Well this is the oddest newsletter that I have ever penned, apart from the one after "that concert" of course, when I was rendered quite unable to do anything at all for several days. It was so amazing.
Now yesterday I was not in a good frame of mind, and I am still going to need a little bit of time to get straight (or what passes for it) but I have had several offers of assistance, so there will indeed be a newsletter this week. It is going to be slow, but it will arrive as soon as it can.
And so we shall continue.
Gallaher [tobacco : UK - Belfast & London] "Famous Cricketers" (1926) 18/100 - G075-380 : G12-49
This card marks Somerset Day - or more correctly, Somerset Weekend, as this weekend it spreads itself over two days. That link in bold will lead you to lots of celebrations, so if you live nearby why not try to do a few?
People have lived in the area since Prehistoric times, and many artefacts have been dug up and can be seen in local museums. The story can be read in great detail at Wikipedia/Somerset - however, modern Somerset only begins in 1889, when it became an administrative county.
Now there is a bit of a story hidden on this card, for if you read the text, it says that our man : "played cricket in Holland when interned as a Prisoner of War." A little bit of research has led me to the fact that this was not just little matches at the camps, as I first thought, because in 1918, the Dutch League was swelled by two teams called "Prisoners of War", or, after a bit more hunting, "Prisoner of War A" Team and "Prisoner of War B" Team. So our man must have been on one of those teams.
I have not yet found him, but it appears the card has an error, that being, of all things, his name. It was actually John Crawford William MacBryan not Mc. and he was born on the 22nd of July 1892. He was at Cambridge University, and played cricket for them and Somerset. In fact he also played hockey, well enough to win a gold medal at the 1920 Olympics as part of the Great Britain and Ireland team.
The truth is a bit different, for he actually went to Exeter School, then joined the Somerset Light Infantry, being wounded and captured at the battle of Le Cateau, in France, in August 1914. He was held at a Prisoner of War camp for the rest of the war, and it was only after the war that he went to Cambridge University, then to the Olympics.
More research, I think.
This set first appears in our original Gallaher Reference Book, RB.4, issued in 1944, but there is no card code, they had not yet been invented. They are catalogued as :
1926. 100. FAMOUS CRICKETERS (titled series). Size 2 1/2" x 1 1/2". Numbered 1-100. Fronts, printed by letterpress from screen blocks in photo brown. Brown marginal lines, white margins and subject titles inset in white panels. Backs, printed in olive green, with descriptions and "Issued by Gallaher, Ltd., Belfast & London". Printed by Tillotsons, Ltd., Bolton.
Variety : Two varieties of numbers can be found on cards 5, 1, 15, 35 and 45.
Our origonal World Tobacco issues Index lists it rather less lengthily, and the varieties are missing. That text reads :
FAMOUS CRICKETERS. Sm. Grey. Nd. (100) ... G12-49
The updated version has this exact text, but a different code (G075-380)
Lyons Maid [trade : Ice Cream : UK - London] "Famous People" (1962) 27/48 - LYO-200 : LYO-16
Ooh a Centenary Card! For today, in 1924, in Hall Green, Birmingham, this man was born, and, as this card tells us, christened Anthony John Hancock.
Like quite a few stars of the post Second World War era, he started and honed his comedic talents in barracks, or in the many shows that camps encouraged in order to boost morale. In Mr. Hancock`s case it was the R.A.F. "Gang Show", which, I was surprised to hear, has its beginnings in the Scouting movement, and, odder still, the first one was created by a man who had been born in Somerset, that being the actor and producer Ralph Reader. In fact he was a Scout Leader, which I did not know either, and he was contacted to ask if he could pen a little show in order to help raise funds for a swimming pool at a camp in Kent.
This show was premiered on October 31st, 1932 at The Scala Theatre in London. It was called "The Gang`s All Here", and it seems to have only been on for one night. Though there was another Gang Show the following year, on request of none other than Robert Baden-Powell OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB., the founder of the Scout Movement,.
I admit, we have had this set before, as card of the day for April 25th, 2022, but not this printing, which is the larger size, or, more correctly, has a longer name bar on the front of the card. It is very hard to see the difference though, and it is really only visible when you compare one to the other. However, there is but four millimetres between the two.
Now Tony Hancock appears on another card too, it is quite hard to find, but collectors are especially fond of it. This was issued by the cinema chain ABC. They gave away cards to ther children`s club, the ABC Minors, and he is in the third series of "Cinema Colorstars", issued in 1962.
