Newsletter - 2023-08-19

Saturday, 12th August 2023

So for our first clue we chose the most usual form of photographic card - black and white. And it is of a footballer, because our football team is probably one of the things that first come to mind about our national identity, whether that be the men`s or the women`s game.

And this man, William Gillespie is a great representation that our lives are not entirely one sided - for he was born in Ireland, played in England, and this card was issued in Scotland. In fact his International debut was in February 1913, playing for Ireland versus England, and scoring two goals.

We have a difference of opinion here because the card says "Adventure and Vanguard Football Photos" and yet most catalogues, and our reference books, simply call it "Football Photos", We are going to have a foot in both camps and list it in the card index under both titles, as well as cross reference the magazine titles to the publisher, D. C. Thompson. 

Now, of course, the two missing names were magazines. "Adventure" was published from 1921 to 1961, at which time it was incorporated within The Rover (1922 - 1973), whilst "Vanguard" was actually "The Vanguard", and it seems to have been only distributed within Scotland between 1921 and 1926. However there was also a much earlier boys magazine called "Vanguard", which was equally short lived, only running from 1907 to 1909. Perhaps that is why there was a "The" prefixed to the D. C. Thompson version?  I have to say that there seems to be a problem with this, unless I am looking at it wrong - because usually these co-issued sets were split between two magazines at the same time and you had to buy both to get a complete set. However Scottish children would have rather an unfair advantage if "The Vanguard" was indeed only issued in Scotland.  

Anyway this set is described in our first British Trade Index (RB.25), published in 1962, as : "FOOTBALL PHOTOS. Sm. 66 x 35. Black glossy half-tones. Nd. (40) (A)(V)." And it is pretty similarly worded in our updated version, except that the (A) and (V appear after the title, and the date follows thereafter. 

By the way, there is something very important indeed about William Gillespie, cartophilically, and that is that he has one card with two different pictures in the 1925 Gallaher set of "Famous Footballers". And you can see those at https://www.tcdb.com/GalleryP.cfm/pid/205080/Billy-Gillespie?ColType=0&sYear=0&sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand=

And there is also something else important about this set of cards, because it contains the "Rookie Card", or the first ever cartophilic appearance, of the great "Dixie" Dean, 

Sunday, 13th August 2023

This second clue was also another form of photographic card, and that is a standard black and white photo, but coloured, with translucent, see-through paint. This is known as a hand-coloured photograph, and it was indeed coloured by hand, usually by women and young girls. If you look at the card you can see their strokes, and also that when they painted the green lawn they did not lift for the white lines, so they are a greenish-white rather than standing out brightly.

Anyway the subject of this photo shows another source of national pride, our cricketers - whilst also it stands to represent those long hot English summers when we sit, with our picnic hampers, on the grass, and watch a local cricket match, on the village green. And this is something that our overseas readers will imagine that we do way much more of, than we actually do. 

By the way, is there anyone out there who knows the identity of this cricketer ? Was he, or did he become famous ? Is this his unknown rookie card? And if you are a keen collector of cricketing cartophilia, do you have this one yet, or is it unknown, so far, to you, buried away, as it is, in this general photographic set ?

Now we have managed to show another version of the set this week, that being the set of fifty cards with the black backs - which is why B. below is bold and will send you there if you click on it. 

Our original World Tobacco Issues Index catalogues this set as : 

THE HOMELAND SERIES. Nd. See Ha. 539. 
a) Small. All hand-coloured 
     A. Back in blue. (50)
     B. Back in black. Glossy or semi-glossy front. (50).
     C. Back in black. Matt front. (54) and varieties
(b) Medium size. All hand-coloured except G. 
     D. Back inscribed "Hand Coloured Real Photos". (50)
     E. As (D), inscribed "Reprinted at the ...." (56)
     F. As (D), words "Hand-Coloured" dropped (56)
    G. As (F), words "Real Photos" centred under series title (56)

However, whilst our set, and sets B. and C., remain the same in our updated version, there has been a discovery, forcing the (b) section to alter. This now reads : 

(b). Medium size. All hand-coloured except (Fa)
D. Back inscribed "Hand Coloured Real Photos". (50) (a). matt (b.) glossy
E. As (D), inscribed "Reprinted at the ...." (56). Matt
F. As (D), words "Hand-Coloured" dropped. Words "Real Photos" centred under series title on some numbers. (56) (a) uncoloured (b) hand coloured.

