Well we can cross another week off our calendars now, though I hope you had a few things to celebrate within it? Even little things like seeing your first daffodils, and watching all the birds returning to the fields and gardens. Sometimes the little things are best of all, you know.
Tonight`s newsletter is being brought to you with a lot of singing and humming because I am being entertained, and distracted, by Supertramp, a band from the 1970s who I like very much. They also appear on cards, and I will add one in here if I get time.
The card that everyone seeks, of course, is the 1980 European issue called "Pop Festival", which somehow managed to call Roger Hodgson "Bryan" Hodgson. It is not thought a corrected card was ever issued either.
Now there were a few happenings that you may have missed this week in the newsfeeds, these include
-
The Card Index, with several new cards added, and we are now back as far as the 28th of March 2022.
The new cards include another Wills "Sports of All Nations" card, and Lamberts Tea "Sports and Games". And there is a curious error being investigated with Alexander Boguslavsky`s "Sporting Records" first series. -
The Convention site for this year, where the poster is now uploaded, and there is also a link to maps and directions.
Anyway, enough of the past - let us step forward, and investigate tonight`s treasures..... starting with
Ty [trade : soft toys : O/S : USA] “Beanie Babies” series II (1999) 4052/?
Now this card is here to celebrate #TeddyDay - and it is one of two Teddy Days in the year, the other being September 9th, which recognises the fact that on that day in 1902 Theodore Roosevelt, whilst hunting, refused to shoot a bear cub. This made the headlines and led to the production of a small soft toy which was sold as "Teddy`s Bear".
This card may not be cartophilic to purists, but it is a teddy and it is also a reminder of the craze for Beanie Babies, which were also soft toys, stuffed with little plastic pellets, or "beans", rather than the usual wadding materials. They began in 1993, and just like Cabbage Patch dolls each one had a tag and a name. They were mostly animals, and they came in some very unusual colours, plus, like all collectables, there were limited editions for special events.
Now these cards are a very specialist subject, and I will not attempt to sort them out - instead I will send you along to BeanieLad who has been researching them for twenty years and has a really fascinating site.
The only other Teddy bear sets I know of were produced in the 1990s by Golden Era, these are large and extra large sized cards and include "Old Teddy Bears" (1995). They are really quite inexpensive, so would be a great way to introduce cards to any arctophiles, or teddy bear lovers, that you know.
J F Sporting Collectibles [trade/commercial : cards : UK] “World Heavyweight Boxing Champions” 14/24
From one bear to another, for today in 1909, this man, Maximilian Adelbert Baer was born. He had a sister and two brothers, one of whom was also a heavyweight boxer, Jacob Henry Baer, though you would know him better as "Buddy" Baer.
The reverse of this very attractive card tells us that he was born on February 11th, 1909, in Omaha, Nebraska, and he could legally claim to be German, Jewish, Scottish and American. This was because his father was the son of Jewish immigrants who had travelled to America from their homeland in Alsace-Lorraine, and his mother was Scottish.
It also tells us what a relatively short career he had, his first title coming in June 1934 and his last just one year later – though in between these dates there were seventy nine fights. And he also fought for some time before winning his first Heavyweight title, including one very famous 1933 match against Max Schmeling
Now for professional purposes he shortened his name to just Max Baer, but he was also known as the Livermore Larruper, or as Madcap Max (or Maxie).
He also appears on Churchman "Boxing Personalities" 3/50 - and that tells us another nickname "Playboy of the Ring". It also adds that his first heavyweight title was gained "when he beat Primo Carnera at Long Island on June 14th, 1934" and that he "lost the title on June 13th 1935 to James J. Braddock."
That card also concludes with the fact that "When Baer was in England in 1937, he acted in a film which was made at Pinewood." This was "Over She Goes", a musical-comedy about an ex-vaudeville star who somehow inherits the title of Lord, and gets spotted by an old flame who comes out of the woodwork and claims she is also entitled because he asked to marry her and then never did.
In fact his son, Max Baer Junior, born in that year, became an actor too; he is most known for playing Jethro Bodine on the long running television series called The Beverly Hillbillies.
