John Player Team Lotus 78", issued in Japan by Kutsuwa - but wait, because they were only sold as a complete set in a wallet, not collected individually, so they don`t count as truly cartophilic either ! So the true "Rookie" CARD, to satisfy all true card collectors seems to wait right until 1979, when a set of trade cards, called "Sporting All Stars", was issued free of charge inside packets of Golden Wonder crisps, and Niki Lauda was card number one.
This is quite a scarce sticker, by Panini, though it is more common in Europe, where it was mostly issued. It is one of 288 cards covering all kinds of sports. There were also "foil cards" and "puzzle cards", but don`t get too confused about the latter as it actually just means that more than one card is butted together to form a larger picture in the album, some being two and some being four cards large.
The cards fitted into an album which was retailed in several countries but only printed once, so the back cover has sections showing the prices that ought to be charged in Austria, Benelux. France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
This week's Cards of the Day...
Welcomed you to National Porridge Week, and, as the mornings become darker and colder, we do seem to naturally graduate away from cereal and milk (or water) into something hotter and more substantial. Strangely, there is also a World Porridge Day, today, October 10th.
Now if you want to take part, all you have to do is tweet or insta a scan or photo of any porridge trade cards that are in your collection. The hashtags are #Porridgeweek and #Helloporridgeseason - dont forget to also add #CigaretteCard, #Cartophily and tag in @Card_World.
So how did we get to Porridge? Well....
Saturday, 8th October 2022
This card, or more correctly sticker, measures 65 x 48 m/m. But we asked you what was the something very special about its date - do you know what? The answer was that it was the first sticker cards issued by Panini, in 1978.
The code comes from our original four volume set of the British Trade Index, specifically from book three, published in 1986.
But I cannot find out anything about Minicards. Anyone out there know any more? Do tell us....
Sunday, 9th October 2022
Of course your clue here was the bears, and a bit of poetic license as I was referring to the three bears and the porridge. And there are two extra bears here for that, but if you concentrate on the centre there is indeed a mummy bear, a daddy bear, and a baby bear. The fifth bear, in case you can`t find it, is beneath the umbrella, it is the smallest of the group.
Now this is a most attractive set and you can see all the cards at https://www.cartolino.com/Suchard/1_145/SU-1_145.html - though they do use another title, "Ours et Humains" which actually translates to bears and humans which this set does not show. Some collectors use "Ours en Costume", which falls down because whilst some of the bears are dressed in human costumes most are not. A better title may be "Ours Anthropomorphes", because that translates to bears with human characteristics, which fits every picture, or, rather, all the ones we know so far as even Cartolino is missing three cards - nine, eleven, or twelve. We have seen card nine, which shows two bears making cheese, but could not track down an eleven or twelve either. So if you have those maybe you could step forward and introduce yourself.
The cards in the set that we have seen are :
- three bears climbing a mountain to plant the Swiss flag
- five bears, one painting an Alpine Church
- lots of bears at a country dance
- an adult bear teaching a class of children bears at a school
- a family of five bears at a picnic
- a wrestling match by an alpine hut
- one bear pushing a boat of bears off on a river trip
- bears at a firing range practising their shooting
- two bears making cheese
- bears with sleighs in winter
Monday, 10th October 2022
Here we have our last clue, the Crown of Scotland. Scotland and porridge seem forever linked, and oddly oats are one of a handful of grains that cope with the Scottish weather. So they were first grown in Scotland way back in Medieval times, and eaten much the same way as we do today, cutting the cereals and grinding them, then cooking them in a pot of water or milk. However then they were baked in a fire to make what we call oat-cakes today, and turned into a food which they could carry around with them as they travelled from place to place and gnaw at whenever they were hungry.
Later, when they became more settled, people still cooked the porridge in the same way and let it go hard to store it. Then it would be consumed in small pieces, often fried, and any left over would be returned to the pot and melted down in combination with new oats.
It was only much later that porridge was eaten for breakfast as a soft, milky consistency, often enhanced by sugar. And even later still that people like me would put porridge and oatmilk in a lidded bowl, leave it in the fridge overnight, and then eat it for breakfast.
This crown was used by many Scottish Kings and Queens, some of whom were undoubtedly porridge eaters - and it is the oldest crown in the British Isles, dating from the early 1500s, perhaps earlier. The first to wear it was James IV, but it was not this exact crown, for it was substantially remodelled in 1540 for James V. There is a theory that it must have been downsized too, for in 1542 it is said to have been worn by Mary I, when she became queen at just six days old.
The crown has had a very exciting life, it was buried to hide it from Oliver Cromwell, and dug up for the restoration of Charles II. Then when England and Scotland were combined under one King, in 1707, it was locked away and lost. It was not re-discovered until 1818, by no less a personage than Sir Walter Scott, who had been trying to find it for some time. It then went on display in Edinburgh Castle, being brought out on rare occasions, including the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. And poignantly its last outing was to be placed upon her coffin, in Edinburgh, just this September.
