Another week passed, and another week closer to Christmas, in fact as I type this there are just twenty-three days. How are those wants lists coming along? And how many of you are having a special card or set for Christmas? Do let us know. Also if there is anything cartophilic that you had for Christmas past. Remember we allow for aliases, and that you can remain completely anonymous if you prefer.
This week we have a mildly festive theme, though some of them are very mildly connected too. We have a lot of elements that should be included though - hugs, and bright ideas, and giving, and sharing, and tolerance of other religions. And that is just these diary dates.... starting with
![Hignett [tobacco : UK] "Greetings of the World"](/sites/default/files/styles/content_aligned/public/2022-12/3%20hugs.jpg?itok=RB3En_-E)
Hignett Bros. & Co. [tobacco : UK] "Greetings of the World" (1907 or 1922/23) 8/25 - H536-140 : H44-23
This card seems particularly apt when you consider that the Festive Season is a time for meeting friends that you may not have seen in a while. Now I know that there is still covid trying to get us, but if we are careful, might we not be allowed a hug this year? After all, today is Let`s Hug Day, perhaps the perfect appetizer for the big festivities that follow.
I have probably featured this set before, but I really like it, and I like this card with the two men meeting each other after such a long time that they feel like they want to use the full greeting. Where have they been? Why have they not reacquainted themselves? Was there a shaurie between the two families, or two religions, depicted by the different colours of their robes, and have they decided to be friends despite all the interference from the outside world.
So many stories could be woven.
And the fact it was re-issued in 1922/23, after World War One, could bring in an element of two relatives on opposing sides of the conflict - as so many were.
Gallaher Ltd [tobacco : UK] "Beauties" untitled (1905) Un/52 - G075-010 :
Now here we have a beauty indeed, dressed in her fur hat, scarf, and coat with its matching collar and cuffs The only thing the ensemble lacks are earmuffs, and I imagine she might have had some in her pocket. You would too, if you tried to find a card for Earmuff Day....
Now if you look for earmuff day, you might say, but that is in March, and you would be right, as well, because both days celebrate a teenager called Chester Greenwood, who may not have invented the earmuff, but patented an upgrade. He lived in Maine, in America, and he dreamed of doing all the things that the other teenagers did, but he had various allergies, including to wool, and his skin was particularly susceptible to frostbite. These allergies meant that he could not wear the usual woollen mitts and hats with earflaps. But instead of giving up, he sat and thought. He eventually came up with the idea of a ring made of wire, which fitted over his head, and had pads to cover his ears. These pads were made by his grandmother, and as a nod to our card, they were made of fur. They were not the greatest invention ever, but they worked and he was soon able to go out and about with his friends.
The best thing about this story is that his friends also liked them, and they all wanted a pair. This led, eventually, to Chester Greenwood opening a factory in the area to produce earmuffs, and to his employing many of his friends, plus their wives, who could stay at home and sew the pads whilst they looked after their small children. And he supplied them to troops during the First World War.
His factory would last for sixty years, and he would die just before the Second World War with his name proudly added to over a hundred patents.
Why is there no movie about this man?
Co-Operative Wholesale Society (C.W.S.) [tobacco : UK] "How To Do It" (1927) 1/25 - C792-260A : C130-13A
A sobering thought for Bathtub Party Day - that if things get out of hand, someone will have to re-paint the bath. If that job falls to you, do remember that it is not an easy job, and the quality of the finish depends on using the right paint. Rather than my giving instructions, I would advise that you look at any search engine for bath painters, and employ one.
The thing I like best about this card is the tiling on the walls, in that lovely diamond pattern. However, back in 1927, with the Jazz Age raging, they were possibly thought very old fashioned by the home owner, for coloured tiles were sweeping in and bathrooms were being modernised to use them
By the way, the "A" suffix on the code refers to the brand of tobacco used on the back, this being "Anglian Mixture".
Fry [trade : cocoa and chocolate : UK] "Nursery Rhymes" (1917) 12/50 - FRY-11
This is another winter warmer, for today is Mitten Tree Day.