Churchman [tobacco : UK] “Treasure Trove” large (1935) 1/12 – C504-675 : C82-85 : C/142 [RB.10/142]
A Centenary Card - for today in 1924 Howard Carter lifted the lid of the sarcophagus on King Tut-en-khamen`s tomb.
Now if you go to the website of the Griffith Institute, they hold colour images of the expedition, taken by Harry Burton, and if you scroll down you will see the very image that appears on our card. Of course I have used a little artistic licence, for this photo was taken much later on, in October 1925, when the third case was breached, for the sarcophagus was a series of cases much like those Russian dolls.
The strange thing was that the photographs were colourised by the Griffith Institute, from the original black and white. But ours must have been colourised once already, by Churchman? And how did Churchman get the access to use it?
This set appears below its smaller sibling in our original Churchman reference book (RB.10), published in 1948, so I shall add it all until I find, or maybe use, the small size and can cross reference thereto. That reads
141. Aug 1937. 50. TREASURE TROVE (titled series). Size 2 11/16” x 1 7/16” or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-50. Fronts printed by letterpress, 4-colour half tone process. Backs in dark green with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son and Hall.
142. 1935. 12. TREASURE TROVE. Similar format to (141), but size 3 5/16” x 2 9/20” or 80 x 62 m/m.
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes this set is much less effusively catalogued, as
TREASURE TROVE. Nd.
A. Small (50)
B. Large (12)
Atlantic [trade : petrol stations: O/S : Australia] “Film Stars” 25/32 – AT2.6
Can it be as long ago as today in 1933 that Marilyn Pauline Novak was born? Of course, you know her better as just "Kim" Novak, and as it says on our card "During a visit to Los Angeles she met Columbia`s Maxwell Arnow, who three weeks later signed her to a long term contact".
It does not say when this was, but we know it was in 1954.
The "Columbia" was Columbia Pictures, founded on the 10th of January 1924 by the Cohn Brothers and Joe Brandt.
And Maxwell Arnow was a very talented talent scout, who gave us Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, and Ronald Reagan, to name but a few.
Kim Novak made her name in 1955 with a film called "Picnic". If you have never seen it, do so when you get the chance. It is an amazing film in every way.
She followed that up in the same year with the very scandalous film for the time "The Man with The Golden Arm", for it dealt with drug abuse - oddly the actual drug is not named, and it was allowed to be believed that it was heroin, whereas the author had written it as morphine. Maybe it was felt by the studio that this added to the notoriety and the box office takings....
Kim Novak left acting in the mid 1960s, and only agreed to return in the 1980s, for the Agatha Christie based, star studded, "The Mirror Crack`d". She must have liked it, as she also appeared in the long running television soap opera "Falcon Crest". However after that she again retired, only coming out in 1991 for the Mike Figgis film "Liebestraum".
These cards appear in our original Australian and New Zealand Index, RB.30, published in 1983, as
Film Stars : A Series of 32. Nd. (32)
However we have featured an Atlantic card before, as our Card of The Day on the 22nd of January 2024 and there is a bit more write up there!
Ogden [tobacco : UK] “New Series 1” (1902) 100/400 – O100-335.1 : O/2-72.1
Today we celebrate something that spins you off your feet, makes you giddy, and sees your heart beat so much faster than you ever thought it would. No, not Valentine`s Day, but the invention of Mr. George Washington Gale Ferris Junior, born today in 1859.
He was an American civil engineer, and his big claim to fame was that he built the great wheel at the 1893 Chicago World`s Fair. This was an amusement, but it was the tallest exhibit in the entire park, and therefore the most visible. And it was so popular that it started the trend of having exhibits dismantled carefully at the end of the run and then moving them to another site for another exhibition. So therefore it was seen again in 1895, and in 1904 in St. Louis. It was then demolished once and for all in 1906.
Now here, centre stage, is one of the earliest cards of a British Ferris Wheel, this photo being taken in 1901 or 1902 at Blackpool`s South Beach. This was also called the Great Wheel, and it was sited in the Winter Gardens. It was two hundred and twenty feet tall. And it was demolished in November 1928.