Our card was issued in the British Isles and as an export issue to New Zealand. There is a kind of error, where the final S of Crowns has been also seen as much larger than the rest of the word. It is also known that some of the other letters in that title are often found incomplete, like we illustrate on our card.
Tuesday, 11th October 2022
Actually this was not just an Exhibition card, it was produced to celebrate the World`s Columbian Exposition in 1893, in Chicago, Illinois, the first of all the World`s Fairs, and designed to celebrate the anniversary of Columbus discovering America.
The Quaker Oats exhibit was part of a larger group, the American Cereal Company, and there was a special booklet issued, which you can see at the Historic New England Site online.
There are several different adverts found on the reverse of this front, and there are also other cards, two of which which are identical to picture 8 and 10 of the booklet above (the building in the snow, and the ladies packing the oats). This seems to suggest that perhaps the other plates were produced as postcards. So are there any in our collections?
Wednesday, 12th October 2022
Morning Foods Ltd issued this set with Mornflake Oats, a brand which dates from the Second World War, being launched in 1941. However the family behind the brand have a much longer story, since 1675, and it still remains in family hands. You can read more about them at their website mornflake.com - and they are not only still at the same address as shown on this card, but they moved there just before the brand was launched.
You can find our set with blue backed cards but these are thought to be printers material that escaped, or were helped. There is only one code above because our original British Trade Indexes are a bit confusing. The set is first listed in part two as MON-9, but part two says that was out of order, it was inserted above I & R Morley Limited`s MOW-1 and it should have been below it as MOPW-9, . I am not sure that helped, but in part four it sorts it out by giving our set the code of MOWD-9.
Our subject is the Golden Arrow, which was introduced in 1926. It was actually a boat train, going to London, then Dover, where the first class only passengers boarded a ferry to take them to Calais in France where they joined the French equivalent, La Fleche D`Or (which is French for the Golden Arrow, though literally it is the arrow of gold). Originally the two trains were operated by the Southern Railway and Les Chemins de fer du Nord (which is French for Northern Railways, for it travelled the North of France. It stopped for the duration of the Second World War, and started up in 1946, though they started with the original carriages. Later it would be operated by British Railways and the SCNF.
This set is another "alike" series, hence the HX70 and the D448 references. It was also issued by Amalgamated Tobacco in 1959 (A495-680 : A46-53) and Barratt Confectionery in either 1961 or 1963 (BAR-890 : BAR-114)
Thursday, 13th October 2022
This card was a packet issue, which had to be cut from the outer box. It seems surprising to me why this system is not revived, for it would not fall foul of the problem with inserting objects with food that may be swallowed or taint the contents, and it would still allow for the collection of cards, and hence new young blood to enter the market.
The cards measure 240 x 150 m/m, but as they were hand cut they do vary. Six cards were issued of each subject, which were 1. British Locomotives, 2. Great Moments of Sport, 3. Household Hints, 4. Phiz Quiz, 5. Railways of the World, 6. The Story of Fashion
We have subsequently found a bit more out, courtesy of Cartophilic World magazine, Volume 9, Issue 101, dating from September/October 1952, which means the original date above (of 1961) must be amended. That is their first recording, so we may be certain they were issued a few months prior. It reads :
Mr. C. Glidden Osborne draws attention to the current packages used by the Quaker Oats Company for their Puffed Wheat and Corn Flakes. On one side of each package there are six large sized cards printed, one card each from series entitled "Great Moments of Sport", "Railways of the World", British Landmarks", "Household Hints", "Story of Fashion" and "Phiz Quiz". A complete set of these package designs is 36, or when cut into individual cards 216, but the firm states that all numbers have not been printed.
Now there are a few things here I don`t understand. The first is why I have written "British Landmarks", but I will check that tomorrow. The second is the "216 cards", because that does work out as six sets, but I cannot fathom why they admit "not all numbers have been printed".....
Friday, 14th October 2022
These double sided cut out cards are large sized, and I think it is part of a series but I know little more.
I do know that if you look at the card it is scored in the middle and it was originally issued folded along that line inside a see through plastic packet. That meant that only half of the sitting frog was visible on one side and the other half on the other. Once the packet was opened the standing frog revealed himself. I have been told the name was possibly "transforming cut outs" but this sounds rather wordy and hardly an incentive to buy them. I am not sure how many there were either, but surely not just this one.
A slight ouch is that it turns out to have been issued with Sugar Puffs rather than with oats, but though oats started out promising they quickly petered out. I am forever grateful to Quaker Oats for being so obliging and giving so much of the week.
Thinking caps on readers, and let me know if you remember them or can supply more information.
And there we must hop off for another week. I have a dog waiting to get om my lap! Not bad to time this week though, getting better and faster!
See you all next week, and do tell us if you can supply any more information to the above....