September, already! And all too soon it will be Christmas. In fact we are already working on how to celebrate this, so if you have any ideas, let us know.
Likewise we are starting to see the branch and club calendars reaching their last few months, so please let us know as soon as you hear of any meeting dates for 2024.
And finally, if you collect a theme that has a special centenarial anniversary in 2024, please let us know. Of course if you are reading this as a member of the Cartophilic Society why not write about it yourself, and send it to our editor, that it can be featured in our printed magazine? His e-mail is in the magazine. It does not have to be lengthy either, in fact some say that the true nature of a magazine is to be completely filled with tiny snippets by different people. So why not make 2024 the year that you start writing?
This week I was off to a flying start, and then drifted, But I am still ahead, just. However there are some interesting cards this week, and I am surprisingly still managing to find cards that we have not used before. Long may that continue.
So what, you may wonder, will we be celebrating this coming week - well we have a master of disguise in a disguise you would not have imagined on a very rare card indeed - a card which bears the actual date of the day it celebrates - a more modern player from a team founded at the very dawn of the sport - a man who was too briefly known by just three numbers, and two of those were zeroes - a very strange custom indeed - a tangent connecting two branches of collectables - and a very important day in football.
G.A. Jasmatzi A.-G. [tobacco : O/S : Germany] "Die Welt in Bilder" (The World in Pictures) (1927-32) Serie 78, Bild 1 - J400-120 : J14-1 : X24/8E
Now here, believe it or not, we have Lon Chaney, and this part of this huge set is devoted to him, and titled "Der Meister der Filmmaske" - or the Master of Cinematic Disguise.
However he is not here because he was born on this day, for that event was on the first of April, 1883. Instead he is here because a hundred years ago his film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was premiered at the Astor Theatre in New York. However this was not the first film to be made from the book, by Victor Hugo - that was a short, ten minute version, with only two members of cast, made in France in 1905, and the title was "Esmeralda", which is why the honour of first is usually given to the 1911 "Hunchback of Notre Dame", also made in France.
The film shown here is the tale of three circus performers who commit a crime. It was originally filmed as a silent, and released in 1925. And the story was adapted from a book, "The Unholy Three", by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robins. Then in 1930 the film was remade, adding sound. The only two actors from the silent version who also appeared in the talkie were Lon Chaney and Harry Earles, but Lon Chaney was not well, and he died, of throat cancer, very shortly after the film hit the cinema circuits.
This set is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index under section 1, namely "Issues by Georg. A. Jasmatzi A.G" - the later group being issues by Jasmatzi Cigarettenfabrik G.m.b.H. Only three issues are in group one, our set, which extends to 176 cards, the "Elsa Kruger Series" of brown photogravures, and a curious large sized "set" called "Nutzliche Pflanzen", or Useful Plants, of which it says only one card has been seen, but does not identify it.
Our set is described as :
DIE WELT IM BILDERN (The World in Pictures). Sm. 58 x 40. Nd. See X24/8E.
1. Serie 1 - 24 (144)
2. Serie 25 - 72 (144)
3. Serie 73 - 124 (156)
4. Serie 125 - 176 (156)
Now X24/8, which is at the back of the same book, tells us that the set was issued by others too, Bulgaria Zigarettenfabrik of Dresden, Cigarettenfabrik Constantin of Hannover and Dresden, Eckstein-Halpaus Cigarettenfabrik of Dresden, Manoli A.G. of Berlin, and Salem Cigarettenfabrik G.m.b.H. of Dresden. However I am not sure if all of those issued this card. I will try to scan that in over the weekend.
By the time of the updated World Tobacco Issues Index there have been some updates, including additional sets under the Georg. A. Jasmatzi name - "Beauties", something called "Miscellaneous Subjects", and "Views of the Dolomites". However the "Nutzliche Pflanzen" card does not appear.
