Can it be a week ago that I uploaded your newsletter from a tiny tent in darkest Salisbury? Coldest Salisbury, too, and with my car not that much warmer. However, dear reader, I lived to tell the tale, and will definitely camp out again, though I need a better way of drawing maps, and maybe a car with metal sides...
I met some of you, for the first time ever, at the convention, and it was lovely to do so. But I undoubtedly missed others, in which case I am sorry, and look forward to making your acquaintance next time.
This week I have had more time and got less done. Strange. However I have managed to do quite a bit of research and so I hope you will be entertained by my tales of a yaffle, some Salicaceae, a Sphairistike-ian, the Landy, element 53, the King of Romance, and an astromancer.
Carnation Co. [trade : cereal : USA] “Woody Woodpecker`s Drawing Lesson” (1953) 1/36
Yaffle - actually the name for a green woodpecker, but I used poetic licence (again)
Woody Woodpecker Day is every April 27th but I have not been able to find out why. What I do know is that he made his debut on the 25th of November 1940 in “Knock Knock” which starred Andy Panda.
By 1943 he had his own cartoon series and he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). However his theme tune did not arrive until 1947.
He moved to television in the 1950s, until the late 1970s. However in 1988 he found new fame, as one of the `toons featured in the film, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” – and in 1999 he was again starring in his own show of weekend cartoons.
Today he is the official mascot of Universal Studios, in fact he had a ride named after him at the Universal Studios complex in Orlando Florida between 1999 and 2003 (the rather alarming-sounding Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster). He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I cannot find out when this was done - though Mickey Mouse was the first animated character to be put there and that was in 1978.
Strangely the only other card I can find for him was issued in 1981 in Australia by Scanlens - and ir is actually a sticker.
This card is an amazing find, and the set features other characters too, in the same bright and colourful style, with rounded edges that make it look like a playing card, but don't be fooled, because on the bottom of the reverse it says “Get other cards in packages of Carnation Corn Flakes & Albers Oats”.
Note too, that this was officially sanctioned by Walter Lantz, his signature appears just above Mr. Woodpecker`s right shoulder.
You can see all the cards in this set at WalterLantzFandom/Carnation
Now if you are lucky to find a packet, you will see that it says Albers Milling Company is a division of Carnation Co. Los Angeles, California. However Albers were based in Portland, Oregon. They were founded in 1899, as Albers Bros. Milling Company, but in 1929 they were bought out by Carnation Milk Products Company - and yes, they do indeed make Carnation Evaporated Milk. Not all bad news though, as Albers is still a brand name on Corn Meal and Grits that is as familiar as ever in the United States
C.W.S. / Co-Operative Wholesale Society [tobacco : UK] “Wayside Woodland Trees” (1924) 10/48- C792-380 : C130-16
Salicaceae is the proper name for the Willow group of trees and plants, which includes the Poplar
Today in America, it is National Arbor Day. This day has one aim, and that is to get everyone out there to plant a tree. You can buy one from a garden centre, or you can plant an acorn. It is entirely up to you, and it means that you can take part at any age, and it matters not whether you have money or not, so long as you have a hankering to do it, and the intention to look after the site until the tree pokes its tiny little shoot out of the soil, and this will be when you least expect it - or even when you have given up any hope of sich a thing at all.
It is also a very good day in this country to plant a tree, though you must bear in mind that you will not get much of the benefit yourself, it will take many years, if not generations to grow into anything resembling a proper tree; but one day, centuries ahead, someone will stand and look at your beautiful tree and wonder who you were to have left such a marvellous mark on the landscape.
This tree sounds Italian, the Lombardy Poplar, but the text tells us “its original home is in the Himalayas”. It goes on to enthuse about its habits, but then shocks us at the end by saying that “Its wood is used for cheap boxes and packing-cases” - and that seriously seems a sad ending, even a waste, for such a beautiful tree.
