So welcome, dear readers, to another week of exciting entertainment and intriguing ideas. And it will hopefully appear on time, despite the fact that I have been called upon to perform many other household and familial tasks which are way less exciting.
This week I have not done much of the index but the weekend is coming so perhaps, perhaps. I did get a chance to add more information about the early years of our Reading Branch, and its Cameric ancestor - and also all of the first twenty-one of our Reference Books are now photographed and added to the blog page, though only the first few have anything much of a content. You will also spot on that same page that there are now photographs of Charles Glidden Osborne and Edward Wharton-Tigar, two of our early Presidents.
So onwards to this week`s newsletter. And if anyone can add further information, please do.... the email, as always, is simply webmaster@card-world.co.uk
Topps [trade : chewing gum : O/S : USA] "Baseball" Series 1 (1954) 10/250
Today we celebrate the memory of Jackie Robinson, who made his debut in the Major League today in 1947, when he took the field as part of the team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. You may not realise what a momentous event this was, nor what an amazing career he had, not just as a player, but as a breaker of barriers and a champion against segregation. His place in the Baseball Hall of Fame was richly deserved, and not just for his sporting prowess but for everything he stood for.
According to the Trading Card Database / Jackie Robinson there are almost five thousand cards showing his image. I doubt he would have ever believed this would happen when he was born Jack Roosevelt Robinson, in Cairo, Georgia, on the last day of January, 1919, one of five children being raised by a single mother who lacked in money what she made up for in determination.
Modern baseball fans will spot first that this card mentions The Brooklyn Dodgers, and perhaps wonder who they were - for in 1957 they moved to a different town, and state, and took for themselves a new name, of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As far as what happens on Jackie Robinson Day, which is an annual event, on this date, April 15, well we salute his memory in our own way, though if you are a baseball fan you will know that everyone, players, umpires, training staff, and many fans, are allowed to wear his uniform number of 42.
You can read all about this set at Cardboard Connection / Baseball 54 - where there is also a checklist.
Topps was started in 1938, coincidentally in Brooklyn, the home of those Dodgers. It is often said that its first foray into the baseball card market was in 1951, though this was a one off set - the first set in what would become an annual series only came in 1952. However neither of these were actually the first Topps baseball card. That was issued in 1949, as part of a set of "Magic Photo Cards". The idea was that the card was wettened and allowed to see the light. There were over two hundred and fifty different cards, but nineteen of them showed baseball players, and one of those was Babe Ruth.
W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK] "Arms of the Bishopric" (August 1907) 50/50 - W675-098 : W62-63 : W/39
Today is the County Day for Orkney, and also St. Magnus Day.
Now Orkney may be a tiny island, but has a long and rich story, and St, Magnus, believe it or not, was a Viking. His full, pre-sainted name was Magnus Erlendsson, and he was Earl of the Islands. And he appears on this shield, the standing figure all alone in what are called on the card "royal robes".
I have not found any other cards of him, but his name was used for a Royal Mail vessel, featured in Stephen Mitchell`s "River & Coastal Steamers" (1925) 60/70, and a racehorse, who is part of W.D. & H.O. Wills "Racehorses & Jockeys 1938", card 37/40.
This card is described in our Wills Reference Book part 3 as being :
Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in grey with descriptive text. Home issue 1907.
This was the only series of this set, quite unlike the Borough Arms. Was that just because there were relatively few bishoprics and many Boroughs (even without the leeway that particular set gave to the title)? I looked it up - because I was curious, about everything - and there are currently only forty-two. Unusually both the Bishop and the Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney are ladies;surprisingly our Bishop was the first female in the Scottish Episcopal Church; and even more surprisingly she is supportive of all marriages, irrespective of gender, only of love.
Something intriguing on the card is that it tells us the "See of Orkney [was] dormant [from] 1757 to 1864, when it was revived and united to Aberdeen". For at one time the Diocese of Orkney was very important, and even included the Island of Shetland. The Diocese also seems to have changed sides several times, with control passing from the Archbishop of York to the Archbishop of Hamburg. And the first bishop is thought to have been from Germany. However its home cathedral was St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall, which was started in 1137 and not finished until the 1430s. Whilst the last true Bishop of Orkney alone was only that for one year, 1688. He died in 1700.
The truth is that the islands were not owned by Scotland, nor were they even united until 1468, at which time the bishopric was running out of Trondheim in Norway. In fact the Ancient Seal of Orkney shows the Royal Arms of Norway being supported by two figures in Norwegian dress, right down to their seal skin boots, and even the 1975 Coat of Arms retains one of those same men.