Anonymous (BAT) [tobacco : O/S ; Channel Islands] "Jersey - Then and Now" second series (1937) 32/48 - ZA08-420 : ZA8-21 : RB.21-288
How unusual is it to have a card which carries an actual date on the front? I would say very much so. And throw it open to you to see if you know of any others.
This royal visit was quite an event in Jersey, and is recorded on several cards in this set. It may be the first ever royal visit of all though, for I have found no previous times that a king or queen visited the island whilst they were in office. However it was not a very lengthy one, the party arriving in the late afternoon or early evening of the 2nd of September and leaving the next day.
Now as far as this card is concerned, let us start with that RB.21-288, the header of which reads
"GROUP 3 - CHANNEL ISLANDS PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS. This group consists of six series of photographic views of the Channel Islands. All cards are large size, 77 x 63 m/m. Fronts are glossy photo-prints in brown, some hand-coloured. Backs (except Set 288-3) are in black, with descriptive text. All cards are numbered on fronts, with 48 subjects each except Set 288-3.
Our set is catalogued as
288. JERSEY - Then and Now. Three series :-
1. Set 1. Series of 48. Nos. 1-36 hand-coloured, Nos. 37-48 uncoloured. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back.
2. Set 2. Series of 48, inscribed "Second Series". Nos. 1-16 hand-coloured, Nos. 17-48 uncoloured. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back.
3. Set 3. Series of 50. All hand-coloured. Anonymous issue, with plain back. Format differs slightly from Sets 1 and 2; captions appear in white on left, numbers in white at left base. Following seen :-
then there is a list which I may get time to scan over the weekend, but if not I will allow you the chance for another hunt, for there are several cards on that list which are unaccounted for, these being 1, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 33, 37, 42, 45, 46, 48, 50.
However in the World Tobacco Issues Indexes we have to hit the back of the book for these, where they are listed under "Anonymous Issues (1) With Letterpress on back" and "subsection 1. English Language Issues with references to tobacco." The description, in both, reads :
JERSEY - Then & Now. Md. 77 x 64. Sepia photos. See RB.21-288
1. First 48 subjects. Nos 1/36 hand-coloured
2. "Second Series". (48) Nos 1/16 hand-coloured
J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd. [tobacco : UK] "Sporting Celebrities" (1935) 21/54 - P246-745 : P18-77
Most people will tell you that today, in 1867 Sheffield Wednesday Football Club was founded. That is not strictly true though, because they started in 1820, or maybe in 1816, and were called simply The Wednesday Cricket Club, almost certainly taken from the day they played. Then maybe some of the cricketers wanted to play football, or just use it as training, but in 1867 the Wednesday Football Club was born. However it was not known as Sheffield Wednesday until 1929.
John Player "Association Cup Winners" (1930) was printed just at the cusp of this change. The card which shows our team when they won the F.A. Cup in 1907 lists "Sheffield Wednesday" on the front, but then in the text says "The winning goal was scored by Simpson for the Wednesday just on the call of time".
So let us pool our resources and find the oldest Wednesday F.C. or Sheffield Wednesday F.C. card, trade or cigarette, which we can find. And as this is an age contest, condition is totally unimportant.
Our current card is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as : "SPORTING CELEBRITIES. Sm. 67 x 35. (54) "Trawler", "Critic" and "King Lud" brand issue."
This is slightly altered in our updated version, by the addition of a very interesting bottom line, reading : "Subjects selected from Set P246-750" - and that is "Sporting Events and Stars", a medium sized set of 96 cards, which was actually issued under the Illingworth brand name.
Anglo [trade : confectionery : UK] "The New James Bond 007" (1970) 56/56 - ANG-270 : ANF-16 :
This is not the greatest card to celebrate today, because today in 1939 saw the birth of that new James Bond, George Lazenby, but here we are showing a card of Blofeld in his car. So if anyone would like to scan another card from this series which actually shows Mr. Lazenby we would happily replace this for that. Thanks in advance.