This set was issued in the middle years of the Co-Operative Wholesale Society`s card output. The first batch were, rather strangely, issued during the First World War, from 1914 until 1917, and they run to some very odd set lengths, only the "Boy Scout Series" and the "Parrot Series" being of twenty-five cards. However of the rest there may be more, we can only say what we known of - four "advertisement cards", twenty-nine of the "Buildings and Works", eighteen of the "War Series"
Our group, the second, did not start until 1923, and they were over by the start of the 1930s, These are more traditional set lengths, twenty-four of the "English Roses", twenty-five of the "Cooking Recipes" and "How To Do It" (though it is a multi-backed set, and purists consider a set to be a hundred cards, one front with each of the backs), forty-eight each of the "Poultry", and the two sets which many consider to be siblings, our "Wayside Woodland Trees" and "Wayside Flowers", or at least the 1923 version, with the brown back - for there is a green backed set from 1938, which falls under the third grouping - issued between 1934 and ending with the commencement of the Second World War.
This set is listed in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes as :
WAYSIDE WOODLAND TREES. Sm. Nd. (48)
The updated volume does however tell us that the third grouping of sets was not the final flourish for the Co-Operative Wholesale Society, for they brought forth a set of "Western Stars" in 1957. And we featured those as our Card of the Day for 6 January 2023
Panini [trade/commercial : cards : O/S – Italy “Supersports” (1988) 199/204
Sphairistike comes from ancient Greek and means "skill at playing with a ball", so it does apply to many sports. However it was primarily used for Tennis, hence a Sphairistike-ian would be a player
After much struggling, I found out that something did happen today, in 1970, the birthday of Andre Kirk Agassi.
This is a curious card indeed, for it is double sided, one side showing the footballer Oliviero Garlini, and the other the tennis player Andre Agassi, who was born today in 1970. This card is usually regarded as his rookie card, though it is two years after he became a professional player - and it does seem that his portrait was intended to be the “B” Side, for he is No.199 and Mr. Garlini is No.11. It is a very striking portrait though, and I very much like the face that they have chosen to frame him in a tennis racket, though perhaps they were telling you what he did in case nobody knew.
They soon would. He may have come to the attention of the public through his long flowing hair, which was shown to full effect on the advertising for Nike, etc - but he could play too, and he would go on amass eight major Championship trophies, seventeen Masters titles, and an Olympic Gold medal, becoming World Number One in 1995. He was the first man ever to win a singles event on all possible surfaces. Then, sadly, he retired, for health reasons, in 2006, devoting his time instead to charities involved with children, and including a school.
In total he appears on almost two hundred cards, and these continue to this day, getting on for twenty years after his retirement from the game he so loved. And this is a good thing, as it keeps him in the public eye, and also raises awareness of his charities.
Kellogg [trade : cereal : UK] “Motor Cars” untitled – Colour (1950) 31/40 – KEL-380.2 : KE0-4.B
Ooh the lovely Landy, though some users do prefer Landie, especially in the plural, if they own more than one. However if you look at the trademark dictionaries, the word "Landy" is officially registered by Jaguar Land Rover Ltd.
We picked this card because of the issue date, for it was today in 1948, not that much earlier, at the Amsterdam Motor Show, that this lovely car was introduced to the World. All those years ago and I am still looking admiringly at every one I see, for of all the cars ever made, they always were, and still remain, my favourite. One day I may end up owning one, too.
There are not that many cards which feature Land Rovers at all, let alone the earlier "Series" models. You will find one as card 24/25 of Kane Products "Modern Motor Cars", and that is of similar vintage to our set, being issued in 1959. However that is slightly more colourful and has a rural background. Another, and in blue paintwork, is in Glengettie Tea`s "Modern Transport" issued the same year, as card 24/25
One more modern company which seems to hold them in regard is Golden Era, who started in 1996 with a tribute to the Series III which ran through the 1970s and early 1980s. Perhaps they had a soft spot for that model for in 2000 they featured it again, as one of the three sets called "Land Rover Legends" one set each for the Series I, II and III. Their sets are artist drawn and comprise six cards plus an introduction card which fulfils the same purpose as a box topper, to protect the cards below and also to act as an attractive view at the top of the clear plastic box.
Another modern set, shown to us by Mr. John Levitt, is this one, just 6 cards, each a different view of a model Land Rover
The backs were all the same, as shown here.
This was a tie in promotion, with another set of Butterworth`s Tea cards, that being the 1999 set "History Of The Suffolk Regiment" - because a similar vehicle had been used by the Suffolk Regiment during their time in Cyprus in the late 1950's.
Only 2250 of these model vehicles were ever made.