As for why the bishopric was then revived and shared with Aberdeen, this relates to the re-establishment of the bishopric system in 1878. I think it was more of a takeover though, for its home base has now moved inland, to St. Andrew`s Cathedral in Aberdeen.
John Player `Doncella` brand [tobacco : UK] "Country Houses and Castles" (1981) 22/32 - P644-372
Off to another part of the British Isles now, and at a much later date, for today in 1951 was created the first National Park on our islands. This was the Peak District, and it extends into parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire, to a total size of 555 square miles.
It would be followed, that same year, by the creation of National Parks in The Lake District, Snowdonia, and Dartmoor. And today there are fifteen, scattered across the British Isles.
Our card shows Chatsworth House, known as the Palace of the Peak. It is three and a half miles from Bakewell, and is the official residence of the Duke of Devonshire, whose family has lived there since 1549. However this current house is later, by two centuries.
You will also find Chatsworth House on other cards. Nine are held at The New York Public Library/Chatsworth - including probably the earliest, John Player "Castles and Abbeys" which was issued in 1895. There is also a version of this card with a white border, that seems not to have the grandeur of this non-bordered card.
There are at least two other cards they do not show either - John Player`s "Country Seats and Arms" A series (1909) 11/50 and Pattreiouex`s `Senior Service` "Sights of Britain" first series (1936) 30/48. Plus, of course. our card, from a set which was only issued with `Doncella` cigars and not with `Grandee`.
Edwards, Ringer & Bigg [tobacco : UK] "A Tour Round The World" (March 1909) 36/50 - E265-400 : E14-19 : H.75 : Ha.75
After the calmness of the National Parks, I am taking you into calamity now, though it looks pretty quiet here on this card.
However, today, March 18th, in 1906, an earthquake rocked San Francisco. In the chaos and confusion, and the fires which broke out, over three thousand people died, and only twenty per cent of the city remained standing, most of it uninhabitable. And Market Street, shown on our card, was also affected with buildings destroyed. There is seven minutes of footage of the aftermath on YouTube, a trip down Market Street, which I will watch tonight.
If you think that is exciting, wait until you read on. For this set was first issued by F & J Smith, in January 1906, just two months before the earthquake. I wonder how many early collectors heard the news and saw their first picture of the place via one of these cards?
Our version was not issued until March 1909, and then another was circulated, by W.A. & A.C. Churchman, from January 1911. Only Churchman are lucky enough to have one of our early Reference Books devoted to their issues, though F & J Smith was intended to share a cover with Stephen Mitchell. But the description the Churchman book gives would almost certainly fit all. It is :
Size 2 11/16 x 1 7/8 or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-50. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in brown, with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall. Also issued by Edwards, Ringer & Bigg and F.& J Smith.
Diamond Publishing [trade/commercial : O/S : USA & Canada] "The Simpsons" (1990) 145/150
Now you may not have realised it at the time, but when a little feature appeared on television as just a small part of a comedy sketch show, it would lead to a show all its own, which has run for thirty four seasons, and is stated to be running on for at least two more.
The show was the Simpsons, and they first appeared, as almost an aside, in The Tracey Ullman Show, on April 19, 1987. The first one was called "Good Night". These continued to be just part of the show for just over two years, but then, that Christmas, they appeared as a stand alone show, and oddly they started with a Christmas Special - I say this because most shows make a name for themselves and then start branching out into the often tongue in cheek seasonal tie ins.
This sticker was designed to fit in a collectors album. Like many others the stickers were sometimes singles and sometimes part of a larger sectional picture - indeed stickers one and two form the first picture in the album and three and four the second.
The stickers were printed in Italy, and there also seems to be some kind of a connection with Panini, and with Euroflash. The first real Panini Simpsons set seems to have been issued in 1991 though. Whilst the only album I have examined for this set is bi-lingual with addresses of the Diamond Sticker Trading Clubs for Illinois in America and Ontario in Canada, and it originally cost 79 cents empty.
There was a bit of a gap then, for the next Simpsons stickers appeared in 1999. These were the first in the "Springfield Collection" a series of five sets numbered I to V that finished in 2005. The next set, called "Springfield Live", appeared in 2013. All these were issued by Panini.