Now he was born in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia, and after a spell in the Army moved to London. He did several jobs, then became a male model, did several advertising commercials, and a film. In 1968 he was cast as James Bond, to replace Sean Connery. However despite being offered a seven film contract he decided not to reprise the role and was gone before the premiere had even taken place. He firmly believed that the idea of James Bond belonged to another world, fast disappearing, and that the future belonged to the younger generations, who were on the rise.
After he left, Sean Connery came back, to make "Diamonds are Forever". But there was a Bond in between, "Casino Royale" with David Niven. And Sean Connery only did the one film before being replaced by Roger Moore for "Live and Let Die" in 1973.
This set is not that scarce but it is not very well known. In fact it is not even listed on the trading card database / Lazenby who cite the 1993 Eclipse series as his first card. And other American collectors seem not to know it either, despite the fact that Anglo, who were based in Halifax, operated, and also issued cards, under several names, including Anglo-American Chewing Gum Ltd, which clearly suggests some kind of link. They also called themselves Anglo Candy Gum, and Anglo Confectionery Ltd., who issued this set. In fact our original British Trade Indexes have some cards listed under Anglo-American Chewing Gum Ltd. and others under Anglo Confectionery Ltd.
This set first appears in our British Trade Index part III, (RB.31), issued in 1986,as : "THE NEW JAMES BOND 007. 76 x 55. Nd. (56)."
That description is slightly altered in our more modern update though, to : "THE NEW JAMES BOND 007. (On Her Majesty`s Secret Service). 1970. 76 x 55. Nd. (56)."
Sumners/Ty-phoo [trade : tea : UK] "Animal Offence and Defence" (1928) 14/25 - TYP-100 : SUM-2 : HT-118
Today marks the earliest day that the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance may be performed. This year it is on Monday September 11th, if you are in the area, which is Staffordshire, England.
It is a curious event, for it seems to draw on characters that have links to other places. Chief of these is Maid Marian, who ought to be in Nottingham with Robin Hood. Then there is the hobby horse, which links to Cornwall and Somerset. The fool comes from the tarot, but not originally, for the card was only named that in 1450.
And then there are the antlers.
Now looking at our card it is not hard to see how the idea of the masculinity of the fighting stags being reproduced, or at least copied, by wearing antlers too. But the antlers used in the dance are old, some dating back to the Battle of Hastings. They are not even English, either, carbon dating not only proving the date, but that they were of Scandinavian origin. How have they been used, and played with, and still remained? And how did they get there? A great mystery. Or maybe magic.
This set appears first in our British Trade Index part 1 (RB.25), published in 1962 and covering cards up to 1945. These early Ty-phoos always look so fresh and modern that it is hard to believe they are that early. The description is not long : "ANIMAL OFFENCE & DEFENCE. Back inscribed "18-10-28. No.820". Nd. (25)" - but this tells us the printer number (No.820) and date of printing (18-10-1928) though not of issue.
This text is somewhat different in our updated volume (RB.125), issued in 2006, namely : "ANIMAL OFFENCE & DEFENCE. 1929. 102 x 36. Backs with "18-10-28". Nd. (25). Vari-backed. See listing at HT-118" However this last line is incorrect, and the "Vari-backed...HT-118" wording does not apply to this set, it has just somehow been repeated from the listing above, for the un-numbered set of "Animal Friends of Man"
W.D. & H.O. Wills - Castella brand [tobacco : UK] "British Aviation" beer mats (1994) - W675-259.B
So today let us raise a tankard to National Beer Lovers Day. And get out our beermats. And have another little chat about curious cartophily, for here we have not just a beer mat which was placed on the bar in order to advertise cigarettes or tobacco, but an actual reproduction of a card printed specifically to be a beer mat.
This was not a one off, either, for a six mat set of "In Search of Steam" was issued in 1992, and another, for "The Donington Collection" in 1993.