Now this card is cut down, by me, so it fits this space better, but you do often see the sets in this format.
However, do be aware that, in their original form, they came with a coupon on the side, printed back and front.
Both sides of this coupon is shown here, and if this works out there will be a lot more little vignettes added to the newsletters as we move back through them (after the completion of the Card of the Day Index, of course)
As for our set, that is first listed in our original British Trade Index part II as :
MOTOR CARS (A). Sm. Nd. (40)
A. Black. No.12 found with back text (a) “This 10 h.p. car …” (b) “This 8 h.p. car …”
B. Coloured.
The text is almost identical in our updated British Trade Index, except that “1950” has been added instead of the original “Sm”. And the code is changed.
I have to say that you may be thinking I have the wrong code here, and that is the black and white version - however I assure you this is coloured. Saying that, though, I am not entirely sure that a Land Rover is a good choice to demonstrate colour, because it was not until the mid 1950s that you were allowed anything but this green, and then blue, and grey were added to the chart.
Some places will tell you that you could also get beige, but this seems to have only been exported, and was primarily designed for military use in desert locations.
Carreras “Turf” [tobacco : UK] “Regalia series” – large (1925) 12/20 - C151-175.B : C18-24.B
Now every element has an atomic number in the periodic table, and iodine`s happens to be 53.
So here we have, hooray, a Centenary Card, though it is not that exciting. But today in 1924 iodized salt was introduced in an attempt to stop thyroid problems. Iodine is not a cure, but if the thyroid gland malfunctions, and does not produce enough hormones, then it will affect your blood pressure, which in turn alters your temperature and heart rate. Adding a small amount of iodine to the diet provides it to the thyroid gland so that it can use it, and does not need to make its own.
The ancients knew about the thyroid, and many of the effects of it failing to work. The early Chinese cure was seaweed, which you will be shocked to learn is the major source of iodine today. However all this knowledge was forgotten until the 19th century, when, as a side effect of the production of gunpowder the seaweed glowed with a violet hue. "Iodine" is a made up word, by the way, and it refers to the ancient Greek for the colour violet. This substance was tried out as medicine, and it was discovered that though in many areas it had no effect, it seemed to improve the health of subjects who were malnourished, yet suffering with grossly enlarged necks.
It was not until 1896 that it was discovered that the thyroid gland was the source of iodine, and the link was made.
Today Iodized salt is salt that contains trace amounts of iodide, either sodium iodide or potassium iodide, and they get it in by spraying it. There seem to be no side effects, and most people probably do not even realise that it is being done. Goitres, or swellings of the neck, are still relatively common, but the effects are much reduced.
This card shows a very interesting container for salt, known as Queen Elizabeth`s Salt Cellar, and referring to Queen Elizabeth I. The text tells us that “it is one of the few pieces left of the old Royal Treasure of England.” It also says that there were two types of Salt Cellar in those days – “Great Salts … for ornament and to mark the rank of the guest at table, but not for use; [and] Trencher Salts … placed near each person and … for use only.”
Now though this card was issued by Carreras Ltd. the cards say “Made by a Branch of Carreras”. That turns out to be Boguslavsky, and there was a small batch of sets that were issued in the same way, between 1925 and 1927.
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes our set is described as :
REGALIA SERIES. Nd.
A. Small (25)
B. Large (20)
C. Cabinet Size (10)
Curiously all the sets in this batch were issued in these three size formats.
Mister Softee [trade : ice cream : UK : ] “Mister Softee`s Pop Parade” (1969) 12/24 – MIS-070.7 : MJZ-18
Believe it or not, but Englebert Humperdinck is actually known as The King of Romance - and he uses it as the title of his book and his biographical movie.
Today is the birthday of Arnold George Dorsey, or Gerry Dorsey, though you may know him better as Englebert Humperdinck - or you may not know him at all…
The card starts by saying he is “Tall, dark and handsome, but no stranger to the pop fans, young and old alike”.
He was born in India in 1936, just one of ten children. The family returned to England just after the Second World War and set up house in Leicester, England. Our man was interested in music and, for some reason, wanted to play the saxophone. It was quite an unusual instrument, but very popular to add the smoky atmosphere in jazz clubs, which is where he found himself gigs in the 1950s.
