Newsletter - 2023-01-07

Saturday, 31st December 2022

Now the first clue to our theme of this week was a bit of a fiendish one, because Leighton Phillips was also born in Neath, but a little bit later, on September 26, 1949.  He started his career with Cardiff City in 1967, and his first touch of fame was as a schoolboy international. He seems to have been a versatile player, but he felt the club was not getting the results they deserved and so he decided to leave for Aston Villa, in whose strip he appears here. He was there between 1974 and 1978, and most of his appearances on cards are for Aston Villa. In fact it appears that the only card of him actually at Cardiff City is card 21 of the 1969 "My Favourite Soccer Stars" set which was given away with "Lion" Magazine. Unless you know otherwise?  

Our set is not actually titled, so it has been called "Footballers" by default, though as a clarifier we do get the date of issue. It is another issue where there was a Scottish version (132 cards with yellow backs) and an English version (330 cards with these fiendishly hard to read and scan red and pink backs).

The first ever Topps Footballers was issued in 1975 and the bottom reads Topps Bazooka Ltd. All the rest, until 1981, one set every year, are credited to Topps Chewing Gum Inc. I never realised until starting to work on this that Bazooka was a Topps brand, and yet it was, since its inception in 1947. 

I have found a report on our set from Cartophilic Notes and News Volume 7 number 77, September-October 1977. (all those sevens!) And it says : "Topps Footballers (AD) Series of 330. Another long series of Footballers coloured with white border, titled at the base with name of player and club. Backs are printed in red with a black border giving details of each player`s career with a detailed account of his appearances and goals scored etc. Issued with "Footballer" bubble gum and reported by Fred Smith"

And if you want to see an actual packet for "Footballer" bubble gum, just nip over to Australia, where Nigel`sWebSpace/Topps shows this one and others! 

Sunday, 1st January 2023

Now for our second clue we have chosen this, and I have to say it is very appropriate with all the New Year`s Day parades. And the reason for this is that Alfred Jones` father was a mill worker, but an uncle bred horses, and when Alfred left school he went to work up there. Two of our later cards this week tell us that this establishment trained hunters and racehorses, and during this time he also became a jockey for the yard, riding at several races. He must have liked it, and also must have been good, because in 1925 he joined the Household Cavalry in 1925, hence this card of them at parade. Of course he was way too young to be one of the men on this card, but it is definitely a stirring image, and for a keen horseman it must have been a wonderful life. 

This set appears in our original Wills Reference Book, where it states that it comes in two formats and that not all the cards have been seen in both. This was updated in Wills Book part two, because all the missing cards had been found, so yes, it is possible to find a set in both the printings. The difference in those printings relates to the arrow decoration that appears around the reverse framelines. Type A is a wider arrow, in which the lines do not touch, and it measures about 2 m/m across. Type B is a narrower arrow, all joined up, and this measures about 1 m/m across. 

• The cards start with number 1 who is Edward VII H.M. The King. There are two printings available, one has him looking sideways and the other full face. So that makes four possible versions, with both the arrow styles. Card 2 is Queen Alexandra H.M. The Queen. 

• Cards 3 to 9 then show you the ceremony, and the procession, which our card forms part of.

• Cards 10 to 28 are the prominent attenders from our shores.

• Cards 29 and 30 show the English and Scottish Regalia, in that order.

• Cards 31 to 32, 34 to 38, and 52 to 60 show prominent attenders from Europe and Overseas.

The missing ones from the above run are : 

• Card 33 - Prince Edward of Wales, who seems a bit out of place, and grumpy, despite his sailor suit. 

• Cards 39 - 49 which are Royal Residences and places of interest. 

• Cards 50 and 51 which are the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York, in that order. 

Now our reference book tells us that the cards were printed by Oppenheimer, but I cannot track them down. Does anyone know more? 

Monday, 2nd January 2023

This was the most fiendish clue, for here we have the Flying Scotsman, and when he left the Household Cavalry in 1928, Alfred Jones decided to become an actor. He started the way so many do, playing a series of extras, actors who appear in the background and hope to stand out whilst doing so, in order that they might be noticed by someone important, who can take their career closer to the front of the screen. And it worked, gaining him not only a part in a film called "The Flying Scotsman" (1929), but a new name, Raymond Milland. But more about that later too! 

Our card shows the train being hauled by a Gresley A4, which to my mind is best, but there is also a neat link to the film for Sir Nigel Gresley, chief engineer for LNER, who operated the train, was unhappy about some of the stunts used and forced the insertion of wording in the credits to say that such things would never happen in real life. It is rumoured that he also stopped the LNER appearing in any other motion pictures, which I will have to research. 

This is actually the second series of these Kellogg cards with the red overprint. There is some confliction as to the details here, so any clarity would be welcomed indeed. 