All of these were too late to be included in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, but it does appear in the updated version, where both are described as "Lg. 124 x 86, rounded corners. Drip mats. Skipped numbers. (6)
Now you may be wondering why they are called drip mats. And the answer may be that beer mats are banned, at least in pubs, and have been since the 1980s, when officialdom raised its voice and deemed that they were unsanitary, and that the liquid spilled and sucked inside of them could be a health hazard. However this legislation only extends to public places, there is nothing to stop us using them in our own homes or campers...
Anyway if you want to know any more, take a trip to the British Beermat Society, whose website is at https://britishbeermats.org/
Lambert & Butler [tobacco UK] "Footballers 1930-1" (January 1931) L073-360 : L8-49 : L/48 (RB.9/48)
Now today in 1888 was indeed a very important day for footballing folklore, because the first six football league games were played. Those teams were Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers
And why we have picked this team is because it was William McGregor, the secretary of Aston Villa FC, who wrote a letter, and posted it to other clubs, inviting them to form a league in order that they could pit their skills against each other, and find out who was best of all at the end of the season.
Our man, Joseph Beresford, was a stalwart of Aston Villa, playing over two hundred and fifty games for them, starting in 1927. He only left in 1935, when he moved to Preston North End. And he was born and died on the same day, the 26th of February, 1906 and 1978 respectively.
Now here is a footballing set I am encountering for the first time. And it is a very attractive one. It first appears in our original reference book RB.9, issued in 1948, as :
48. 50. FOOTBALLERS 1930-1. Fronts printed by letterpress, 4-colour half-tone process. Backs in dark green, with descriptions. January 1931
However our World Tobacco Issues Indexes describe it as just : "FOOTBALLERS 1930-1. Sm. Nd. (50)"
This week's Cards of the Day...
celebrated September, the month when I feel the autumn really starts to come in. Now most people firmly believe that is October but the climatologists and meteorologists both say that the beginning of the autumn is on the first of September. Unless they are in Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere else in Oceania, but only because it is the first day of their spring.
September also begin many religious new years, including the Jewish and Islamic. And it sees the children released from their harvest time helpings-out, and sent back to school. Or, in some cases, I am sure, dragged away from the wonders of the countryside and forced to suffer school.
Now September is the ninth month now, but used to be the seventh. In fact the "Septem" part of its name is Latin for seven. But that was before the dreaded and lengthy period called "Winter" was broken up into separate months, and January and February were added.
Saturday, 26th August 2023
This card showed Glenn Hoddle, who was born in September. More about him in the newsletter, as well as a bit more about the story of the "Football Poster" card.
By the way, to save you hunting for hours like I have been, you will find that the number of the card is inside the football, near the top.
Now curiously it seems that September (and October and November) has the highest number of footballer birthdays than the rest of the year, and also they are more likely to be top ones. I am not sure why this is but I wonder if whether this makes them just that bit older when they are of the age to join a football team. If you think about it football starts up again after the summer break in August, so if a player had been born in September of a previous year they would be almost a year older than a player who had been born in the July of that same previous year. A bit like racehorses, whose birthdays are all counted as being on January 1st, whether it was actually on December 31st or January 2nd.
Unless anyone can suggest another reason why September is just a good month for footballing skills?
Now this item is not really a card at all, just paper, and it was printed as one sheet and then folded into four to fit the packets. So now we can reveal why there are those curious grey lines on this card - which are creases.
Also the set is not actually called "Footballers - Posters", it is just that there is no mention of any title on the front or back, and it had to be called something. If we are being technical then we could argue that this item is way too small to be classed as a poster, and "folders" or "fold-outs" would have been much more accurate.
Now this item only appears in our British Trade Index part three, or RB.31, published in 1986. And it is described there as :
"Footballers - Posters. (A) 178 x 126, on paper. Nd. (18). Inscribed "1980 Topps Chewing Gum Inc." Plain back.