Petpro Ltd [trade : confectionery : UK] "Grand Prix Racing Cars" (1962) 32/35 - PET-140 : PET-1
Today we remember Phil Hill, who was born Philip Toll Hill Jr., on this day in 1927, and who was the only American born driver to win the Formula One Driver`s Championship.
And before you all write in, Mario Andretti only became American, he was born in Italy.
His first ever appearance on a card was in 1959, "Racing Cars of the World" issued by Planet Ltd, and he only just squeezed in as card 49 of 50. The card says that he is "tipped as probable World Champion this season by Hawthorn". However that did not happen, he was only fourth that year, probably due to two retirements in Portugal and America.
In 1960 he was only fifth - though he was featured in Clevedon Confectionery`s "International Sporting Stars" as card 27 .
Then in 1961, the year of our card, he did indeed win the Drivers World Championship.
This car is the 1961 1 1/2 litre Ferrari V6, number 38. However I have to say that though I am pretty sure the driver is Phil Hill, who used a white helmet, and who only drove car number 38 once, for the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, that same number was used the following year for the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, but the car was driven by Lorenzo Bandini, who used a silver helmet.These were the only times that this car was driven under number 38 though.
He retired in 1966, though he did have an unknown honour in that year, for his car carried the camera that would immortalise the start for the 1966 motion picture "Grand Prix" with James Garner.
After he retired he started to restore classic cars and race cars, this lasted well into the 1980s. He also kept his hand on the racing wheel by commentating and driving in classic and feature races, as well as having three years in International Formula Three. Sadly the racing was cut short by a diagnosis of Parkinsons Disease, which took his life in 2008.
Our original British Trade Index part 2 tells us that these cards were issued in 1955-1965 period but gives not a hint of what with. It also tells us they are 64 x 29 m/m, numbered, and a set of thirty-five cards.
We have to wait for our modern updated volume, in the year 2000, to find out that the cards were actually issued in 1962, with "Racing Cars Chocolate".
Petpro had a factory in Kelvin Way, Crawley, and is described as making confectionery and chocolate, though it seems this was the only set of cards they ever issued. And tracking them down is proving hard for PetPro was also used by a plastics manufacturer and is currently being used by an online pet supplies company.
Anonymous [tobacco : O/S ; South Africa] "African Fish" (1937) 27/50 - ZC01-050 : ZC-1 : RB.21/356
And now a little wish to respect a fish.
For today is Tuna Rights Day, as is every April 21. The day aims to make fish eaters, think about sustainability before they select their fish, let alone eat it.
Tuna is one of the most sobering examples of this, for when it was first canned in America in 1904 it was seen as a wonder food, they could not can enough. But within thirty years there were no tuna left, without the fishing trips getting longer and longer away. That was when we should have thought. But sadly we did not.
If you eat tuna, you should look for the word "pole" on the label, because either pole-caught or pole and line caught mean it was fished in a way that did not destroy other sea life. And try not to eat the Albacore, which was that original canned almost to destruction tuna.
I do not eat fish, and have not done for many years. I know that some people do not think much of fish, and that there is even a recognised term for a vegetarian who eats fish, but to me all fish are living beings and beautiful shimmering ones at that. I would rather my fish was still swimming, happily, like my chicken was still scratching in the yard, and my cow a-mooing in the grasslands. And you may kick my soap box now.
This card calls the tuna by another name, the Tunny which is technically the name of the bluefin species, but does seem to stand for all tuna in many places. So does John Player "Sea Fishes" (1935) 33/50, where it tells us that the Tunny is "...common in the Mediterranean and in adjacent parts of the Atlantic....the largest member of the Mackerel tribe, attaining a length of twelve feet and a weight of fifteen hundred pounds". You will also find a Tunny in The Northern Co-Operative Society`s "Wonders of the Deep" (1965) 23/25
This card might be anonymous, and have Z coded numbers in both our World Tobacco Issue Indexes, but there is an identifying mark to the bottom right and that proves it was issued by United Tobacco Companies (South) Limited of Cape Town, South Africa.
Our RB.21, devoted to the issues of British American Tobacco describes the set as :
Small cards, size 67 x 36 m/m. Front in colour. Back in grey with descriptive text in English and Afrikaans. "C.T. Ltd" at right base. Numbered series of 50. Anonymous issue with letterpress on back
This week's Cards of the Day...
Welcome to Monday - and the solution to our latest week`s theme. This week we have been hoping to encourage you to gain a new perspective on life and take part in National Look Up at the Sky Day.
