thank you for tuning in and I hope to manage to post something at the midnight hour even though it will be but a shadow of what I had planned. Some of you may know of my little canine companion and some may even have met him. At the moment he is not very well, he has an abscess on his cheek and eye, we have been to the vets twice this week and he is having drops in his eye every half an hour, day and night, after which he has to sit on my lap so as not to rub the eye or cheek, and also so that the drop does what drops are told to do rather than run off on the sofa or carpet. We are back again Tuesday, to see if the eye can be saved. If hope can save an eye, it will.
Anyway this has not left much time for a fantastic newsletter, but it has at least distracted me from thinking of other things, for which I am supremely grateful.
Amalgamated Tobacco [tobacco : UK] "Communications" (1961) 2/25 - A495-280
Now reportedly today in 1799 saw the discovery of the Rosetta Stone as shown on this card. This was found during the Napoleonic Campaigns, and luckily someone realised that it was not just a lump of basalt with scratches on it and gave it a longer look. Then they discovered that it was actually writing, a legal text issued by the Pharoah Ptolemy V, and made so that all his subjects could understand it, by writing it in hieroglyphics, Egyptian, and Greek, one above the other. And from this simple stone those languages were suddenly opened up to historians.
When the British defeated the French at the end of August 1801 they set terms for the surrender and somehow managed to work in the fact that any antiquities and collections would have to be dispersed. One of the items Britain acquired was the Rosetta Stone; they took it to London the same year and it was put on display at the British Museum in 1802.
Amalgamated Tobacco was rather a prolific card issuer, with over thirty sets, though most of their cards went off to Mauritius. And also most of their texts were in French though this set has the text in English and the branding in French. It covers every form of communication, including papyrus, in which context I think I have used it before in a newsletter. However the same set was also issued by Sketchley the cleaners (remember them?) so I will be able to do a sneaky substitution along the way. If not, it also features in Churchman "Treasure Trove" 31/50, and as part of Nicolas Sarony "Museum Series" (1927)
John Player [tobacco : UK] "Film Stars" Second Series (December 1934) 41/50 - P644-328.2.A : P72-162.2.A
Barbara Stanwyck, or Ruby Catherine Stevens, was, as it says on this card, born today in 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was English and her mother Canadian, but with Scottish and Irish ancestry. Nobody in her family was theatrical, but she dreamed of being a performer, even after she left school and found employment in a telecommunications company, some say this was as a switchboard operator and others as a kind of call centre girl. However in her scant hours off she would wander amongst the theatres looking for posters asking for dancers, actors, or even as costume hands. One day her persistence paid off and she was hired, aged just seventeen, as a chorus girl.
It took her until 1928 to move to Hollywood. Around the same time she married Frank Fay, mentioned on the card. They were married until 1935, and they adopted a child, called on the card simply Dion, but actually Dion Anthony Fay. It was not an entirely happy or peaceful union and the marriage ended in divorce in 1935. Some say this was one of the stories which provided the background for the story "A Star is Born" but Frank Fay lived until 1961, and remarried three times. And his death was because of a ruptured abdominal aorta, not suicide.
In 1938 Barbara Stanwyck married again, to actor Robert Taylor; this was longer lasting but again ended in divorce, in 1952. After that she found a new screen, television.
In total she made almost a hundred movies, and many popular television series, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, but never won - though in 1982 she was awarded an honorary "Oscar".
She died just eight years later
Again the home version of this set was issued after it had already appeared in Ireland, one month later.
Maspero Freres [tobacco : O/S : Palestine] "Birds, Beasts and Fishes" (1925) 12/50 - M406-100 : M70-1 : RB.21/200/151.C
Swan Upping happens every year in the third week of July, and lasts for five days, but it has been part of the calendar since the twelfth century. It involves catching the mute swans and their cygnets as they swim along the River Thames from Sunbury-on-Thames to Abingdon on Thames.
Today any unmarked swans in open water belong to the British Crown and two livery companies of the City of London (The Vintners and the Dyers) but up until the sixteenth century they could also belong to landowners, which is why they had to be caught and checked.
Rather horribly , and with no content warning, the last section of this card tells of their fate in those early days. Today, thankfully, the purpose of the upping is simply to count their numbers and check for injuries, or for orphan swans.
Maspero Freres, or Brothers, were based in Jaffa, Palestine, and were an associate of British American Tobacco. Oddly the cards do not mention tobacco at all. Their listing in the original World Tobacco Issues Index is :
BIRDS, BEASTS AND FISHES. Sm. 69 x 40. Nd. (50). See RB.21/200/151.C
Note : B.A.T. records refer to a series "Silhouettes of Reigning Monarchs" (20) of which no cards have been traced.