Sunday, 27th August 2023
This second clue was rather curious but the Mid-Autumn, Moon, or Moon-cake Festival is celebrated in China and across Asia. This year it will be at the end of the month, on September 29th. The date varies, because the moon must be at its fullest on that night.
Now in early China, as in most civilizations, the sun and the moon were regarded as gods. They believed the moon to be a lady, a goddess, called Chang`e - and their current space programme is called after her.
So here we have a very swift record of the moon landing, which would have enthralled most children of the time. Now what our younger viewers may not realise is that not all of these images were in the papers, and those that were would have been printed in black and white. This set, therefore, was possibly the first colour pictures of the event that most adults saw, and second hand, through the courtesy, or maybe just eagerness to share, of their children.
Now there is quite a lengthy description of this set in our original British Trade Index part three (RB.31, published in 1986). That reads :
Man On The Moon. 89 x 63. Unnd, (74).
Two sections, issued 1969.
1. First section. Scene on back with picture of two astronauts. 1-19 - and then there is a list of titles
2. Second section. Sectional picture on back with picture of spaceship. 20-74 - with another list
Now this seems a curious way of describing the numbering - or at least it does to me. Surely it would have been better to end the first part with "nineteen cards" and the second with however many that is. My brain does not have the ability to do that sort of thing but it can say help, please!
In our updated British Trade Index this set is also there, because it was issued before the cut off date of that volume, which is 1970. However it is a very small description, and it reads : "MAN ON THE MOON. 1969. 89 x 63. Unnd (74). Two sections. See HA-27."
There is an omission here though, because this set was not just issued by A. & B.C. Gum in the United Kingdom - there was also an American version by by Topps, and a Canadian version by by O-Pee-Chee (which is our Card of the Day for July 12th 2024). Those bold links take you to the illustrated checklists of each one of those versions, courtesy of the Trading Card Database - but nowhere do they link the sets together.
All these sets were issued in the same year too.
By the way you can see a full checklist of the A & B.C. Gum version at Trading Card Database/A & B.C. Gum-MOM
Monday, 28th August 2023
Our third clue showed apples, because September is apple season, and the best month to pick them in their prime.
I am currently working through a bag of bramleys, many thanks to one of our neighbours, for the last two nights I have had home made apple crumble in the microwave, and tomorrow I may just try it for breakfast. There are plenty of recipes online, so have a look. The ones which include oats seem to taste the best. If I can do it, so can you. The one thing I will say is not to add too much liquid - and for vegan readers you can use water instead of milk - because as the apples pulp down they produce liquid as well. In fact an apple is almost 90% water.
And by the way this wrapping in newspaper system is still regarded as the best way to store apples over winter
So here we have the back that you probably did not expect, for this is the much scarcer Channel Islands issue.
Once more, in our original Wills reference booklets, all the versions are together under W/226. And the text reads :
226. GARDEN HINTS. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Issued 1938.
A. Home issue. Album clause "at one penny each" and I.T.C. Clause.
B. Irish issue. Album clause without price, and I.T.C. Clause
C. Channel Islands issue. No album or I.T.C. Clause.
Now in the World Tobacco Issues Index, they are parted, with A and B above still clinging desperately together under W62-142, but C having been ripped asunder and also shoved right back to section 5D, code W62-495. It is even worse in the updated version, where they are even further back, in section 6D.
However for all this we do have a little nugget of extra information, in that the header tells us that those sets were "Issued chiefly in in Malta and Channel Islands". And the listing does give you a little note to "See W/226.C", in order that you can reunite it with the rest of its tribe, but I am unsure if you ever found them if you did not have the original Wills books. Though perhaps that is why they were later reprinted in the single volume.
Tuesday, 29th August 2023
So here we have the aster. or, as this set is in French L`Aster. And as to why, well this is the birth flower for the month of September, but there is a twist, because the aster is part of a huge family called Asteracae, and when I say huge, I mean it, for even in its reduced modern form there are almost two hundred species.