However it is not the first such Wheel to be built in this country - and in fact the holder of the patent on that Wheel sued the Blackpool Wheel for infringing his copyright. This first Wheel turned at the Empire of India Exhibition, held at Earls Court in 1895, and it was, confusingly, also called The Great Wheel, though it was sometimes called the Graydon Wheel after the maker. This was over three hundred feet tall, and almost three hundred feet across. It was used and reused right until 1906, and then it was demolished
I am not going to attempt to analyse the base on this card, but if there is a specialist who wishes to I would be grateful. And will happily list your words here.
There seemed to be no proper listing in the extremely confusing Guinea Gold reference book [RB.29, published in 1959] of this set either, so I thought I would have to wing it, as usual. But I have now found it in the World Tobacco Issues Indexes, listed as a group, which reads :
NUMBERED CARDS – “NEW SERIES” (A) Sm. General Interest.
1. Inscribed “New Series I”. Nd. 1/400 (400)
2. Inscribed “New Series I”. Nd. B1/B400 (400)
3. Series C. (i) Inscribed “Series C.1-100.” Nd. 1/100(100)
(ii) Inscribed “Series C.101-200.” Nd. 101/200(100)
(iii) Inscribed “Series C.201-300.” Nd. 201/300(100)
John Player [tobacco : UK] “Natural History” large size, first series (November 1923) 5/12 – P644-238.B.1 : P72-115.B.1 : P/136.B [RB.17/136.B]
Today is #WorldHippopotamusDay. And it celebrates these strange but beautiful creatures which have been alive as a species for almost eight million years.
Now to look at a hippopotamus, you would think it was related to an elephant, or maybe a pig, but you would be wrong, because its closest living relative is a whale or a dolphin. For some reason though, whilst those stayed in the ocean, their relatives here decided to go onto dry land and stay there. Though they do enjoy submerging themselves in glorious mud to keep cool when the need arises.
Now the hippopotamus has long fascinated the cigarette card issuer and there are an enormous number of them if you take the time to look. This card was chosen simply because the size is most pleasing to me, and also because I was sure I had the standard sized version already, though it appears I do not.
This set appears as a group in our original John Player reference book (RB.17), published in 1950, and it reads
136. NATURAL HISTORY. Fronts in colour. Backs in blue, with descriptive text. Home issues.
A. 50 small cards. Issued June, 1924
B. 12 extra large cards. “A Series of 12”. Issued November, 1923
C. 12 extra large cards. “2nd Series of 12”. Issued September, 1924
This is shortened in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, to
NATURAL HISTORY. Nd.
A. Small (50)
B. Extra Large – (1) “A Series of 12” (2) “2nd Series of 12”
Panini [trade/commercial : cards/stickers : O/S : Italy] “Super Stickers” (1979) Un/
Today in 1959 John Patrick McEnroe Junior was born, in Wiesbaden, West Germany, because his father was currently serving there with the United States Air Force. However his surname does indeed hark back to Irish ancestry, his paternal grandfather.
Before he was year old, the family were transferred back to America, to a base in New York. In 1961, service over, they found civilian quarters in New York City. Shortly after that two more children were born.
The first time John McEnroe held a tennis racquet was when he was eight years old. He had an unconventional style but got results, and the following year he was signed up to the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association, and competing in the local area. This skyrocketed and he was moving steadily up the top ten rankings even before he was a teenager.
At the age of eighteen he won both the Junior Singles and the Mixed Doubles at the French Open. That led him to Wimbledon, and to the semi finals, where he met Jimmy Connors. He may have lost the match, but he definitely won a lot of attention and a few hearts, several of which belonged to people who found tennis way too boring and old fashioned.
I like this sticker a lot, but then I used to like the style of Mr. McEnroe too, shaking up the system and all, and I think he would definitely approve of this card, for there is something of the rebel to the way it is drawn.
Even better, it is also his rookie card, issued in 1979, when he beat Vitas Gerulaitis in the Men`s Singles Final at Wimbledon, making him the youngest male winner of all time. He took the Men`s Doubles title there with his partner Peter Fleming, plus won the Men`s Singles and Doubles at the US Open.