Anonymous [tobacco : O/S] "Cinema Celebrities C" (1935) 44/48 - ZA08-185.B : ZA8-7 : X21/255 : RB.21/255
María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez was born today in 1908. Her first stage appearance was in vaudeville, in her homeland of Mexico. Her mother was also a singer, in opera and in vaudeville.
Dropping her forename, shortening her second, and forgetting her third saw her move to Hollywood in 1927, and became one of the first Mexican superstars, eventually creating a character called The Mexican Spitfire, whose career took in a series of eight movies.
However the name could also have applied to her personal life, for she dated many actors and married Johnny Weissmuller in 1933. Some say this was to get over John Gilbert, others that it was to spite Errol Flynn. The marriage was a disaster, including three filings for divorce and very public fights. After that there were six other dalliances, equally conducted in the full glare of the press. And then, in December 1944, she killed herself, with an overdose.
Now this set was issued by British American Tobacco, in this anonymous form, in two sizes, and by Westminster Tobacco, only in the standard size. It is recorded in our original British American Tobacco Reference Book, RB.21, as
255. CINEMA CELEBRITIES (C). Front in colour. Back per Fig.255, in green. Numbered.
I. Small size, 68 x 36 m/m. Series of 48
A. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back.
B. Westminster issue. Cards of the A printing overprinted in large yellow letters ; "Fume "Emblem"
II. Medium Size, 70 x 54 m/m. Series of 36. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back.
Now the fig.255 showed our size, and I would have called that medium, however that was cited here as a set of 36 and our card is card 44. But X21/255 tells us that all the sets were of 48 cards.
By the way the anonymous standard sized set was issued in Malta, Malaya and South Africa - the medium sized set for the Channel Islands.
Anonymous [tobacco : UK] "English Costumes of Ten Centuries" (1919) 37/40 - ZB07-255 : ZB6-20 : X21/457 : RB.21/457
Today, in 1821, George Augustus Frederick, or George IV, was crowned. This card gave me the greatest trouble because I looked at the IV on the card and read it as VI but then after a very long time I realised that the date on the card was right. Never mind I am back on track now.
He had already been Prince Regent, which is King in all but name, because his father George III was unable to rule completely. At the time they said he was mad, now we know he was very ill, with porphyria. As Prince Regent, George Augustus seems to have enjoyed being a man about town, getting involved with architecture, art, and fashion. It is to him that we owe the Brighton Pavilion and Buckingham Palace. Sadly this led to his public thinking his wasteful and extravagant, and in addition he had a very unsuccessful marriage, and sought to divorce his wife. However this was never accomplished.
This set first appears in RB.21, our original British American Tobacco Guide, as
457. ENGLISH COSTUMES OF TEN CENTURIES. Small cards, size 67 x 36 m/m. Front in colour. Back in black, with descriptive text. Numbered series of 49. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back.
The X21 reference is in the handbook to our original World Tobacco Issues Index and it corrects the number in the set to only 40 cards, not 49.
This set was issued in Malaya. And it is a very similar style to the set of Charles Dickens Characters, which I will investigate tomorrow
Whitford & Sons [tobacco : UK] "Inventors Series" 4/20 - W525-350 : W54-1 : H.213
Now we have featured this event before https://csgb.co.uk/publications/newsletter/2023-03-25 but this allows us to speak more of Alberto Santos-Dumont who was born today in 1873. And also to talk of this curious and almost forgotten manufacturer.
Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pilot, aircraft designer, sportsman, and inventor, and many say if not for him powered flight would not exist. He flew and designed airships, and aircraft, and helicopters, and was the first to fly a machine which was heavier then the air in which it flew.
We must also credit his family though, who were wealthy coffee growers which allowed him the time without work, and the money to spend on his hobby, and the money to perhaps waste on what others would have deemed stunts, only designed to attract the attention of people who would support him still more and further his ambitions.
And at the time this set was issued he would have been a household name, one of the most famous men in the world. Today he remains a hero across Brazil, being the recipient of many buildings and statues. Sadly he committed suicide in 1932. Some say this was on medical grounds. But others that he saw the Second World War approaching, and did not want to see his beautiful craft used for killing and for destruction.