These were curtailed when he was conscripted into the Royal Corps of Signals, where he remained for several years. In 1959 he won a talent show, and it seems that one of the prizes, or maybe the prize, was to make a record for the Decca label.
This set is said to be “An Exclusive Series Presented in Association with Disc and Music Echo”. Now they were only in print between 1966 and 1972, before that they were “Disc” alone, and, briefly “Disc Weekly” – and after it became part of “Record Mirror”.
It is listed first in our original British Trade Index part III, as :
Mister Softee`s Pop Parade. 88 x 88. Nd. (24)
I could not find it in the updated version, but reader Mr. John Levitt has told me that it can be found on page 291 as item 7 part of reference MIS-070. He also told me that I got the date of this section wrong, putting it as the 2nd April instead of 2nd May - so that`s been sorted out too!
This lumping together is why I probably missed it, especially as it is under the heading of "MISTER SOFTEE`S TOP TEN OR LORD NEILSON`S STAR CARDS", neither of which is the title of our set. The heading continues with "1963-73. 88 x 88, unless stated. All series to 1973 included" - that being because the cut off date for this volume is 1970.
Our section is described as :
7. 1969, Titled "Mister Softee`s Pop Parade. Base "...in association with `Disc and Music Echo`. Nd. (24).
Jacques [trade : chocolate : O/S - Belgium] “A L`Assaut des Etoiles” (“The Way to the Stars”) 93/158
Hard to find a strange phrase for an astronomer, but they were once thought to have magical powers and therefore were known as astromancers - though technically that means one who can tell fortunes by the skies and stars. Predicting comets is pretty magic too though! Don`t you think...
Here we have Edmond, or sometimes Edmund Halley, who is most famous for his work on, and observations of the comet that bears his name, and can be seen in the top right hand corner of this card.
However Halley was interested in all forms of astronomy, and ways of prediction, he loved compasses and surveying, and today in 1715 he predicted the solar eclipse within four minutes.
He was also one of the first people to publish a map before the event, so that anyone could watch.
Halley was British, born in Shoreditch, in 1656, and he attended St Paul's School in London, moving from there to Queen's College, Oxford. When he was twenty he set sail for St. Helena so that he could study the stars of a new part of the sky. His notes were such that the Royal Society sent him off within Europe to learn from many famous astronomers and men of letters – one of whom was Sir Isaac Newton, whom he helped to write his masterpiece 'Principia of Geometry, though they would later fall out and quarrel.
He became the Astronomer Royal in 1720, in his sixties, almost certainly because of his comet prediction just five years before.
Now there are many cards of Sir Isaac Newton, but not of Edmond , or even of Edmund, Halley. His comet is probably the best chance we have to find him, and one I have come across is by A.H.C. Co., card 20/25 in "Wonders of the Universe".
This card does actually show him. It is multi-lingual, but neither of the languages are English, one being Belgian/French and the other, I think, Dutch. It was issued by Jacques Super Chocolate. It tells us he was born in 1656 and died in 1742, so when he predicted the comet he was approximately sixty years old.
Jacques first made chocolate in 1896, and soon began to export. Its claim to fame was that it only used cacao butter which is the fat that comes from the beans themselves, they did not add any other vegetable fats. At the time this was supposed to improve the taste, but we now know that has many health benefits, and that it is vegan.
This week's Cards of the Day...
Our theme for this week was another sport that features on cards but is seldom mentioned, and that is Table Tennis. The reason for that is that April 23rd is not just St. George’s Day but World Table Tennis Day. Strange then that this year's International Table Tennis Federation Men's and Women's World Cup in Macao should have not included it as the date of their finals but instead held the events from April 15th to 21st
And that brings me to something that will almost certainly astound you, because the total amount of prize money was $1,000,000.
The winners were Ma Long in the Men’s event, and Sun Yingsha in the Women’s.
Saturday, 20th April 2024
Here are some things you may not know about Cristiano Ronaldo.
His full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.
He was born in Funchal, Madeira.
According to the Trading Card Database / Ronaldo he appears on 7,556 cards.
And in 2009 he revealed that was told to give up football and become a professional table tennis player. In his autobiography he admitted that he was so fond of both games that the thought did cross his mind, but in the end football won, mainly because of his idolisation of the Portuguese player Eusebio.