This week's Cards of the Day...
have been commemorating the Chinese New Year, which will be on February 10th, so lots of time to get involved.
Now the Chinese New Year is based on a series of animals and elements, and every year the old animal is chased away by the new one in many elaborate parades and festivals.
There are twelve animals, which are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig - but there are also elements, these being Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
So last year was the water rabbit (which, it may not surprise you, is my sign) and this year will be the wood dragon. Something which really surprised me was that the last time we were in the cycle of the Wood Dragon it was 1964, and the time before that way back in 1904.
Now our first card was :
Saturday, 3rd February 2024
Our first clue card ought to have provided you with the dragon, used here as the symbol for the Welsh football team. It seems that other few sports teams use the dragon, despite its fearsome reputation, and I can only find the Seattle Sea Dragons - but maybe you know of more? If so let us know.
The dragon has been used as the symbol for the Welsh football team. It has been that since 1920, but has undergone many changes, two even after this card was issued. If you want to see these, nip along to design site Dezeen/WFA where they are all pictured.
Strangely the emblem appears on cards way less than you would imagine. It appears that its first appearance is after the letters had been added, that is in the Pals Magazine "New Football Series" issued in 1923.
These cards are larger than normal, and on quite thin paper. However be aware that the set is of many sporting heroes, and only three are footballers, though there is a card of Welsh football referee, Clive Thomas.
Sunday, 4th February 2024
This second clue card provided you with the "New Year".
Now we do not really know where the calendar started, though all civilizations were able to develop some way of recording the passage of time. We do know that at this moment the oldest lunar calendar in existence is in Scotland, where a rudimentary twelve-sectioned earthwork was discovered in 2013. It is not really fully understood how this worked but obviously it must have sectioned the year off in some way according to the planets, like a giant sundial.
We can thank the Romans for the word "calendar" by the way, because their name for the first day of the month was "the calends". Therefore a collection of months was a Calend-ar.
This is not just a calendar, for the back is a useful compendium of Postal rates, from letter to parcel post, stationery, and postal orders. And it may have been issued at this early date, but it did not make the Wills reference books until part III, where it is listed with its pair, as :
55. 2 CALENDARS. Unnumbered. Fronts printed from relief blocks in colour; backs in blue, headed “Post Office Information”. Home issues : -
A. Calendar for 1911, issued 1910
B. Calendar for 1912, issued 1911
There is no month of issue recorded for these but it seems safe to imagine they were in the final parts of the year. However I have to wonder why this useful item was only issued in these two years? Any ideas?
This information is only slightly altered in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, to
CALENDARS (A). Sm. Backs inscribed “Post Office Information”
1. “Calendar for 1911” (1)
2. “Calendar - 1912” (1)
Monday, 5th February 2024
So here we have the final clue, and this is a perfect card in so many ways, for it shows China, plus a dragon on the yellow pennant at the bottom, and a kite, which are flown at the New Year as a celebration of new life and also to wave goodbye to the old year.
I am not entirely sure it is a sport, but it is a super image. And it also commemorates the fact that kites were invented in China, starting out as a simple wooden model of a flying bird on the end of a stick which was wiggled to create the illusion of movement. Eventually the bird and the wood disappeared and the structure was made lighter by using bamboo and paper.
More information about the making of this set can be found elsewhere on our site, where we feature another card, but of the "Westward Ho" brand. All the backs are the same basic design, grey, with the only change being the top box in which is the brand, the middle box which describes each of those tobaccoes and the bottom line, where the number of the card only is changed.
Our "Traveller" Tobacco is one of the scarcer of Wills` brands, and most of the memorabilia seems to turn up in the Antipodes, so perhaps it was an export one. This is also supported by the final line of the little cartouche in the middle of the reverse, where it is described as "A bright straight cut flaked tobacco sweetened. Manufactured in Bond" - for a "Bonded" warehouse is one which stores goods that have been imported or are to be exported.