Whitford are not listed in our Directory of British Issuers, but they are in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes as "Whitford & Sons, Evesham, England - cards issued in the 1920s". The listing is "INVENTORS SERIES (A). Sm. 68 x 38. Nd. (20). See H.213
They actually appear in a trade directory as Whitford & Sons, Tobacconist, gifts, agricultural items, Bridge St, Evesham. But no time to trace that link now.
Whitbread & Co. Ltd [trade : breweries : UK] "The History of Whitbread Inn Signs - Isle of Wight" - medium size (1974) 1/25 - WHI-120.3 - WHI-2
Now to close, lets discover The Battle of the Isle of Wight, of 1545. For it was today that the French forces passed Portsmouth Harbour, drew ashore at the Isle of Wight, and started to disembark their men.
France had tried to fight us for control of the Isle of Wight for many centuries. In the end they were sent away, and never tried again. There were battles though, including The Battle of The Solent, hence our card - and during which the King`s Flagship, The Mary Rose, sank to her watery grave.
The French had planned to land in two places, and traverse the island until they met and marched as one huge army. This did not go so well, though there were considerable French forces, approximately two thousand at the first landing. However they did not realise that men would be brought in from other places but the Isle, some coming from London and other centres of fighting forces - they believed that they would only have to fight the farmers with their rudimentary tools.
Now this is not the original series of cards, which, I am very surprised to learn, were issued way back, between 1949 and 1958. These look the same, though some of those early ones were on metal. The trick is to look at the title, for the original "Inn Signs" is now "History of Whitbread Inn Signs".
These appear in our British Trade index part 2 as :
THE HISTORY OF WHITBREAD INN SIGNS 76 x 50. Rounded corners. Special albums issued. Eleven series,
1. Bournemouth (25 cards)
2. Devon & Somerset (25)
3. Isle of Wight (25)
4. Kent (25)
5. London (10)
6. London (15)
7. Maritime Inn Signs (25)
8. Marlow (25)
9. Portsmouth (25)
10. Stratford-Upon-Avon (25)
11. West Pennines (25)
Now my first thought is why the London sets were split up in such a way, because if combined they also form a set of 25 cards, uniform with the others. So if you know do tell us.
The above description also appears in our modern British Trade Index but there are a few changes, the date of 1973-74 being added, along with the fact that these are on board (thick card), and it is also clarified that it is not "Eleven series" but "Eleven numbered series" - in other words each set is separately numbered on each card
This week's Cards of the Day...
have been revolving around "Hampshire Day", especially in respect of our clubs and branches. The day falls on the 15th of July, which this week was Friday. However this is a relatively new celebration, for it was only started in 2019.
So our first card was
Saturday, 8th July 2023
This card gave us Southampton, a great start, because our 1997 Card Convention was held there, in the Guildhall - and also our Winchester and Solent Branch meet at Botley Market Hall, six miles, or eleven minutes away.
There is one curious fact that I am glossing over though, because Southampton, like Portsmouth, is actually no longer part of Hampshire, being independently governed. However they are still included within the county when it comes to ceremonial events.
Part of this set was issued with "Lion" and part with "Tiger" magazine, which pretty much forced young boys to eke out their pocket money all the harder in able to get the entire set Both of these magazines were issued by Fleetway Press, "Lion" having started on 23 February 1952 and "Tiger" on 11 September 1954.
Originally the cards came as a strip, and they were cut by hand by the new owner. Some preferred to leave the dotted line cut immaculately in half whilst others removed every trace of it by cutting the cards slightly smaller.
It took me a while to find this set in the British Trade Index, so I have scanned the page - it is a bit slanted but then so are we all, in wildly different ways.
The cards are also listed in the updated British Trade Index as
FOOTBALL TEAMS (A). (L). (T). 1958-59. 115 x 89. Black.
Issued in pairs or blocks of four. Unnd. (56) in four series. See HF-27. Anonymous issue
HF-27 is the updated handbook to the British Trade Index but all that is there is another list of the cards and it is exactly the same as the above list.
Sunday, 9th July 2023
This one is for our Winchester and Solent Branch as well as another facet to July 15th, for it is also St, Swithun`s Day, and he was buried at Winchester Cathedral. And also, as it tells us on this card, "In Saxon times, Winchester was England`s Capital"
Reddings Tea had addresses at N.17 and N.19. Their header, in our original British Trade Indexes, tells us that they issued cards between 1962 and 1967, that they were of small size, 69 x 37 m/m, and that special albums were issued. However the entry for just this set is "Sm. Nd. (25)" And it is much the same in our updated British Trade Index, though it starts with the date of issue - 1966 - then continues with the "Nd. (25)"
I have seen an album for this set, it is fairly large in size, and portrait rather than landscape view. The cards fit into numbered boxes and the text is printed beside each one. There is one curious card, "New Windsor" - because I have never heard the Berkshire town called this. But I will do a spot of research and report back...