These are larger cards than normal, and Now in case you were wondering why we say 200? in the heading, it is because there are different groups of these cards – 180 base cards, plus five special cards each of “Game Breakers” and “Master Class”, and ten different autograph cards. So it depends on if you are happy with just the base set, or if you want all the specials, or even if, for whatever reason, you only want the cards that show your hero.
We do know that the cards sold in packets of seven, for a cost of £3 a packet, which seems rather costly to me - and that a total of a thousand autograph cards were made.
Sunday, 21st April 2024
The clue word here was “Paddle” because that is another name for the hand held flat surface which propels the ball over the net and across the table.
According to the ITTF, it is officially to be called a racket.
However, by usage, it is probably best known as a bat, for that is its name across Asia and Europe. In America it is known as a paddle, but only because a bat is primarily used in baseball and that is a more popular game out there.
This card shows a very famous tug-of-war which took place in on the third of April 1845, just off the East Anglian coastline. What it aimed to prove was whether the old or new propulsion system was actually best, so they strung a rope between the ships H.M.S. Alecto (who was paddle wheeled) and H.M.S. Rattler (who was screw-propelled). Then the orders were given to tighten the rope and reverse away from each other. This seems a rather odd way to do this, but never mind.
H.M.S. Rattler won the contest, and therefore paved the way for the new screw system to slowly take over.
You can read more at BowcreekToAnathan – and do look, because the writer actually starts the page by showing the event on another cigarette card.
Anyway, after all that, the clue word was “Paddle” because that is another name for the hand held flat surface which propels the ball over the net and across the table.
According to the ITTF, it is officially to be called a racket. However, by usage, it is probably best known as a bat, for that is its name across Asia and Europe. In America it is known as a paddle, but only because a bat is primarily used in baseball and that is a more popular game out there.
Murray was founded in 1810 and first issued cards between 1901 and 1907, these being the “Actresses BLARM” (twenty cards also issued by several other companies, hence the acronym) and a curious untitled set that is known as “Irish Scenery”, which can be found with five different Murray branded backs, but is numbered 101-125. Where cards 1-100 are, who knows?
Murray continued issuing cards in fits and starts, and finally in 1939-40 they brought out our set and a set of “Steam Ships” which were totally dissimilar, being twenty five black and white halftones. Our set is catalogued in the original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
THE STORY OF SHIPS. Sm. 66 x 39. Nd. (50) … M164-52
It is exactly the same write-up in our updated version of this book, but the code has changed to M970-770
Monday, 22nd April 2024
Our last clue was the table, and it is true to say that in the 1920s and 30s many a dining table was pressed into service for an impromptu game of Ping Pong. Ogden`s "A.B.C. of Sport" shows just the chaos that would ensue on card "P" - "The Pinger (or Ponger). You can see that at the New York Public Library /Ogden/ABC-P
Now the ITTF would probably not approve, but table tennis has been colloquially known as "Ping Pong" since 1901. We will find out more about that tomorrow, but it is supposed to arise from the sounds of the ball hitting the flat surface of the racket and making a "ping" as opposed to the hard sound of the ball striking the table - or the floor - which was, amusingly, a "pong". Other names, similar, also existed - including Click-Clap, Pim-Pam, Pom-Pom, and Whiff-Waff.
Ping Pong was the favourite, and it is also said that it was made up by a certain James Gibb, who introduced the celluloid ball to the game, having encountered them in America.
Englishman James Gibb is credited with bringing hollow celluloid balls back to England from the United States in 1900, although some other sources claim they were plastic balls. Before that they were harder, of rubber or cork.
This set, and its younger sibling, were first catalogued in our Wills reference book part IV, as
OLD FURNITURE. Large cards, size 79 x 62 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey. With descriptive text. Home issues.
278. “1st Series of 25”. Issued 1923
279. “2nd Series of 25”. Issued 1924
This actually had rather a short run, because Series 1 was issued in October, and Series 2 arrived in February, just four months later.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index describes the pair as :
OLD FURNITURE. Lg. Nd. … W62-161
1. “1st Series of 25”.
2. “2nd Series of 25”.