Our original British Trade Indexes tell us that there were three versions, 

• 1. 1st series - a set of sixteen cards marked as "A Series of 16"

• 2. 2nd series - a set of sixteen cards marked as "A Series of 16"
       a) without "Series 2" added in red
       b) with "Series 2" added in red

By the publication of our modern British Trade Index, item 2 was what had formerly been 2a and item 3 was now the red overprinted version. 

Oddly Bills Bulletin, Volume 4 no.37 tells us that the first series has only 12 cards.

The Cartophilic World magazine for March-April 1961 (Vol.14 No.152) gives us the additional information that the cards for the first series were only found in special packets of Rice Krispies. They apparently had a circle in the corner on the front which gave the set title. 

This is backed up by a later issue (Cartophilic World Vol 14 No.156 - November-December 1961) that says Series Two shows locomotives of the World and is issued as one card in every small packet of Rice Krispies and two cards in every big packet. 

The artist, and very talented they are too, is WARD, but I have not been able to find him yet. 

Tuesday, 3rd January 2023

Here we have Ray Milland himself. The back of the card tells us that he was "..born in Neath, Glamorgan, on January 3rd 1905". It also adds that he was "..educated at King`s College Cardiff". Then it says that his "real name is Jack Millane". Have never heard this one before - does it appear on any other cards?  

Now the text also includes a mention that "A British Film Star gave him his film chance" - this is curious, as it is usually said that his big leap was caused by Estelle Brody, who he befriended and she gave him a little part in her next movie, "The Plaything". Problem is that Estelle Brody was an American, born in New York in 1900 and of half Russian parentage. She did come to England in the 1920s, where she was a dancer on the West End Stage, and was spotted by a film director who liked the look of her and put her in his next movie. She was popular with the audiences as well. Now this is where the confusion seems to come in as at that time, much as today, the emphasis was on home grown films and stars, so her American roots were covered up under the guise that she was Canadian. When she started playing in more British pictures  this was further fudged over by her adopting a more British accent and not declaring any place of birth. 

This card measures 67 x 36 m/m and is a black and white photo. Note the "PARAMOUNT" within the photo, that is the Studio for whom he was contracted and who supplied the photo.

The back seems to be for R J Lea but it actually has what is known as "Successors" wording, and this refers to the fact that R. J. Lea had just gone into voluntary liquidation - this was reported in The London Cigarette Card Company`s "Cigarette Card News" July 1938 magazine, vol.5 no.57

And you can see images of the whole set at ImmortalEphemera/LeaFFS

Wednesday, 4th January 2023

Now if you compare this card with yesterday`s card the text is really similar, so much so that it must have been based on a press release. The entire first section dealing with his birth and education is word for word. Though this card deletes any mention of Jack Millane, or that he worked for his father. And it uses slightly different wording about the potato boats. However after that we have the fact for the first time that he "...schooled horses for his uncle who bred racers and hunters, then he became a sparring partner in a boxer`s training camp". It says, exactly, about the British film star who gave him his chance and is very similar right up until he goes to Hollywood in 1930. Then it closes with four films, but they are also slightly different - here we get "Her Jungle Love" and "Tropical Holiday"  both issued in 1938 which do not appear on the R J :Lea card - plus two that are on both "Men With Wings" and "Say It In French" (also 1938 but later). The Lea card replaces the first two with "Hotel Imperial" (1939) and "Beau Geste" (1939), but neither of those had been released at the time of our John Player card. 

There were substantial changes to the life of Ray Milland in the 1930s. Firstly he was now based in America, starting at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, then moving to Warner Brothers. He had also got married, had a son and adopted a daughter. MGM released him suddenly, and he decided to return home to England, leaving his family behind. His wife was a college student, and was hoping to graduate before following. This did not work out too well and he had returned to California in 1933, where he was picked up by Paramount.

So lets start the cartophilic chatter with the first magazine write up of the set, which comes from the London Cigarette Card Company`s "Cigarette Card News" magazine vol.6 no.63, December 1938 - and that says :

"JOHN PLAYER & SON - "Film Stars" Third Series. Fifty small sized cards. A coloured series including a high proportion of British Stars. Well produced and likely to have considerable popularity."

I am slightly surprised at this because though I do like film star cards this set is not one of my favourites. But I am also unable to find the artist though the signature does appear on each of the cards. If I could track them down I might get more excited. 