Now a lot of collectors simply call this set "Heraldry" - but if you look closely at the card the words "of Famous Places" is in white lettering in the black bar beneath.
Redding Tea issued several sets of very well produced cards between 1962 and 1967. These were
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"Warriors of the World" first series (1962) - 24 cards
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"Warriors of the World" second series (1962) - 24 cards
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"Ships of the World" (1963) - 48 cards
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"Castles of Great Britain" (1965) - 25 cards
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"Cathedrals of Great Britain" (1965) - 25 cards
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"Heraldry of Famous Places" (1966) - 25 cards
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"Strange Customs of the World" (1969) - 25 cards
I was struggling a bit with finding Reddings Tea online, but have just been informed that they were part of Williams Brothers, They were one of those much missed grocery stores with many local branches but in the early 1970s they were taken over by the much larger Booker group.
Will keep looking
Monday, 10th July 2023
Now this was a bit spur of the moment, but it did give you the clue to Hampshire for sure. And if anyone knows of a cartophilic link to any of our branches with this card do let us know!
Now Hill issued three series of cards, all called by this title, and one which adds "Series" at the end. They are easy enough to tell apart though, because the first one, the one with "Series", issued in 1912, has twenty-eight cards and is either found in black and white, brown, or blue with red backs. The second version is ours, a set of forty cards. The third is a set of fifty cards, and includes the South African Test Team, and you can also get that set in a larger format. So there should not be too much confusion.
Our set is described in our original Reference Book No.2 (RB.2), covering the issues of R. & J. Hill, as
1923. 40 FAMOUS CRICKETERS (titled series). Size 2 3/4" x 1 1/2". Numbered 1-40. Fronts, printed by photogravure, one colour only, no titles or margins. Backs printed in dull brown with crossed bats design : descriptions and "Issued by R. & J. Hill Ltd., The Spinet House..." at base. No address. Printed by Ripley & Co., London.
Now by the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index there had been a very interesting discovery, and now it says : "FAMOUS CRICKETERS. Sm. Brown gravures. Nd. (40), with variations for some numbers, see X1/Ha.633." The X1 prefix means the handbook to the World Index, which in later printings is combined within the same binding. That explains more about the variations, which I find rather intriguing. These are :
No.3 (Tyldesley, E) and No.19 (Kennedy, A) - found either (a) in a cricket shirt, or (b) in a blazer
No.19 (Holmes, P) - found either (a) on a plain background, or (b) on a cricket field background.No.30 (Douglas, Col. J.W.H.T.) and No.32 (Hardinge, H.T.W.) - found either (a) with a light background, or (b) with stumps, just visible, either in the left bottom corner on card 30, or at the side on card 32,
No.35 (Fender, P.G.H.) - found either (a) a close up with 6 m/m from edge of card to head, or (b) further away, with 12 m/m from edge of card to head.
Now I have not seen these cards, but to me cards 19 seems to be very similarly described to 30 and 32, the light or plain background version, and the playing field with the stumps. If anyone can confirm or deny this, please do.
And I also wonder if there are any other cards with the cricket shirt or blazer variant ?
So have a look at your cards and lets see if we can expand our knowledge!
Tuesday, 11th July 2023
Now this is here because this cottage is near Guildford, and our Hants and Surrey Branch meet within the Guildford Area, at at Normandy Village Hall, Manor Fruit Farm, Glaziers Lane, Normandy, GU3 2DD
Now the burning question is does this lovely cottage still exist? That goes out to all members and visitors of Hants and Surrey Branch especially, but also to anyone who is super skilled at tracking a location by a photo by using the internet. There are a few clues in the description as well.
So in case you have not guessed, this is a stereoscopic set designed to be viewed in a special machine that slightly alters the image and makes a three dimensional view. If you look at both the fronts for this number they seem the same but there are slight differences, for instance the smaller roof is longer on one card than the other.
Some time I might add another blog "S for Stereoscopic" because they are a crossover set between cards and another branch of collecting, in this case photography. Plus there were also several different machines issued to look at the cards with, and these fall under the scope of collectors of toys and games.