This set was issued in Mauritius, hence the French language text. And it is not the only garden related set they did, for they also issued a set of "Cacti", in the same year too.
The title is a curious one, for it directly translates as Flowers of Cultivation. I am not sure if this means specially bred, like what gardeners refer to as a cultivar, which is a gardening term for a variety which does not appear naturally in the wild, but was produced by a breeder who selected plants for their brighter, or lighter colour, or other suddenly appearing factors that they much liked.
Now this set, like all those issued with the Domino Filters, arrived on the scene just a bit too late to be included in our original World Tobacco Issues Index. They do appear in the modern version though, under British American Tobacco section 2 - Issues quoting brand names - and sub section J - which is headed as "Domino Filter" French language brand issues, without name of firm ["firm" being British American Tobacco], in Mauritius. 1960-65". And the description of our set is : "FLEURS DE CULTURE. Sm. Nd. (25)"
And now, in a surprising twist, I have a bit of a discovery for you, and that is that this set was not unique to B.A.T. Domino Filters - though there is not a word of this connection in the World Tobacco Issues Index. This discovery arose when I was looking at other cards of asters in order to link to them and spotted this very card, but issued by Wilcocks and Wilcocks. Now today I had a bit more time so I had a look in the British Trade Index to see if any other issuers also did this set - and they did. The list appears in our British Trade Index part 2 under D-294 and in our updated British Trade Handbook as HX-46. Both lists are the same though, so no new issuers were reported in between the two volumes. To save you looking, the full list is :
Tobacco : titled "Fleurs de Cultur"
"Domino Filters" (B.A.T) - 1961
Trade : all titled "Garden Flowers"
Badshah Tea Co., London - 1963
Browne Bros Ltd, Southend on Sea (tea) - 1965
H.E. Empson & Son Ltd., Birmingham (tea) - 1964 or 1966
Golden Grain Tea - issued in 1964, 1965, or 1971 - I cannot trace anything about Golden Grain tea, and no address or company appears on their cards.
Wilcocks and Wilcocks, 37 Commercial Road, Exeter (tea) - issued in 1964 - whose cards advertise "`Wilco`, `Garden & Estate` and `Housewife`s Choice` teas.
The confusion over the double dates will almost certainly be sorted out when I hunt through the New Issues columns.
Wednesday, 30th August 2023
And a mighty fine bird this is too. Of course the reason for him being here is that in the Chinese horoscope September`s animal is the rooster. Now to me a rooster sounds like a name for a lady, who roosts in her nest and sits on her eggs to hatch them; however for some reason the name rooster always refers to the gentlemen of the species, who does neither.
This card is now a hundred and thirty two years old, and it is in remarkable condition.
There is something else remarkable about it too, because this is not just any old "Dark Brahma Cockerel", he has a name, Sultan, and he won many prizes for his owner, The Right Hon. Lady Gwydyr. And that led to his being featured as a prize specimen of the breed in the 1890 edition of the Cassell`s Poultry Book, from which the illustration here has been extracted.
Now if you look at that you can see that when the card was produced the background was removed by blurring, and that only two of his flock were left to remain. The question is why.... Any ideas?
Now in our World Tobacco Issues Index this set is listed as :
PRIZE & GAME CHICKENS. Sm. A.T.C. back. Bkld. (50) Ref USA/20.
The same text appears in the updated version. The reference to the A.T.C. back is because Allen and Ginter was a, or maybe the, founder member of the American Tobacco Company in 1890, and after that date all their cards carried the A.T.C. initials.
Thursday, 31st August 2023
Now this card may say wheat, but all cereals are being harvested this time of the year. Even the moon is called the harvest moon, and it gained that name very simply, because it provided natural light so that the corn gatherers could work later into the evening and make sure all the crop was in. In the British Isles it comes up on Thursday, September 28 and falls below the horizon on Friday the 29th. Curiously it also rises at more or less the same time every night.