Curiously, nowhere in either book does it mention that this set was also issued by Millhoff. That is left to Ha.539, which tells us that the Millhoff set was issued as a small size set of 54 and a medium size set of 56. It adds that the printings are similar, but not identical, with thirty-three of the Cavanders subjects being also in the Millhoff set. It also explains the words "and varieties"  in the Cavanders "C" printing, listing ten cards that can be found with different titles and/or different subjects, and adding that there are two back texts for card number thirty four, plus "innumerable minor variations as between printings, see C.N.N. No.62 pages 27-29 and No.90, pages 46-47. See also "Review", Vol.2, page 33 and "Notes and News" Vol.1, page 105."  

So I will see which of these I can track down by the newsletter. 

Monday, 14th August 2023

Our third clue provided the most important connection, for it showed : Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, said to be the inventor of the photograph. However this card tells the truth, that it was a man called Niepce, actually Joseph Nicephore Niepce, who did that, in the 1820s, (though this card says 1814), and he freely admitted his idea, of taking permanent pictures with the sun, was just an adaptation of lithographic printing. Then in 1829 he teamed up with Daguerre. 

As for the date of World Photography Day, August 19th, it is not the birthday of either man, nor the day that any equipment was invented. Instead it is the date that the French Academy of Sciences released the daguerreotype patent to the world and technically allowed anyone to become a photographer

The first thing to chat about is that there are many versions of this set, and four different titles, as well as untitled versions - scans of which will appear here by the time of the newsletter. Curiously R. & J. Hill also issued this set by another title as well, that being "Inventors and Their Inventions", much earlier, in 1907, and also as untitled versions.

However only our set carries this title, two of the versions being named for R. & J. Hill, and this one not. plain 1934. All three were said to have been issued in 1929, and all are sets of thirty-five cards, whereas the Inventors sets are only of twenty. 

Those first two, Hill, sets are : 

1. a coloured set, standard size, 2 5/8" x 1 5/8", [66 x 37], being printed by Ripley & Co. of London, in three colours, from half-tone blocks, the backs of the cards stating "Issued by The Spinet House, R. & J. Hill, Ltd. & H. Archer & Co." 
2. a coloured set, larger size, 3 1/16" x 2 1/4", [77 x 66], also printed by Ripley.

Now our set is rather different in several ways. In our reference book RB.2, published in 1942, it appears in the same section as the large coloured set above, with no date of its own. I used to think that this meant it was issued at the same time, but I suddenly realise it just looks that way because the date is missing. And in these early books, there are no card codes; if there had have been, it would have been clearer to see it was an entirely different set. Anyway, the catalogue of the third series in that book is : 

35. SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES (titled series). Size 2 3/4" x 1 1/2" [66 x 37]. Numbered 1-35. These cards are produced by photography from the coloured set quoted above. Fronts, printed black only, from half-tone blocks - black and white - narrow, black marginal line and margins. Cream card. Backs, printed in jet black only, with descriptions and inscribed, "Pipe Smokers are recommended to try The Spotlight Tobaccos, . . ." No makers name appears anywhere. [see Henry Archer & Co.) Printed by W. Oliver.

Now I do have some theories about these cards, but I am not a Hill specialist, so I welcome being corrected by anyone who is. 