Anyway this set is listed in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes under header :
1. Stereoscopic Series.
Each number consists of a "Right" and a "Left" card, printed together as a pair and often found joined at centre. A complete series is thus twice the number shown against each set.
However the actual listing is only "GLORIOUS BRITAIN. Md. Nd. (25)." This (25) does seem rather confusing, for if you look at these in most dealer`s catalogues today you will find them as MS50 - M standing for Medium size, S for Stereoscopic and 50 in a set, which does take into account the fact that each card is one of two versions.
Wednesday, 12th July 2023
So here we have Bournemouth, which has many links to Cartophily. The Hants and Dorset Branch currently meet in Ferndown, Bournemouth, and their originator and secretary lived in Bournemouth too. And in the late 1930s there were Cameric Cigarette Card Club Branches at Westbourne Park and Bournemouth
Now though you may think me foolish to say Bournemouth is in Hampshire, when it is now in Dorset it has only been there since 1974, after a governmental shake up saw Bournemouth moving to Dorset instead. And in fact today Bournemouth, like Winchester, and others, governs itself as a Unitary Authority.
We have had this card before but not as a Card of the Day, only as a Branch illustration, and the issuer is quite interesting. Our "Directory of Issuers" (RB.7 - published in 1946) tells us that they were based in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 105-109 Leith Street, and they issued cards between 1901 and 1916. Given that date, it is likely that they were forcibly stopped by the First World War.
Popular brands were "Abbotsford", "Alderwood" and "Luntin". There was also a "Luntin Mixture" which was tobacco, not cigarettes. Their set of "V.C. Heroes" was also issued branded for "Luntin Cigarettes, Mild and Medium", and their version of the "European War Series" also, except that adds "Full" to the strengths. Whilst their earliest set, "Boer War Celebrities STEW" was issued with "Goldfinch Cigarettes", sold as "10 for 3d - with mouthpieces".
Then, in 1926, they were acquired by Godfrey Phillips, who kept their name for certain products, but never again issued cards within those packets. However they were still operating in 1956, when our World Tobacco Issues Index was first published.
This set appears in that volume as "ARMS OF BRITISH TOWNS. Sm. 64 x 35. Nd. (50)
Thursday, 13th July 2023
Now here is an unusual set, but why it is here this week is for our Winchester and Solent Branch - who, starting in 1983, the year of their founding, held their meetings at The Peninsula, or Light Infantry, Barracks in Winchester, home of The Greenjackets.
As far as E. H. Booth & Co., Ltd. they may be described as "tea and coffee" but they had branches in Blackpool, Blackburn. Kendal, Preston, St, Annes-On-Sea and Southport, so additional research was definitely on the cards, as it were. And it turns out that whilst these cards may have been issued with just tea and/or coffee, and that tea was their start in the grocery trade, the company were actually grocers, founded in 1847 by Edwin Henry Booth, and they still endure today, as Booths.
Our British Trade Indexes tell us that they issued three sets of cards in the 1960s. Two of these, "The Island of Ceylon" and ""Ships and their Workings" were also issued by other firms, but our set is a one off, only ever issued by E. H. Booth. And it is simply described as "Sm. Nd. (25)" but being issued at that date means that I am fairly sure I will be able to discover a New Issues Report somewhere by the newsletter.
Friday, 14th July 2023
And here is a very unusual card.
This is another nod to Winchester and Solent Branch, whose last meeting was held in January 1986, for the Barracks were being closed and the Light Division moved to a new depot on the outskirts of Winchester. Most of the site was then sold off for housing, but a part was used for the Winchester Military Museums, which includes The Greenjackets
For the first three years of the Winchester and Solent Branch, their meetings took place in the Light Infantry Barracks. These were free of rent, which is why at that time they charged no subscriptions. The last meeting was held in January 1986; this was due to change within the ranks, the Barracks were being closed and the Light Division moved to a new depot on the outskirts of Winchester.
To say goodbye, this special commemorative card was issued, which is much sought after by militaria collectors.
The front of is a reproduction of a card first issued by Churchman in 1934 as part of a set called “Well Known Ties”. Both show the barracks, and the Greenjackets regimental tie, but there are differences between the two so have a look and see if you can spot them. This is a most attractive set, and one which so few collectors seem to know of. But do be aware that the set has been reprinted more recently.
This single card turns up very occasionally. This one is mine and I bought it on eBay, very cheaply.
And there I must close for the night. However if I get any more info it will be notified you on the What`s New banner on the front page.
Thanks for tuning in, and best wishes to you all