Many tales of folklore surround the harvest, because it was such an important time in the farmers year, and all kinds of superstitions would have naturally sprung up to give a little extra help to the harvest, to make it good this year, and the next as well.
Ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians all believed that the harvest was a feminine thing, and it was ruled over by goddesses; in fact it is from the Roman goddess Ceres that we get the name of Cereal. One tradition in many civilisations was to make the last of the corn into a representation of the goddess so that she would bless them. This figure was sometimes kept until it could be buried in the field when the next year`s seeds were planted, or at other times it was burned as a sacrifice in the middle of the empty field when all the corn was safely collected and put away .
Anyway I am delighted to be able to fill another connection gap, because we had the second series of this set a while ago, on the 12th of March 2023, though it is in the newsletter, not as a card of the day, so you will have to scroll down to find it.
Now I started hunting for the description of this set in the World Tobacco Issues Index, but found it cross referenced to RB.21, which is the British American Tobacco Booklet. So we will start with that, because it was issued first, in 1952 - the World Tobacco Issues Index being from 1956. Now in RB.21 all the Westminster issues are housed in section XIII, which covers special groups and other multi-area series - including playing cards, dominoes, Chinese chess and Spanish gaming cards.
The Westminsters are in group 5, entitled "Westminster Colonial Photographic Series" and headed "This group consists of the nine series of photographic cards issued by Westminster. All are small cards, size 66 x 35 m/m, with fronts glossy photoprints in black and white. Backs are in black with descriptive text."
Our set comes first, listed as :
291. AUSTRALIA. First series of 36. Inscribed "Issued by the Successors in the United Kingdom to the Westminster Tobacco Co., Ltd., London." A second series was prepared but not issued; plain back proofs of these are in circulation.
Now on to the World Tobacco Issues Index, where Westminster is split into several groups, and these cards are in Group 4, "United Kingdom Issues - Inscribed "Issued by the Successors in the United Kingdom to the Westminster Tobacco Co., Ltd., London." All black and white photos, small size, 66 x 35 m/m. For Anonymous Issue, see set ZJ5-1. Issued 1925-32. Of course the Anonymous issue is the second series of our set, because the back which would have had the text and the name never got added to the fronts. The description of the first set only here is : "AUSTRALIA. Nd. "First Series of 36" See RB/21/291.
Friday, 1st September 2023
Well if you read the above you will know why this set is here, for it is one of the many sets that have been issued in this month to come. And if you wonder on the rest just go to the first in our new series of Card Calendar blogs, which covers September
This set is listed in our British Trade Index as :
ASIAN WILD LIFE. Sm. Nd. (50)
A. Back in blue. London Address. B.10
B. Back in magenta. Nairobi & Salisbury address SR.4
This does not mention the date. That comes in the updated version, where the text is "ASIAN WILD LIFE. 1962. Nd. (50). Also issued in Rhodesia (magenta back)".
Neither of these mention the fact that there was an album, which cost sixpence, and a wallchart. Now I have been told that the wallcharts were only for schools, but seem to remember that you did get an option of asking for a wallchart on at least some of the order forms - unless that was a later development?
Nor that this set was never reprinted with a black back in the 1970s.
And most of all they omit the fact that the illustrations and descriptions were by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe O.B.E., R.A., born in 1901, and dying in 1979. And he was also involved with several of the early Brooke Bond sets including Bird Portraits, Wild Flowers, and African Birds.
And there you have it, time runneth out, again; another week has passed by, and been recorded on our slates. I imagine the word on my slate is probably persistence, for I do keep going, despite the obstacles thrown in my way. And these newsletters are proof that I can manage to work around practically all of those.
Anyway if you stayed awake to read this, well done. I stayed awake to make sure it loaded, and now I will listen to the motor racing or have a coffee, and try not to wake up buster because if I do he will have to go out in the garden, and it is currently raining.
It`s been a very rainy day today.