It is further shortened in our updated version, which combines the two series on to a single line. The code is changed though, to W675-202
Tuesday, 23rd April 2024
The reverse of this card tells us that this is the Gasper Geist Cup, for women’s singles. And this is named after an actual person - Dr. Gaspar Geist the President of the Hungarian Table Tennis Association. He donated it, specifically for the Women`s Singles World Championship, in 1931, which was the fifth World Championships, and was in that year taking place in Budapest. However it was not the first Women's Singles event in the World Championships, that had taken place in 1926.
Hungary used to be a major force in table tennis - having won the Men`s Team event twelve times, second in the all time winners list to China, who has won it fifteen times. The first ever national championships were also held in Hungary, in 1897.
The card also says that “The Ping Pong Association, which was formed in 1902 became, in due course, the English Table Tennis Association”. I thought that this was being slightly cheeky to call it The Ping Pong Association, so I did a bit of research, and discovered that there was indeed an Association by that name, formed in December 1901. However, and this is really curious, there was also The Table Tennis Association, formed in December 1901, less than a week before.
What happened was that in 1901, Jaques of London had produced a game called Ping Pong; a game, but not for children. This was designed as a little after dinner entertainment, the idea being that once the servants had cleared away the dinner things the host would fix the net to the edges of the same table that his guests had just eaten off, roughly in the middle lengthwise, and have a few rounds. This was not the first game of its type; that was introduced in the 1890s, called "Gossima", and, intriguingly, was also produced by Jaques of London. Many games collectors and researchers say that this was based on a game played in India by British Officers, and that possibly someone in the Jaques family had seen or played it themselves.
Now the Ping Pong Association had all gone by 1905, leaving just the English Table Tennis Association, and it seems natural that the members of the first graduated to the second, rather than merging, as our card seems to suggest. The game continued, and it spread into Europe, which is where prominent players and officials got together and started the Fédération Internationale de Tennis de Table (or International Table Tennis Federation) in 1926, those being from Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Sweden, and Wales. Their first championships were held in that same year, but not in Europe, they were held in London.
This set does not appear in our British Trade Index until part IV, where it is described as :
Famous Sports Trophies. Shaped, various sizes. (20)
19 subjects as listed under Set TNA-16 in III. Twentieth subject is `Football` (The World Cup) … MJZ-21
Looking back at part III of the British Trade Index this TNA-16 turns out to be a Tonibell issue, also with ice cream. That write up is much larger, and it is scanned in below :
Now this appears to suggest that Tonibell never issued the last card of the World Cup, so is that true? And if so, why not?
The clue to that seems to come in our updated British Trade Index, for the Mister Softee version is not there at all, and the listing under Tonibell reads :
FAMOUS SPORTS TROPHIES. 1970. Top section die-cut. Unnd. (19). See HT-87
1. 113 x 57 (10) 2. 83 x 70 (9).
This suggests the Mister Softee issue came after 1970. And a look in my Murrays Catalogue of Values shows it was issued quite a bit later, in 1975. It is also, confusingly, catalogued under a different title, of “Sports Cups”. However, in the same book, the Tonibell version is dated 1976, which cannot be right.
There are two trains of thought here. One is that the Tonibell was issued first, in a year amidst World Cups, and the Mister Softee was issued later, about the time of a World Cup. This is plausible, but would mean that the final card was redrawn specially, which can only be discovered by comparing the artwork. The other theory is that it was the Mister Softee that was issued first, in a World Cup year, and then the set was reprinted later, by Tonibell, without that card because it was not a World Cup year. This seems implausible, given the popularity of football, though there are two other trophies in the set, the F.A. Cup and the European Cup, and maybe they thought three was one too many?
Wednesday, 24th April 2024
Our Directory of British Issuers (RB.7, published in 1946) tells us that Bocnal Tobacco Co. were based at 9, Bonhill Street, London E.C.2. and that it was only quite recently founded, in 1934. It then says "Now Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation, Luton" - but more about that in a minute.
Their major brand as Bocnal was "Newgent", as seen on the back of our card here, but that was only sold through newsagents. Then there was "Clifton", "Corktip"", "Plane", "Supertips", and "Fifteens" , the packets of which carry not a single reference to Bocnal, only "The Better Blend - The Big Cigarette with the Big Reputation. Fifteens Tobacco Co. Ltd. London, England."