As far as the rest of the cartouche, and on the original tins of tobacco, where it was described as "Golden Flaked Cavendish", the `flake` refers to the way that it was made, pressed into a large block and kept there for several weeks to mature. After that was is cut into flakes, or slices, and these are then separated. The `Cavendish` is the tobacco itself, and it is a dark blend, which is often mixed with a lighter tobacco, usually Virginia - and though it is nowhere mentioned that this was a blended tobacco, it is also supported by the card calling it "bright".
Tuesday, 6th February 2024
This set is not as simple as it might appear, as you can tell from the listing in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes - which reads as follows :
FLAGS AND FLAGS WITH SOLDIERS (A). Sm. 67-69 x 37-39. Unnd. See H.41
A. Flagstaff draped at top with bow, cord, etc.
(a) First printing. (30). Small captions, 1 m/m high
(b) Second printing. (15). Larger captions, about 1 ½ m/m high.
2. Flagstaff without bow, cord, etc. (15). Flags only.
Pritchard & Burton seem to have not agreed with titling their sets and every single one of the nine they issued is followed by (A) which means the title we use today was `adopted` by early cartophilists as a means of recognition. So maybe this was two, or three sets after all, and we will never know.
In addition, every set they issued was also released by another maker, this set by many makers, which are listed in the handbook under H.41, as.
Tobacco:
- Anonymous (a - 30)
- Biggs (a - 30) [1903]
- Charlesworth & Austin (a – 30) [1903]
- Hill (a – 30) [1901]
- Rutter (b – 15) [1901]
Trade:
- Edmondson (b – 15) [1905]
- Pascall (b – 15) [1905]
For some reason only Pritchard & Burton released both the first and second version, and they also issued the second grouping too, the one with the unadorned flagpole. That too was also issued by others, namely
Tobacco:
- Anonymous
- Rutter - with either a white or cream back,
Trade :
- Edmondson
- Pascall
As far as the company themselves, little is known. Our Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers, RB.7 issued in 1946, lists them as :
Present address : Victoria Road, Acton, London N.W.10.
Founded 1840.
Card issues were sponsored from 1 Farringdon Road, London E.C. before move took place; first made cigarettes 1885.
No card issues made since 1922.
“Cornstalk”, “Hearts Delight”, “Tally Ho”, “Piper”, “The Piper” etc.
A little research finds that the company that became Pritchard and Burton was founded by a Welshman, Edward Pritchard. He was a tobacconist, trading out of premises in Snow Hill, King Street, London. Pritchard had just lost his business partner, the Lloyd half of Pritchard and Lloyd, who were cited as the curiously charming "Snuff Manufacturers and Segar Merchants". They had been founded in 1825. After the death of Mr. Lloyd it seems that Mr. Pritchard was able to keep the company going, and that it made money, enough to hire a clerk.
This clerk was Alfred Burton, who started working for him in the mid 1840s. This does seem to support the date of 1840 as far as Mr. Pritchard starting a company on his own, though it was not called Pritchard and Burton until about ten years later, when Mr. Burton became involved with Mr. Pritchard`s niece and asked for her hand in marriage. This must have worked out because in 1857 the two men became partners in a new company called Pritchard and Burton.
Sadly Mr. Pritchard died in 1869, and Mr. Burton was left in charge of the entire company. At this time the head office was still at Snow Hill, but in 1870 it had to close because the entire area was bought up in order to build the new Metropolitan Railway. The new premises were at No.1 Farringdon Road.
Mr. Burton seems to have managed all these changes, and the company, well, though he was known to be a bit of an entrepreneur and made many investments across the globe that others thought risky. He also strengthened the company by bringing his two sons on board as they came of age, Edward Burton in 1878 and Frank Burton in 1881.
In 1902 they held firm against the Imperial Tobacco Company and would not join, It is recorded that they were steadfast in this and always believed that they did right for their company. However it is often stated that they were similarly opposed to the cigarette, and stayed with pipe tobacco alone. This is quite incorrect as on the back of our card it clearly lists cigarette brands. The brands listed in our Directory above are :
- “Cornstalk” - we know that at least during the Boer War this packet was very popular for it showed a soldier in a slouch hat and a bandolier across his shoulder.