This takes part on Friday, which might be showery, so probably not the best time to lie on a blanket and gaze skyward. But showers are not always all day rain. And when did you last take notice of the clouds that brought you the rain ?
Again looking up at the sky costs nothing, and though it does not make you healthier (unless you count your increased exposure to the air outdoors), it is very relaxing, and can be exciting.
Saturday, 8th April 2023
So here was your first clue to this week`s theme. Of course the answer was the word "Stars" which are probably the thing you are most likely to see when you look up into the night sky - there being approximately two hundred billion trillion of them.
Stars, to us are tiny twinkling points of light, that look like little glowing bulbs in a black curtain. However their appearance to us is as a result of their great distance. If we were able to get close to them we would seen retreat or be burned, for they are very large, and constructed of the gases helium and hydrogen, making them a teeming mass of combustion.
The largest star used to be called Uy Scuti, and it measures over a billion kilometres across. However now we know of one even larger, called Stephenson 2-18. Whilst the hottest star, Wolf-Rayet 102, is almost forty times hotter than the Sun.
Look up, and be amazed at the things we still do not know and cannot even imagine.
This set only appears to appear in our updated British Trade Index, where it is described as
Football Stars (AD) (H) 1957. 69 x 37. Black portraits, varnished. Nd. 48. Nos 1/8 singly, 9/48 in horizontal strips of four. THO-280
Of course (AD) is Adventure Magazine, which is our version, and (H) which is Hotspur. And as I suspected, the cards were split between the two magazines, thus making you buy both to get the full set.
And the reason for the black edge markings is that this was in one of the strips of four.
You can read more about all of the Thomson footballer sets at Football Cartophilic Exchange / Thompson
As for our man, Danny Malloy, he started at a team called Camelon Juniors, and then moved to Dundee FC, where he became the captain. He died in 2015, aged eighty-four.
He appeared on several trade cards, most of which you can see at DoingThe92/DannyMalloy - and though the 1957 Barratt & Co. "Famous Footballers" (A5) is often quoted to be his rookie card, the first card listed here was two years earlier. And appears to be the only one which shows him in his Dundee strip.
Another card to look out for is the 1961 Barratt & Co. Set of "Famous Footballers" (A9), for there is a misprint which seems to somehow have printed the A9 version with an A8 instead
Sunday, 9th April 2023
Here we have clue number two, and this is a rather obscure one. The answer was nothing to do with the picture on the front, (but I am very fond of pirates!), nor the subject, nor the author either. It was the rather hidden fact that this set was issued by Cope Bros with "Golden Cloud". And also with "Cope`s Mixture".
"Golden Cloud" was a tobacco, not cigarettes. It was further described as being made of "Finest Bright Honey Dew" and an "Aromatic Plug" - "manufactured from the finest selected Virginian leaf".
Now there is a curious fact which I welcome your input over - and that is that in 1948, almost half a century after this card was pulled from a packet, Cope and Lloyd registered the Golden Cloud trademark in Australia. So did they issue cards there with this name? Or did they intend to?
Over to you....
This card is a hundred and twenty three years old, which I find just wonderful. A small piece of pasteboard, with colours on top, and yet here it still is, as visible as it was way back then. The character, Nanty Ewart, the captain of the Jumping Jenny, turns up in Redgauntlet, which is part of Sir Walter Scott`s Waverley Novels, and was published in 1824, though it is set in the 1760s, and deals with a further, fictional, attempt at a Jacobite Rebellion. Sadly he was not a tattooed Pirate, but he was a smuggler.
Now there are a few things to mention about this card. The first is that it is technically backlisted, as it says in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, but it is also numbered as part of that backlist, whereas most backlisted cards just have the titles and not the numbers. I cannot think of any other cards that are backlisted and numbered, but maybe you can?
The second is that in the 1950 London Cigarette Card Catalogue, and in some dealers lists and websites to this day, the set is quoted as having two formats. These are often quoted as (A) wide card and (B) narrow card. In that 1950 catalogue the wide cards are listed at between 5/- and 15/- each and £35 a set, whereas the narrow ones are only 2/- to 6/- a card. But the narrow card is not the result of some unscrupulous merchant trimming the edges of a defective card, it was officially trimmed by Cope. But I cannot find out why. So if you know, and have a narrow version of this card, please tell us.
Monday, 10th April 2023
And lastly, the clue was that same old moon, another beacon in the night sky. In fact right now it looks especially beautiful for it is pink in hue.