The basic idea comes from a book, which I hope is based on a true story, where a woman missing her grown up children sees children playing in the snow and gets an idea. She goes home and knits a whole load of mittens and leaves them for children to find if they forget theirs. It is a simple thought, but a lovely one.
The word "mitten" comes from "mitaine" which is a sweet name for a favourite cat. Indeed today many pet cats are called Mittens.
There are various thoughts as to why the connection comes, one is that when a mitten is on the floor the thumb could be the tail of the cat and the glove its body, curled up, and another is that when the fingers are held together inside the space they warm up very quickly like you were holding a cat in your hand. Both these are way better than anything to do with the fact that mittens were originally made of animal fur.
Strangely today they are seen as the poor relation of the glove, but when they were first produced they were only worn by very wealthy people.
As for the cards, they first appear in our original British Trade Index as :
NURSERY RHYMES. Sm. 65 x 36. Nd. (50) ... FRY-11
Carreras Ltd [tobacco : UK] "Fortune Telling" large size (July 1926) 27/36 - C151-130 : C18-13
This card is for National Letter Writing Day, so why not write a short letter, and add it in with the Christmas card that you will be posting in a few days time? One sheet of paper will not add to the size or to the weight.
This set has several varieties, and it looks much older than it actually is. It comes in large size, and in standard size, and both can be found in two versions, with either a "playing card" or a"head" inset. A quick look at the World of Playing Cards/Fortunes site will show you the difference. There is a further variant with the standard sized cards, as the framelines are usually black, but several cards with the "head" insets have been found with brown lines. Is there anyone out there who can supply us with any numbers of this brown frameline version?
Instructions on how to play the game were also issued. They do turn up at auction from time to time but there is a curious fact associated with them, for they have two different addresses. The first, usually catalogued as a) is "23 New North Street", and it was the factory and gifts department, and occupied numbers 23-27. This was in Holborn London. The other, usually quoted as b) is 12 Bath Street. This was another gift department in London E.C.1 but I have not been able to find out much about that yet.
B. Morris [tobacco : UK] "Architectural Monuments" (1910) - M884-130.2 : M142-11.2
Today Buddhists celebrate the Day of Enlightenment, or Bodhi Day, by stringing coloured lights all around their home and leaving them in place for thirty days. Some also light a candle.
The "Bodhi" is not another name for Buddha, it refers to a tree - for which read on. Buddhists use today for meditating, reading, and above all for doing good deeds for everyone they know.
The most remarkable thing about the day was that Buddha did not start out enlightened, or even called Buddha - he was a Nepalese prince, who just happened to go travelling and see how the other half lived, at which point he realised not everyone was so blessed, and most importantly he decided to do something about it. He thought of all kinds of ways to do this, but nothing sounded right, so he sat beneath the Bodhi tree to consider. He sat there a week, and suddenly all became clear. Suddenly he was awakened, which is where we get Buddha from, it simply means Awakened One.
Our card is part of the "General Interest Series", which is often split into smaller sections. The Buddha shown is from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, where he is often shown reclining.
Hignett [tobacco : UK] "Actors Natural & Character Studies" (1938) 23/50 - H536-390 : H44-42
Today is National Pastry Day, and here, as our slightly older readers will instantly shout, is Mr. Pastry, Richard Hearne.
This card seems to presage that role, for he is dressed as an elderly gentleman with a twinkle in his eye, and that was almost identical to Mr. Pastry, one of the first characters on television expressly designed to appeal to the younger viewer. Mr. Pastry entered the screen in 1950 to the tune of Pop Goes The Weasel and after that the fun was fast and furious.
Many say that without him there would have been no children`s television. Others say that he was the first real TV Star. His last appearance as Mr Pastry was in 1962, perhaps because in 1963 he became President of the Lords Taverners charity.
The one role that got away was Doctor Who; he was considered, but seems to have had a disagreement about the part. You may be thinking that this led to William Hartnell coming aboard, but it was way later in the Who-niverse of time, immediately after Jon Pertwee. And that led to Tom Baker taking up the vacant seat in the Tardis.