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index some of this is cleared up, because the header for our company says ; "Founded 1934. Later became The Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation, Luton. Cards issued 1938". In fact under the name of Bocnal they only issued two sets, ours, which is described as :
LUMINOUS SILHOUETTES OF BEAUTY AND CHARM. Sm. 66 x 36. Cream-yellow on black background. Back in shades of grey to grey-brown. Nd. (25)... B80-1.
The same text appears in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but with a new code, B502-200
The other was a set of cards in full colour which were called "Proverbs Up To Date" and is presumed to have been issued abroad.
The same original World Tobacco Issues Index also has a bit about Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation Ltd., Luton, which first issued cards in South Africa, between 1948 and 1949, at which time they called themselves Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation (South Africa) Ltd., Johannesburg." Their first set of fifty cards was "History of Aviation", but then, unfortunately, they ran into a problem with government restrictions, and their "Famous British Ships" could not be issued. However, rather than scrapping them, they sent them to England, where they were issued as two sets, Series No.1 and 2, each of twenty-five cards, in 1952 - this explains why their backs are in English and Afrikaans.
Single cards seem to have been exempt from governmental interference, because in 1951 they had produced a single card, postcard sized, of Vic Toweel, the boxer, who was fighting against Boland in Johannesburg. This was presented, on the night, to attendees, as part of a small package of two cigarettes and this card, which was branded for "Mills" and "Yank" Cigarettes. Did they intend it to be the start of a set of boxers? I guess we will never know.
Anyway in 1954 they seem to have become allied with Phillip Allman and renamed themselves Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation Ltd., Luton, England. Again they only issued two sets, each of twenty-five cards, "Propelled Weapons" (1953) and "Kings of England" (1954).
Then, in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, it reveals that in the late 1950s they took the "Mills" brand to Mauritius, and issued over thirty sets between 1959 and 1961.
Thursday, 25th April 2024
So many thanks to Mr. Peters who told us that this was issued by Quaker Oats, in England. And lots more gen which will follow at the end of this section.
This cards shows John Alfred, or Johnny, Leach, who was born in Dagenham in Essex in November 1922 and died relatively recently, in 2014, aged ninety-one. In between, he was a player, coach (of the England team), and author, as well as the writer of a regular column in the News of the World, and in 1966 he was also awarded the M.B.E. However he started the game relatively late, especially when compared to the Far Eastern players, at the age of seventeen, and almost immediately his career was interrupted by the Second World War, and he found himself in the Royal Air Force, stationed in Northern Ireland.
On his return to civilian life he decided to give it another try. In 1949 he won the single`s World Championship, and in 1951 he won it again; two years after that he was involved in winning the team World Championship, the only time that Great Britain has ever done so.
As far as cards, they are scarce, only three are listed in the Trading Card Database/Johnny Leach - but this one is not. It is a package issue, in others words printed on the side of a box and cut our, very carefully, by a child or their mother.
It was actually issued in a rather odd way, made even stranger by the fact that Quaker Oats had some of the cards printed on the back of their boxes of puffed wheat, and others on their cornflakes - so to get a set you had to double your cereal intake. Every packet had six cards, at random, printed on the back and the text on the back finishes by saying "Grown Ups - put these by for the kiddies, or give them to any Children`s Hospital", which is rather sweet.
Our British Trade Index part II lists them as :
QUAKER CARDS. Panels 240 x 150, each with six cards 70 x 65 from six series, each Nd. 1/36 ... QUA-30.
1. British Landmarks
2. Great Moments of Sport
3. Household Hints
4. Phiz Quiz
5. Railways of the World
6. The Story of Fashion
We featured the fashion cards before, so click the bold link in the extract above - for that page also has the original report, extracted from the Cartophilic World magazine of September/October 1952 (Vol.9, Issue 101). However that does mean that the date usually given, 1961 - and it is also so in our updated British Trade Index - must be wrong.
In that updated British Trade Index it is also slightly differently catalogued, as :
QUAKER CARDS. 1961. Package lssue 240 x 150, each with six cards 70 x 65. Six series, each Nd. 1/36. Listed separately... QUA-270.
1. British Landmarks
2. Great Moments of Sport
3. Household Hints
4. Phiz Quiz
5. Railways of the World
6. The Story of Fashion
The series within the main set are not catalogued as separate series, they just appear alphabetically within the text then say "Package issue. See QUA-270.[1-6 respectively]
By the way, and just to keep you in the loop, as it were, there are a few cards in our set which relate to football - and which you can have a look at courtesy of the Football Cartophilic Exchange/Quaker. They also have a checklist of the entire sports section of this set on their site, though not all the cards are illustrated.