Strangely though, that is not how the moon at this time of year got its name - for it was likened to a North American flower that bloomed at the same time, called moss phlox or moss pink. I am rather sad we did not use one of the Native American names, for the Cree Indians of Canada knew it as the Frog Moon, because it summoned the frogs to the pools. Mind you I don`t want to think about why they were glad about this because I am pretty sure if I followed that trail it would lead me to cooking and to eating.
This card was just one of the many uses of the artwork by Bruce Bairnsfather, often featuring his creation "Old Bill". He appeared on china, and as metal figures, and even as a car mascot. And he was played by Charlie Chaplin`s older half-brother, Syd, in the Warner Brothers' film "The Better 'Ole", screened in 1926. You can see his portrayal on W.D. & H.O. Wills "Cinema Stars" first series (1928) 4/25 - and it mentions the film on the reverse.
In fact you can find this very image as a sepia postcard, part of "Bystander`s" Fragments From France Series 6 - there being nine series in all, each of six cards. You can read the titles and see all of the cards in an excellent pdf produced by the Wokingham Philatelic Society. However there is a difference between the two though, because the postcard has the text in the bottom border, and inside the image, not on the reverse as in our version - the young lady`s thoughts appearing on the wall of the house to her right - and the soldier`s thoughts above the post and his head. And when it was originally printed as a cartoon in the "Bystander" Magazine, the words only appeared once, in the image. You can see that at the Mary Evans Picture Library
In our original Reference Book to the issues of R. & J. Hill (RB.2), this set is split into three versions. Which I will scan by the newsletter.
Our updated World Tobacco Issues Index lists it as
Fragments From France. Sm. 68 x 37. Unnd. See H.212.
1. Captions in capital letters
A) front in colour
B) front in sepia or buff
C) front in black and white2. Captions in upper and lower case letters. Coloured front only (10)
This is also the system used in the 1950 London Cigarette Card Company catalogue, where set A) is listed for sale at 25/- to 70/- a card, set B) for 30/- to 80/- and set C) just being listed with no price. However they say that the ten cards as set 2 are "different subjects, caption in block", and price them up at between 8/6 and 25/- each or £12 a set.
However in the original version of our World Tobacco Issues Index, issued only six years after that catalogue, it combines the two coloured sets and has set A) as twenty cards, with B) and C) as above.
Tuesday, 11th April 2023
This set was named for a very good reason, to celebrate Brooke Bond`s invention of the Pyramid tea bag, in 1996. Odd shaped tea bags had been tried before, including wrapping the tea in a silken square and tying it tightly just below the top to form a little ditty bag.
Of course there was a very good reason for making tea bags, and it was all about squeezing every ounce of profit from the tea crop, for the tea in a bag was sweepings, little pieces of leaf and stem that had broken off during the packaging of the more expensive blends.
The Pyramid bag was supposed to be a great invention because it allowed room for the warm liquid to circulate more freely through the contents inside. However there was also a bad side to it, because to make the bag self supporting it was made of plastic. This meant it was not suitable to recycle with your weekly collection or to put in your home composter or wormery. If you are only just hearing this, check out the list of plastic free tea bags at ImPlasticFree/TeaBags - and switch to a more Earth-Friendly brand, like Tetley, who have even found a way to make their pyramid bags plastic free, or the stringed ones, at least..
As I climb off my Eco-Soap-Box, this is quite an unusual set, of just forty-five cards. They measure 89 x 63 m/m and there was a special album issued, but only an album, not a wallchart. The album was obtained by sending £1 cheque or postal order to the address on each card. Another oddity is that though it is known as "Pyramid Power", those words appear to the left hand side of the pyramid shape on the back, whereas at the top of the card it says "Wizard T. Bagg presents The Magical Mystical World of Pyramids". So was that the original title? Anyone know?
You can see a checklist of all the cards at NSLists/BBPyramid - as you might imagine several of the cards feature Ancient Egypt, but there are also other landmarks from around the world, and a goodly bit of mysticism.
This set does not appear in any of our British Trade Indexes. However I have worked out that there is enough space in the coding system of our original British Trade Index part four to give it a number. I did this by simply adding the sets in that were issued after that had been produced, not so many. Listed in that volume are
BRM-75 - "Going Wild"
BRM-76 - "The Diary of Kevin Tipps"
both of which were issued in 1995. There were only two sets issued in 1996, these being :
[BRM-77] - 40 years of the Chimps - which appears in our May/June magazine - and -
[BRM -78] - Pyramid Power - with red backs - which appears in the Sept/Oct one.