You can read more about him, and there are videos, at turnipnet/MrPastry
And he also appears on Merrysweets "Telegum T V Stars" (1958) 20/48 as Mr. Pastry
This week's Cards of the Day...
celebrating something further ahead than usual, and that starts on December 1st. Now we all know how much I enjoyed Movember, and this is its even more hirsute relation, #Decembeard.
This adds to the marvellous moustache that you might have "grown" to like, but it supports just one cause, bowel cancer. Events take part all across the globe, so if you are reading this outside our shores or just around the corner please do keep us in the loop with how you are progressing.
🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷⚘🌷
Saturday, 26th November 2022
Of course, the clue here was the beard itself, and he is one of the few bearded football players I know of. Does anyone know any others? I was not a Spurs supporter but do remember these two Argentineans arriving to play for the club - Ricardo Villa and Ossie Ardiles. There is a very interesting account of this at FootballPink
Now I cannot find this set in our reference books but according to the Football Cartophilic Info Exchange / WorldCupStory it was issued in 1994. And there is a full checklist of all the cards there as well.
In 1994 the World Cup was held in America, at a variety of venues, with the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Los Angeles, California. The finalists were Italy and Brazil and it ended in a goalless draw, so it was decided with the first ever World Cup penalty shoot out in extra time, which Brazil won 3-2.
The "Sonrics" star is intriguing but it reportedly refers to a confectionery brand that was launched in Mexico in 1986. The owner, Sabritas, did not actually make their own sweets, they came to an arrangement where other companies did the sweets and they did the distribution. It was a huge success and is now part of PepsiCo. But I have not been able to find out what the connection was between Sonrics and this card. Anyone out there know?
Now this card was almost removed, because as I was going through the index I found I had used this set "Panini World Cup Story" - to illustrate the 1930 Uruguay World Cup Poster. But the back turned out to be different - when I looked, that one was the version with all text and no "SONRICS" logo. But this back is different, entirely.
And it turns out that it is not a double after all, but a different printing, issued in Colombia, so both will remain. And you can see that at https://csgb.co.uk/cardoftheday/2023-06-24
Sunday, 27th November 2022
This clue was a craftier one, because an anchor, which, believe it or not, is a style of beard. It is often said to be pointed, but as it traces the jawline it is only pointed on a man with an oval face, for most of us it is a squarer design. The crossbar of the anchor is formed by the moustache which accompanies it, and there is a small tufted goatee which makes it look like a bar runs up and joins the two.
The set was issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills in two forms.
a) is the Home Issue, only released in the United Kingdom, from May 1925, and the backs mention the Imperial Tobacco Company. . They are large cards, measuring 79 x 62 m/m.
b) was issued in New Zealand, about 1925, and they do not mention the Imperial Tobacco Company. These are sometimes called large size and sometimes medium, and there is some discrepancy about the actual size, for in Wills Reference Book RB.16 (part four) it is given as 77 x 59 m/m, but in both our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, the original and the modern, it is given as 71 x 58 m/m. So let us go check our cards and see if there are not three sets! By the way these cards have a different reference code, which is either W675-645, W62-447, or W/230B
Strangely the Wills set is not the only set of these cards, for it was also issued by The Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada. It is stated to be "similar", and that appears to refer to the back design and the issuer`s details. The most intriguing thing here is the size, because that is recorded as 71 x 59 m/m, and that is almost identical to that given in the Wills Reference Book RB.16 for their New Zealand Set. So was there some confusion at that time between the two sets, which was later cleared up, allowing for the correct dimensions to appear in the original World Tobacco Issues Index? If you know, please tell us.....
Monday, 28th November 2022
This clue was also a bit cryptic, for the "Billy" should have made you think of a goat, as in goat-ee beard. And a goatee beard is one which only has hair under the bottom lip and the chin, though it can also be used to form part of other styles. This is supposed to look like the hanging hair of a goat`s beard, and I suppose it does, if you think that the goat`s face ends abruptly below the lip, there is not so much chin as on a human.