Anyway we are delighted to say that you can see all the cards online, courtesy of ImmortalEphemera/JP3

I have to say that this is quite a simple description but the describing and annotating of this set gets rather confusing later on! Our original John Player Reference Book RB.17 of 1950 lists it as : "Film Stars or Screen Celebrities. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey with descriptive text. Special albums issued."  It then lists the three series as versions as items 90 to 92 - ours being 

• 92. 50  Third 50 Subjects with reproduction of autograph on front. 
  A. Home issue, inscribed "Film Stars Third Series". Adhesive backs with album  & I.T.C. Clause. Issued November 1938
  B. Channel Islands Issue inscribed "Film Stars Third Series". Adhesive backs with no album clause nor I.T.C. Clause. Issued October 1938
  C. Irish issue inscribed "Screen Celebrities". A series of 50. Non adhesive backs, with I.T.C. and Exchange Scheme Clause (large green numerals overprinted on reverse). Issued January 1939. 

The book is very well annotated and even includes a link from S for Screen Celebrities back to "See Film Stars, Item 92"

There are some alterations to this by the time of our first World Tobacco Issues Index. The basic Home Issue set appears as P72-162.3 under section 2C and just says it is inscribed "Third Series" (50) See RB.17/92. The Channel Islands version goes in section 3C as P72-218, and is also announced to have been issued in Malta.  And the Irish Issue appears in section 2B as P72-131 by merit of the fact that cards with and without adhesive backs are now separated. 

By our latest edition of the World  Tobacco Issues Index this is much the same, except that the code numbers are now P644-328 (section 2C) for the Home issue, P644-668 (section 4C) for the Channel Islands and Malta, and P644-270 (section 2B) for the Irish issue. 

Thursday, 5th January 2023

There is a bit of a gap between our last card and this one, caused by the Second World War. Ray Milland had tried to join the U.S.A.A.F., as he much enjoyed flying, until his studio put a stop to it thinking it too dangerous. This backfired for he took up D.I.Y., during which he severely damaged his hand with a saw. The resulting injury put paid to the U.S.A.A.F., oddly, for it was his left hand not his right, and there must have been another capacity in which he could have served in there if not a pilot. Also he did end up as a flying instructor for the Army, but on a civilian basis rather than an official military one. He also continued to make movies which he felt were just as useful to the war effort. Then in 1944 he found a space with the U.S.O. and toured with them as an entertainer, mostly in the Pacific regions. 

In 1945 he took a part which is now regarded as his best, that of an alcoholic in "Lost Weekend". And he won the Best Actor Academy Award, becoming the first Welshman to do so.  

Now this is an unusual card, and it is quite hard to track down information on the maker but I have discovered that in the 1920s they issued a set of twenty-eight sport related cards under the title of Domino Sport, and you can read about that at the Football Cartophilic Information Exchange / Guillen.

Now at this time they were at a different address in Barcelona, namely Robador-31, but they do seem to have changed names and addresses several times but always in Barcelona, there is an advert for  an Alejandro Guillen at Calle a la Gleva, which seems to be earlier than the above. Our address is at Hospilet de Llobregat. Nothing comes up online at any of these places. But maybe one of our European readers can add more ? 

By the way their list of products were the easy to translate Chocolates, and Caramelos, but also Bonbones - which are chocolates with praline inners, think Ferrero Rocher - and Turrones - which are nougats. 

These are actually thin paper rather than card, and the backs can show quite a bit of set off, which occur when the wet just printed paper sheets are stacked on top of each other. The red border is the chief culprit, and whilst the purist may hunt for non-tainted ones, it is very common and not really damage.

Guillen also issued another set of film stars, brown and white ones, in the 1920s, and they were also at Robador-31.

Our cards are some while later, and though 1954 seems to be the year that is most often quoted mid 50s is probably the closest we will ever get. Also, I do not know how many there are in the series - but most of the stars appear to be female, with only Charles Boyer, Danny Kaye, Fred MacMurray and Tyrone Power being available right now online. 

Friday, 6th January 2023

Here we have Ray Milland in later life, and the text mentions the film "Lisbon", which was actually shot on location in Portugal, and released in 1956. He directed and produced it as well as starring. It seems to be regarded as being lovely to look at but not much in the way of content.

This set seems to cash in on the TV Western craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and it was the final set of the C.W.S. Tobacco company. It was also issued in 1957, just months after our original World Index, so it does not appear there and we only have one code, from our more modern World Tobacco Issues Index. 

Now there was a special album issued, for this set alone. And you can see it online, thanks to Moviecard.com/CWS-West  - I am not entirely certain but it looks like the intention was to stick the cards in place but the thoughtful owner of that one has cut slits in to make it a corner slot. I base this on the fact that they appear to be slightly rougher cut than machine slits would be. But I would be interested to hear from you if you have any opinions. 

As the decades passed Ray Milland made several horror pictures and appeared on the Broadway stage. He continued to be involved with television westerns, and he was also in the pilot film/episode of the original version of Battlestar Galactica. I have not been able to track him down on any of the sets, but if you have one please send us a scan and I will be most excited to either replace this cowboy card or tack it on below!  

Ray Milland died in 1986 aged 78.