- “Hearts Delight” - described on the back of our card as "The Best Penny Packets"
- “Tally Ho” - described on the back of our card as "Twelve superb Virginia Cigarettes for 3d."
- “Piper” - described on the back of our card as "Ten special cigarettes for 2d."
- The Piper” (surely this is a repeat of the above?)
Oddly this list does not mention their most popular brands, which was "Boar's Head Shag", a blended mix made primarily with raw leaf tobacco from East India. This was not only a brand though, because when they registered the company in 1870 they took "The Boar`s Head" as their trade mark/logo.
In the 1930s they moved from Farringdon Road to a new factory in Victoria Road in Acton, West London.
During the Second World War the company was taken over by George Dobie and Son Limited of Scotland. I am not sure why, as he was obviously not interested in it, and within the year he had sold the name, goods, and chattels to Godfrey Phillips. They kept it until the late 1960s, the Acton premises being closed down in 1968, after which Phillip Morris acquired it, making it a division of their company, and then relocating it to Commercial Street in East London in the early 1970s. There was still a Mr. Burton on the board until the 1980s.
Wednesday, 7th February 2024
Hooray I found it, though it took a while. In fact I unearthed it listed under anonymous in the original World Tobacco Issues Index first, then worked back where it led me - this being to the American Tobacco Co. Group Issues, where it was there, but I missed it, purely because I did not think it was a package design.
That listing, and I will include the heading, is :
4. PACKAGE DESIGNS. As originally issued, these cards formed part of the actual package, the cards now found are usually cut by hand from the packages. Except for Set A-54-114 [Orders ans Military Medals] the series were printed on the inner flaps of "Sweet Caporal", two designs per package. The size varies according to how the cards were cut.
NATIONAL FLAG ON DOMINO (A). Sm. Unnd. (28). Anonymous, plain back. See X2/T.177. Ref USA T.177
That X2 reference leads to the back of the book. Here it is described as :
X2/T.177 NATIONAL FLAG ON DOMINO (A). Front per Fig. X2/T.177 [which shows Cuba, front only]. A.T.C. Group Issue, printed on flaps of "Sweet Caporal" cartons. When cut off, cards are small size and anonymous, with plain back. Unnumbered series of 28, listed in A.B.C. (Set of dominoes to double six)
The only difference to the listings above in the updated World Tobacco Issues Index is that it no longer links to the X2 code, only to the A.B.C., which, in case you do not know, is the "American Book of Checklists".by Charles Bray.
Not sure how many of you own this volume, but the flags are as follows :
- Argentine Republic
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- China
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- England
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Italy
- Japan
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Nicaragua
- Peru
- Portugal
- Russia
- Siam
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkey
- United States
- U.S. of Colombia
Jefferson Burdick describes these as
T.177 – National Flag on Domino (28)
Set inscribed Abdul Cigarettes. Probably unissued essays
He values them at just 5 cents each.
Now Abdul Cigarettes appear in the original World Tobacco Issues Index as
ABDUL CIGARETTES. Cards dated 1881. Probably unissued proofs, prepared but not issued in U.S.A. Brand issues.
Three sets are listed below this header, none of which are ours, and all of which are known to be parts of other sets, namely
- “Animals of The World” (T.180 – part of Allen & Ginter`s “Quadrupeds”)
- “Races of Mankind” (T.181 – part of Allen & Ginter`s set of the same name)
- “Military Uniforms and Caps” (T.182 – part of American Tobacco`s “Military Uniforms”)
As an aside, in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art our dominoes are attributed to Kinney, but this is a link that seems to go nowhere, for I cannot find a trace of them under Kinney issues in any of my reference books
Thursday, 8th February 2024
Now this is a kind of companion to another Cavanders set, "Ancient Egypt" though it was only ever issued in the standard size whereas the collector can visit Egypt in a small or a large sized format. There is another difference too, because all but two of the Egyptian pictures are on a golden background, not a silver one.
This leads me to a strange discovery, because the back frameworks are identical, which is odd, because it is a typical Egyptian frame and not a very Chinese one. So I thought oh well they just used the same frame from the Egyptian artwork to save on money and time, but in actual fact they did not, for the Egyptian set was issued after the Chinese one, two years after, in 1928.