The first is that though they appear under R. & J. Hill in our reference books, there is a suspicion that they may have been instead issued through Henry Archer & Co., who were amalgamated with Hill in 1905. This is supported by them being mentioned in the quotation above, as well as in the header of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, under Archer, where it states that "Some of the Anonymous issues associated with Hill were probably issued with Archer`s brands". Though "Spotlight" was stated to be a Hill brand. 

Secondly, there is this really odd fact that they were produced by taking photographs of the fronts of another set, and by another printer. Why not just ask the original printer for a re-run? In black only, if you were strapped for cash? And my thought is that they could not, either because Ripley had gone out of business (but surely then the artwork would have come back to Hill) - or that the cards are much later than we think, and the Ripley premises had been hit by a similar bomb to that which destroyed the R. & J. Hill factory and all their paperwork and records in 1941 - or maybe, that after the Hill factory was gone, they came across a coloured set and thought they would be able to continue issuing cards, or at least this one set to test the feasibility, by getting someone to use them as artwork. This does not explain why they were converted to black only, rather than colour, unless what they actually found were the black and white original drawings, or artwork, rather than the cards that we have long been presuming the photos were taken off? 

Tuesday, 15th August 2023

So today`s card has been chosen because it celebrates several things connected with our National Identity.

Firstly our beautiful green countryside, immortalised forever as the final lines of William Blake`s "Jerusalem" as "England`s Green and Pleasant Land", but which, sadly, is fast disappearing . Now despite William Blake being so integral to the English countryside, he only appears to have been immortalised on one cigarette card, the Topps / Allen & Ginter`s 2014 set  called "Where Nature Ends" - he is card 25/.26 . I am not quite sure how Allen & Ginter became involved with Topps, so if anyone can enlighten me, please do. 

Secondly, there is a beautiful, and wistful country girl, unspoilt, and natural. and for many, even now, the ideal woman. Country girls, like the one shown here, would have had a hard life, for sure, with little education or career, and yet I must wonder was she as unhappy, or disappointed with her lot, as many young girls are today with far more money and amazing jobs? 

Then thirdly, the back of the card mentions England`s National Flower, the rose, and women are sometimes referred to as English Roses - most famously Princess Diana, in the song written as her memorial by Sir Elton John. Though roses have long been associated with romance, it only became the symbol of England in Tudor times, when the white rose which represented Elizabeth of York`s House of York, and the red rose for Henry Tudor (Henry VII)`s House of Lancaster, were united, on their marriage in 1486.

Now if you look closely at this card there is a hidden secret, for there are two men here. If you look behind the man gazing at the country girl there is a horse, and he is drawing a cart with an older male driver on it. You can see his head just above the more visible man`s head, and slightly to the right as viewed. 

This is another version of the set with the blue back that we featured two days ago - which is why A. below is bold and will send you there if you click on it. Our original World Tobacco Issues Index catalogues this group of sets as : 

THE HOMELAND SERIES. Nd. See Ha. 539. 
a) Small. All hand-coloured 
     A. Back in blue. (50)
     B. Back in black. Glossy or semi-glossy front. (50).
     C. Back in black. Matt front. (54) and varieties
(b) Medium size. All hand-coloured except G. 
     D. Back inscribed "Hand Coloured Real Photos". (50)
     E. As (D), inscribed "Reprinted at the ...." (56)
     F. As (D), words "Hand-Coloured" dropped (56)
    G. As (F), words "Real Photos" centred under series title (56)

Wednesday, 16th August 2023

Here we have something that celebrates things which are quite high up the list of things that other countries think of when they think of our National Identity - these being our history, our pageantry, and our Royalty, And Windsor Castle seems to be more loved and recognised overseas than does Buckingham Palace.

To start with our history, yes we do appear to have a longer story than most other countries, and our country is dotted with structures of ancient origin. However, all land masses were created at about the same time. along with all the different groups of first humans. The sad truth is that when one country colonised/invaded another and we were no different, the new arrivals cared not for preserving the past of the original inhabitants, destroying their structures, and casting their stories aside. 