Friday, 26th April 2024
Now yesterday’s player, Johnny Leach, also appears in this set, but we have chosen to end the week with our most successful women table tennis players.
However, let us start, for a change, with some anomalies.
The first is the title of the set. Now if you look at the bottom of the reverse it says only "SPORTSMAN - SERIES OF 24" but obviously that refers to a single card, not the set (and it is also on our card, which shows Sportswomen). In our original British Trade Index part II it is indeed titled as “Sportsman”, but at several other dealers and sites you will find it called "Famous British Sportsmen". As that does not appear on the cards, I was wondering where it came from, because the cards were not issued in packets, but it turns out that it is on the special album - which intriguingly also says "A First Series of", though no second series was issued.
The second is an even more intriguing fact, because if you look at our card, which was supplied by a reader, it is clearly dated "15 DEC 54", and yet this set is dated 1955 in all dealer catalogues.
Further to this we were advised that an even earlier date exists, on card No.2, of Billy Wright, and that is almost a year earlier, reading "I Jan 54. So does anyone else know of any cards that are dated even earlier than this?
Also they seem to run until June 1956, unless anyone has a later date?
And you can find a checklist of all the cards in this set at the Football Cartophilic Info Exchange/BAC/Sportsman
On today`s card we have the Rowe Twins, Diane and Rosalind. Sadly this card has no text about them - but we can extract some from card 18/20 of the set of "British Sports Stars" by Radio Fun. That tells us that Rosalind Rowe is actually Mrs Cornett, and lots about their sporting prowess. They have been "World Doubles Champions twice and English Open Women`s Doubles Champions for six years running. Won the World Doubles Championship for the first time when they were only 17. Now, at the age of 22, they are regarded as veterans and have played exhibition games all over the world. Rosalind also won the English Women`s Singles (1953 and 1955). Between them they have collected over 150 trophies."
Now in Barratt`s "Goldflake Famous Sportsmen" (1970) we find Diane Rowe alone. But it says that she "still is the No.1 in this country, even though she was winning world titles back in the 50s" It turns out that she was born in April 1933 and got married, in her thirties, to the German table tennis player Eberhard Scholer, after which she competed for West Germany. She retired from playing in the 1970s, she had a small daughter, but she kept on coaching. She died in Germany in 2023.
Her sister Rosalind was older, by ten minutes. She married a doctor in October 1955 and completely gave up the sport. She had four children, and she died in Kent in 2015.
What I did not realise was that their father and uncle were footballers, for Brentford United.
In our original British Trade Index part II our set is catalogued as :
SPORTSMAN. Sm. Nd. (24). Album issued. … BRH-12.
The same wording, just differently coded also appears in our updated British Trade Index. And it does appear that this was the only set that had an album!
We are also told in our original British Trade Index part II that The British Automatic Co., Ltd. issued these cards “as weight tickets, 1946-58” - that they are “Small size 54 x 29 m/m.” and we are also guided to “See Anonymous Set ZB9-37” which turns out to be the Palmistry Chart – and which is included in the main listing of the updated volume. The company also issued cards with wording only, fortunes, horoscopes, quotations, and jokes - though there was also a batch of cards that gave information about the Olympic Games in 1948 and the same idea was used for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952/53.
Our original British Trade Index part III adds in a new discovery, some black and white “British Views”, which were issued earlier, in the 1920s. These have disappeared by the updated version, but another group has been added from the 1930s, these being “Health Hints”
There is a slight anomaly in all these books regarding the dates of operation. because dealers seem to point to the first sets like ours as having been issued in 1948, not 1946. These first two were “British Locomotives” and “History of Transport”. The company then issued at least one new set every year, but not in 1956, and their final set was “Racing and Sports Cars” in 1957.
and that`s all for another week.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope that you not only learned something, but found something that you wanted to do more research on all on your ownsome, and maybe even encountered a set of cards, or a subject, for the very first time.
By the way - tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day. So if you are lucky enough to have one near you, nip along. If not, most charity shops have books, and they might just have the one you have been after. Go have a look, just in case....