Our World Tobacco Issues Indexes both catalogue our Chinese set as simply :
ANCIENT CHINESE. Sm. Nd. (25)
The header does say that the cards are "coloured letterpress" though, so there is a bit of added info.
By the way, card 11 in this set is also a dragon, and the text adds some relevant information for this week`s tale, by telling us that "The dragon is a familiar object in Chinese decoration and typifies all that is powerful and terrible. The Imperial dragon is armed with five claws on each of its four feet, and is used as an emblem by the Emperor`s family and by princes of the two highest ranks. The four clawed dragon is used by princes of the third or fourth class. The three clawed dragon is the one commonly used for decoration."
Friday, 9th February 2024
Our final card is this very charming study of a man in a home-made dragon costume. I wondered, at first, whether he was practising for a parade, or just entertaining the village?
After a bit of a search, it turns out that Chinese people in general thought that dragons were lucky, especially in the matter of wealth, which is why they are often depicted with a pearl or coin in their claws. Then I hit the jackpot, because I found out that in rural areas, as on our card, farmers believed that dragons brought the rain, much needed to water their crops. This eventually extended to all manner of weather that was helpful, like being too windy for the birds and insects to fly and attack their crops, or hindersome like storms and gales. Dragons also warded off illnesses, by swirling the germs and bad air away. Therefore, in order to encourage dragons into their area, villagers would perform a dance whilst dressed as a fellow dragon, in a costume made of paper and cloth over a wooden frame. Alternatively, if they were too young, or too old, to do this, they were still encouraged to take part, waving banners with dragons painted on them, or constructing tiny dragon figures out of clay, or even making lots of noise and shining mirrors to the sky to attract the attention of the mighty beast.
Finding out anything about this card at first was impossible, but Mr. Price has emailed in and told me that it was not only issued by the British Cigarette Company in China, but it is listed in RB.21 - our British American Tobacco Reference Book, published in 1951 - under Chinese Grouping "A". The description there is :
525.16 - CHINESE SET 18 - Human Interest Series. Small cards, size 63 x 36 m/m. Front per Fig.525-16, in colour, black framelines, horizontal format. Numbered series of 72.
A. Anonymous issue, with plain back
B. B.C.C. issue, pearl-bordered design, back per. Fig.200-17F in yellow.
Special album issued, entitled "Human Interest Series - A Series of 72" with grey covers.
By the way, that back shown as Fig.200-17F is a full advert back, which says "THESE PICTURES are packed in the BRANDS of Cigarettes of BRITISH CIGARETTE CO. LTD".
Now the B.C.C., or the British Cigarette Company, were based in Shanghai. You can see one of their factories at the University of Bristol`s Historical Photographs of China collection. This was taken in 1931.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index has a small header before the listing of their cards, and that reads :
Known as "B.C.C.". Chinese associate of B.A.T. Includes cards inscribed "The B.C. Co." without full name. Many of the Anonymous Chinese Series under Sets ZE-3, ZE-4 and ZE-5 were issued by them. See also Set B116-48.[which is an advertisement folder]
I thought those Z numbers might tell me whether our anonymous issue was issued by the British Cigarette Co, or if they were just proofs. However after ploughing through those, without any mention of our set, I did actually find it, listed under ZK3-9. And the entry reads
CHINESE HUMAN INTEREST SERIES (A). Sm. 62-64 x 36. Framelines. Chinese captions and numeral in black, white borders. Scenes of everyday life. Nd. (72). See RB.21/525-16.A. Special album issued, titled "Human Interest Series - A Series of 72".
And on that note I must depart, it grows late, and it is still raining, and I have yet to check my eBay wants list. Bought some cards this week as well, but they were a birthday present to myself and I had been looking at them for a while.
I would be interested to hear from you if you have anything to add to these newsletters, which are not designed to be set in stone but to evolve eternally, perhaps even after I am gone, adding relevant and sometimes irreverent information that we glean from our travels and our magazines.
The email, as always, is webmaster@card-world.co.uk