As for pageantry, well even if you are not a Royalist, you cannot fail but be stirred by the sight of our massed armies in ceremonial dress, at such events as the Trooping of the Colour, and the Changing of the Guard, They are impressive, and designed to be so, for they were a civil way of demonstrating a military might, just like the Eastern European parades of yore. They might be spectacular, but they also say look here, this is what we have at our disposal, should you invade. 

Royalty might be seen as outdated now, and the movement to democracy the way forward. But like the pageantry, there is something to having a strong figurehead. I am unsure whether, or not, it would have been better if they had remained convinced that they were serving under Divine Right. However I also think that once the single Royal became the Royal Family, everything changed simply because one person can manage to keep themselves away from the spotlight, but having too many of them is too hard to protect, or control. 

Now this is a curious set indeed, and though it is at the back of the book in both our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, both clearly state that it was by Moustafa, The company themselves are elusive, though I am told by several collectors that their name was a play on words, because "Mustafa" means "The Chosen One" in Turkish. 

According to our Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers, RB.7, published in 1946, Moustafa & Co. was founded about 1886. Then it says that they were formerly at 112, Commercial Street, London, E., after which they "associated" with W. J. Harris & Son, Ltd. and became Moustafa Ltd. of 82 Commercial Road, London, E. - however the entry in the same book for Harris says that their old address was 84 Commercial Road, and their present address (in 1946) is 112 Commercial Street. Will have to research that. 

In any event, Harris joined the United Kingdom Tobacco Alliance in 1905, along with Cavanders and Major Drapkin, and then were taken over by Godfrey Phillips in 1909. When that happened, Godfrey Phillips also got what are described as "the assets" of Moustafa. Something else to research. 

As far as the cartophilic output of Moustafa, that was well after Godfrey Phillips had acquired them, in the mid 1920s. Three sets were issued with the Moustafa name, these being :

• "Camera Studies" (50 - 1923)

• "Leo Chambers Dogs Heads" (40 - 1924)-  and

• "Real Photos" (25 - 1925) -

plus another three which were issued without the name, these being

• "Hand Coloured Pictures of Movie Stars" (25 - 1924 - which seems to appear in catalogues as simply "Cinema Stars" And by the way this link goes to a newsletter, so you will need to work down the page a bit),

• our set "Hand-Coloured Pictures of World Interest" (25 - 1923 - which again you will most likely find listed as "Pictures of World Interest") - and 

• another set of "Camera Studies" (50 - 1923) which was identical to the "Moustafa" branded set listed above but stated in the World Indexes to be "without any of the captions or numbers". However, what they actually meant was that it had a plain back. 

This set appears in both our World Tobacco Issues Indexes under "Anonymous Issues (1) with letterpress on back - 2. English Language Issues - without reference to tobacco." Their set description is the same in both, namely : 

HAND-COLOURED PICTURES OF WORLD INTEREST. Sm. 63 x 35. Hand-coloured brown gravures. Nd. (25) Issued by Moustafa. 

And before I close, you are right, this is not a real photograph. But it is the sort of "photo" that would have appeared in newspapers of the time. In fact the gravure fell out of favour because if you looked at the image very closely the edges were not entirely straight, and this was seen as a disadvantage when compared to other printing methods.

However, in these modern times, we seem to have come full circle, for most magazines and papers use various electronic and digital means of production, and we have ended up accepting a very similar result all over again, without complaint.  

Thursday, 17th August 2023

Here we have another instantly recognisable National Symbol for Britain, the British Bulldog. Though in recent years it is falling from favour as a symbol and being replaced by the lion, as in our footballing "Three Lions"  and Lionesses. However in the 1700s bulldogs were seen as symbols of courage and bravery, and also one was drawn in as the companion of a cartoon character, typifying England, called John Bull. He, and his dog, were really long lasting, and he was still used during the First World War on recruiting posters etc. Then, in the Second World War, Winston Churchill even called himself "The British Bulldog". 