Here we have Billy Wells, and you will often find him using another title, of "Bombardier" Billy Wells, because, as several cards tell us, he was formerly a bombardier in the Army, during the First World War, serving with the Welch Regiment. Now that is quite a risky job, because he has to tend to the guns, loading them with ammunition, which he often had to prime first, then constantly make sure that the vents at the top of the breech stay open, and do not get blocked by gunpowder residue, or even by unexpended bullets and/or shell cases. Now somehow he seems to have not kept that job all through the war, as he later became a physical training instructor, still with the Welch Regiment in the First World War and ended up instructing troop physical training.
He also won The Lonsdale Belt, being the first heavyweight to win it. At that time it was made of solid gold, and it currently owned by the Royal Artillery, though it is no longer at their Barracks in Woolwich - and it is still with the Royal Artillery, though at another location.
The connection with the Royal Artillery is that he actually joined the Royal Artillery in 1906, as a gunner, and was sent to India. He had started boxing as a teenager, but once out in India became very successful, winning several championships. During this time he was promoted from a gunner to a bombardier, and then, in 1910, he bought himself out of the forces and returned to England to become a professional boxer. I am not sure why he did not rejoin the Royal Artillery. It could be that he regretted it and left them the belt, or he may never have thought about them again and they simply bought the belt at auction. I will try to find out.
I could try to write you a brief story of his life, or I could send you off to read The Story of Bombardier - and, amazingly, that site actually belongs to a beer company! For a more detailed one, head to Wikipedia/BillyWells and for his stats to BoxRec/Wells
This set is anonymous, but we know it was issued by Teofani and it was never listed at the back of the book with the other un-identified cards. It first appears in our World Tobacco Issues Index as :
FAMOUS BOXERS (A). Sm. 63 x 37. Chocolate brown. Brand issue. Back, "Issued with `The Favourite` Magnums ...." Nd. (25). See X1/Ha.579.D ... T18-4
That X1 code appears in our original handbook, which is sometimes separate and sometimes combined in one volume with the World Tobacco Issues Index. The text there reads :
X1/Ha.579. FAMOUS BOXERS. Also issued by Cohen Weenen, and with Anonymous back. The four backs are illustrated at Fig.X1/Ha.579, and the following are the printings known.
A. Cohen Weenen. Back 1.
Front in black & white, without caption or number,
(a) back in black
(b) back in green. In this printing No.17 is "Gunboat Smith". No.17 in the other printing is "The Dixie Kid"B. Anonymous, with letterpress on back. Back 2. Front as A
C. Hudden. Back 3. Front in brown, with caption and number.
D. Teofani. Back 4. Front as C. Brand issue, inscribed "The Favourite Magnums Cigarettes"
Now in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index the cataloguing is slightly different to in the original. That reads :
FAMOUS BOXERS (A). Sm. 63 x 37. Chocolate brown. Brand issue. Back, "Issued with `The Favourite` Magnums ...." Nd. (25). See H.579. ... T200-260
The only problem with this is that there is no H.579, it is actually H.721. But what must have happened was that the X1/Ha.579 linked to the original London Cigarette Card Company Handbook, and when the update was made it was not cross checked.
Tuesday, 29th November 2022
Now this is a beard that still exists, and it is still called the Balbo after this aviator. The definition of a Balbo is that the beard and moustache are not joined together, and also that there are no sideburns. However as long as the moustache is not joined in any way it matters not the style or size of it.
Our card tells us that Italo Balbo fought in the First World War, and after the War rose to become Italian Under Secretary of State for Air, completely rebuilding the Italian Air Force. He also made two fantastic long distance flights with squadrons of seaplanes. Unfortunately he got ever more involved with politics, became the leader of the blackshirts, and was imagined by many to be the obvious successor of Benito Mussolini. However, to his credit, he remained opposed to Italy and Germany becoming ever closer linked in the Second World War, and some say this is why he was given the out-of-the-way job of governing British Libya rather than moving up in the goverment at home.