Now there is also a reprinted set of "Pyramid Power" with black and grey backs, which is simply that the places on our card that are red were printed instead in grey. The fronts are all coloured so it does not seem to have been of much use if it was to save costs. This version was issued in 1998.
Wednesday, 12th April 2023
Yes, this is based on the standard John Player "International Air Liners". And whilst the front looks almost identical - the only difference being the fact that there is no "Player`s Cigarettes" printed on it - just look at that reverse!
This version appears first in our John Player Reference Book (RB.17), and it is listed after the Home issue, the Channel Islands issue and the Irish issue, hence the "D" suffix. The text says that it is :
Overseas issue, non-adhesive backs, no album or I.T.C. clause. Anonymous issue. Issued May 1937.
I am rather surprised that there is no mention of there being a giant aeroplane at the bottom of the card, for surely this would be a far better way of identifying the set than there being "no album or I.T.C. clause". Don`t you think?
That was its last ever connection with its housemates though, for in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes it is removed, added to the back of the book, and given a "Z" number.
Thursday, 13th April 2023
After "[is it] a bird?" (Tuesday), "[is it] a plane?" (yesterday), what can we have but, "No, it`s Superman...."
This is not the earliest set of Superman, but it is intriguing, because it was first issued in America by Topps, as a trial. You can read a bit more about that at Kandor Archives. Then it was issued here by A. & B.C. Gum, who had been connected with Topps for just under ten years, and were allowed to not only make and sell "Bazooka" Chewing Gum, but to produce Topps cards and distribute them.
Now A. & B.C. Gum was formed in 1949. There are many ideas of how it got its name, but the leading two are that it stood for American and British Chewing [Gum] - and that four men who had just left the Army and were looking for something to fill the time used their family names in alphabetical order. You can read about the four men theory at CardhawkUK/A&BC .
You can see the entire set at the Trading Card Database under Superman in the Jungle - and if there are any Superman collectors who recognise those images from a Superman comic do let us know. I have failed to track that down.
Our original British Trade Index part three says that the cards measure 81 x 55 m/m and were issued in 1968. However our updated version gives 81 x 56 m/m. Both split the set into two sections :
1. Titled "Superman in the Jungle" Nd. (66)
2. Titled "Punch out Jigsaw Puzzle" Nd. (16) The puzzle pictures form a picture of Superman in the Jungle.
By the way if you look at the text on our card, there is an error. It`s a pretty bad one too. In case you cannot spot it, the start of line two says "Sueprman".
Now what I really want to know is did this error come from the Topps trial set, or was that set correct?
Anyone knowing, do please tell.
So was there ever a corrected card.... ?
Friday, 14th April 2023
A few oohs, over there? For this is not the Wills version at all. This one comes from South Africa and the set is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as being
sm. 67 x 36. Nd.
1. a series of 60 - see RB.21/200-188M
2. 2nd series of 50 - see RB.21/200-188C
3. 3rd series of 50 - see RB.21/200-188B
I think I may have got those letters wrong. Never mind it will be sorted tomorrow. RB.21/200-188M tells us the strange make up of those sets, for the subjects in our set are fifteen cards from the Wills first series, thirteen cards from the Wills third series, and thirty-two from the Wills fourth series. This is even odder when you learn that United Tobacco Company actually issued the entire Wills third series as is, but never issued the second.
In the original Wills set this card of the comet appears as number nine of the third series.
Comets are one of the most exciting sights in the night sky, with their long streaming tail of tinselly light and a ball of glowing white fire at the front. And yet few of us ever get to see them. They are all numbered, and the system of numbering them was all started by one man, Charles Messier, who did it purely for his own pleasure, just like we do with wants lists of cards, so that we might cross off the ones we have collected and inscribe rings round those we would really like to spot.
There is actually a list of comets on the internet, and it tells you when and where to go out and look upwards into that night sky. The site is run by Sky and Telescope - so there is now no excuse, save cloudy weather, to go find yourself a comet.
And so, in good time, with lots of other cards added in and with all the codes, I close the ledger for this week. It has been fun doing this, I much enjoy the tracking of facts and the tracing of trails. I wish I had more time to do these little bits the justice they rightly deserve, but things are as they are, sometimes.
I do like to think there are readers out there, watching the home page where last week`s edition still lies and waiting for this one to pop gently and silently into place. If that is you, thank you for coming by...