Sadly the bulldog breed is not very long lived, only lasting for six or seven years, and suffer badly with deformities of their hips and skull and, strangely for one so associated with courage, weakness of their heart and breathing. Most of this is as a result of selective breeding, aimed at making their faces more pugnacious and their bodies lower, wider hipped, and broader across the chest

Now the dog on this card, "Basford Revival Replica" is quite well known, and Basford is a big name in the Bulldog breeding World even today. The card tells us his date of birth, the 26th of March 1935, which means he was only four years old on this card. He was originally owned by Mr. Roddy, but was then sold (?) to Mr. F. Dunn, and relocated to America, where he continued to charm the show ring, and also father many more show winning bulldogs.

This set was issued in 1938, with a second series the following year. It is described in both our World Tobacco Issues Indexes under John Sinclair section No. "4. Issues 1934-39. Small size 67 x 35-37 Large 76 x 63 m/m" The description is : 

CHAMPION DOGS. Black and White photos. Nd. 
1. Backs "A Series of... " 
    A. Small (54)
    B. Large (52)
2. Backs "2nd Series of ..."
    A. Small (54)
    B. Large (52) 

By the way, we featured a card from the large size version of this first series in a previous newsletter - as a diary card for Tuesday, 26 July, 2022

Friday, 18th August 2023

Now here we have The Royal Navy, the pride of all British Fighting Forces, and envy of the World, and also British sailors, who are world renowned as being the most skilful, and also the best at adapting what they have at hand in a crisis to save the day, There are examples of this throughout the card-world. However, there is also a direct cartophilic link to two companies that issued cigarette cards - Gallaher Ltd and J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd. Their story is entwined, for in 1925 J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd started to issue "Senior Service" branded cigarettes, named directly after the nickname of the Royal Navy.

Now why it was called that was because it was the oldest military force in Britain. You may wonder at this, because surely the Army came first, but if you think about it the Army only had any use after the opposing forces were on our land. If we wanted to go and fight them, we had to first cross the water which surrounds our shores. 

In 1937, Gallaher Ltd acquired J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd, and used the Senior Service brand. For some reason, they were chosen by Ian Fleming as the brand of choice for his secret agent, James Bond, and they appear in several novels, these being Goldfinger (1959), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), and The Man With The Golden Gun (1965). It may seem strange to younger readers that the hero smoked, because today it is way more likely to be the villain who does that, and the hero who does not. Such is the way that the world changed, without us. 

Now the date of this set, just pre-Second World War, means that it is also propaganda, and that is why you get cards showing what fun it is, for recruiting purposes, as well as the serious military side, to frighten any enemies who got hold of the cards. In addition these photographs were direct from the War Department themselves, and reportedly they wanted control over the texts as well. 

This set is listed in our original reference book to Ardath (RB.6), published in 1943, as : 

May 1938. 50. LIFE IN THE SERVICES (titled series). Size 1 7/8” x 2 11/16”. Numbered 1-50. Printed in 2 colours, blue and black, from half-tone blocks, titled, white margins, varnished. Backs printed in bronze-blue, with descriptions, adhesive. Issued with State Express and Ardath Cigarettes. Also issued in Jersey. Issued abroad February, 1938, and to H.M. Ships in April 1938. 

Dec.1937. 50. LIFE IN THE SERVICES. As above but not adhesive. Issued in New Zealand. 

Our original World Tobacco Issues Index, and the updated version, simply lists this as :

LIFE IN THE SERVICES. Sm. Blue-black. Nd. 
A. Adhesive back. Home issue
B. Non-adhesive back. Export issue. 

So “A” must cover all the issues listed in the first paragraph, and “B” refer to the New Zealand version. I am sad, for that is a lot of information deleted, and if you do not have the original Ardath Reference Book, lost to you forever, including the curious date order to where the cards were issued.