He met his death as a pilot, late in June 1940. Some say that his aeroplane was mistakenly shot down by Italian friendly fire from an ack-ack gun - others say that it was intentional, but covered up. The truth will probably never be known, but it does sound rather curious that he reportedly either failed to respond when signalled to give his identity, or he gave the wrong signals entirely.
Wednesday, 30th November 2022
Here we have one of the greatest beards in cricket, William Gilbert Grace, born in 1848 and dying in 1915, aged just sixty-seven.
However, here we have a card which bills him as "The Late...". That sounded as if he was only just deceased and the card had been designed earlier, but a quick check shows that though this term of respect varies, it usually remains for about ten years, so that would be right in this case and for this date.
The Trading Card Database / Grace tells us that he appears on eighty-nine cards, between 1896 and 2015. They have quite a few missing, so why not help them out
William Gilbert Grace was probably the most important cricketer there ever was - and that is a mighty fine beard.
Thursday, 1st December 2022
Took me a while to find the number on this card, so that is your teaser for today, though you do have the advantage of my finding what it is!
Here we have a most unusual beard, blue in colour. This fairy tale was very old, and draws in many tales of murderous husbands, but it was collected and retold by Charles Perrault in the first ever "Mother Goose" book.
This seems to be his only appearance on a cigarette card. However, according to eBay there is a set of eight large cards on him by Allyn Blanchard & Latimer, who sold, or maybe just roasted, coffee in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. And I have now found them on the Trading Card Database/Allyn where all eight are displayed
Friday, 2nd December 2022
Bewlay & Co Ltd were founded in 1780, and were actually a pipe seller, though they did not make their own, they retailed pipes, and primarily expensive ones. I have found out that they were "formerly Salmon & Gluckstein", and that they were taken over by Imperial Tobacco in the 1950s. They had a network of shops, including at 49, Strand, London, W.C. - and 2 Exchange St, E.C.1 - and were still in business at the time our "Directory of British Issuers" was published, in 1946, though it states they were "Now retail trade only (shops)", but these slowly disappeared until just one was left, in Hull, which apparently still remains - if any Hull residents would like to go and take a photo we will include it here.
This card proves that they did also sell tobacco for it advertises their "Caps the Lot" Smoking Mixture", "as good as the Cigarettes. 5d per Oz. Packet". If you change our underlined "the" for "our" it hints that they also produced cigarettes...? You can also find a slight variant which says "Try Bewlay`s "Caps the Lot" Mixture", and another, rarer, printing for "Try Bewlay`s "Moden Man" Mixture".
They only ever issued two sets of cigarette cards, both "War Series", ours, of 12 cards, and another of 25 cards, which were differently branded, two for "Modern Man", Mixtures and Cigarettes, and one for "Two Great Favourites" [Modern Man mixture and cigarettes]. They are similar to R & J Hill, whose cards cite that the photos, and perhaps the text, are "by permission of The Graphic" [Newspaper"].
Bewlay did issue other cards, namely "Comic Advertisement Cards" for "Flor de Dindigul" branded cigars. Seven cigarette card sized ones are known and they are listed at H.36, but there were also six postcards.
General Leman, far more groomed, also appears on Major Drapkin`s "Celebrities of the Great War". The text mentions "his gallant defence of Liege", and slightly alters his teaching by telling us that rather than our card, where he "was for several years Director of Studies in the Ecole Militaire in Brussels, and is a distinguished mathematician", this card says that "for many years he was Professor of Mathematics at the Ecole Polytchnique in Brussels", and closes by saying "When the forts [at Liege] were eventually captured by the Germans General Leman was found buried in the ruins, and was taken prisoner, badly wounded." Perhaps it was during this captivity when our photograph was taken, in the way that all propaganda looks for the opposing forces at their worst or their lowest.
And that is it for this week, midnight fast approaches, and this must go online. Tinkering can be time consuming. There are still a couple of these cards I will try to replace with better scans but enough already!
By the way the index is coming along well and as I found a slightly different way to do it, all the cards featured in the newsletter will now be included, not just the cards of the day! It will be useful for me too then, and I will no longer have to say "I think I might have had this one but..... "
See you all next week, and pleasant dreams