On which note there are other Anthony Hancocks, so be careful if bidding unseen. One is Anthony [Duane] Hancock, born in 1960, who played American Football. Another is Anthony [Eric] Hancock, who was born in 1967 and played soccer, under the name of Tony Hancock..
Morning Foods [trade : cereals : UK - Crewe] "British Uniforms" (19) 22/25 - MOR-170 : HX-108 : MON-3 : D.239
This card tells us that "The Royal Flying Corps became a separate Corps in 1913." In fact the idea of using aeroplanes for military purposes, primarily for observation, but also as an airborne weapon, had been rumbling for some time, but it was only in November 1911 that the military started a committee to look into it.
This led, in the following February, to a strong recommendation that a flying corps be formed. At that time it was to be in four parts, a group which built the craft, a place to teach the fliers, and then two fighting forces, one that flew above the sea, operated by the Navy, and another above the land, which was technically the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers, though today, in 1913 it was renamed, to the Military Wing of the Royal Flying Corps.
There were initially two squadrons of aeroplanes and one of observation balloons - and you can tell quite a lot from the fact that the balloons were Squadron Number 1. In fact they were not really sure what to do with the aeroplanes; they used them as kind of inferior balloons, just to take off, have a look round, and then land and report back, though they did come into their own as aerial photography developed.
Two more squadrons also arrived, No.4 in August 1912, which was actually simply splitting Squadron No.2 in half, and No.5, which was doing the same thing with Squadron No.3.
On the 1st of July, 1914, the sea section split away from the central body and formed itself into The Royal Naval Air Service. Its equipment was more or less replaced by a reshuffle.
Then in on the 1st of April 1918 the two were again combined, in order to form a Royal Air Force. Strangely, it was felt that there still ought to be a separate force that flew above the sea, so, on 1 April 1924, the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force was formed.
Our original British Trade Index part II catalogues this set as :
BRITISH UNIFORMS. Sm. 67 x 36. Nd. (25). See D.239 …MON-3
Those “D” codes appear at the back of the book in the Handbook section and they usually mean that the set was issued by another manufacturer, who, in this case were :
- Ewbanks, of Pontefract, who made confectionery (EWB-2)
- Propert Shoe Polish (PTZ-1)
In our updated British Trade Index, the listing reads :
BRITISH UNIFORMS. 1955. 67 x 36. Nd. (25). See HX-108 …MOR-180
This book reveals that the Ewbanks version was issued in 1956, but offers no date for the Propert save 1953-56. However most dealers` catalogues seem to agree on 1955.
Cow & Gate [trade : baby food : UK - Guildford & Yeovil] "Advertisement Cards" (1928) Un/12 - COW-050.2 : CPV-1.2
So why, today, do we have this card? Well, it was on this day, in 1796, that Edward Jenner first persuaded someone to let him give them an injection which might relieve the symptoms of smallpox.This injection contained another disease, called cowpox, because it was country lore that if you had caught the cowpox you would not suffer so badly with the smallpox, and you may not even suffer at all.
The last natural outbreak of smallpox in the United States was in 1949, and in 1980 it was announced, by the World Health Organization, that the disease was gone. That seems to have been correct, too, because no cases of natural infection have happened after that date. That does sound like a few un-natural ones have come along, so I may have a dig later. With my gloves on.
This is quite miraculous, because if you visit The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/smallpox you will read that smallpox was known in Ancient Egypt. Whilst those of us who take a particular pleasure in debunking myths ought to nip along to N.P.R./Smallpox - and check out an entirely different version of the "milkmaid" origin of the vaccine that you almost certainly learned as a child.
If we look in Part 1 of our original set of British Trade Indexes this set is split into two parts, namely :
Therefore this card comes from the second set.
Our updated British Trade Index has this slightly differently, and additional information, namely :
ADVERTISEMENT CARDS (A). 1928. 94 X 67. Unnd. (24). Two sets of 12, both issued as `Game of Snap` cards, 12 of each card, plus rules card, in packet.
1. 1st set. Captions in mixed case letters (12) HC-137.1
2. 2nd set. Captions in capitals (12) HC-137.2
HC-137 sends you to the newly updated handbook, where the titles of all the cards are listed.
However it does appear that the date of these cards might be slightly out, because the company`s own website says that "Smiler" the baby was not used in their advertising until 1930. And if you keep on reading you will find out that it was not until 1935 that Mrs. Miles of Huntingdon gave birth to quads, presumably the ones on the card, who seem to have owed their survival to a new formula milk supplied by Cow and Gate.
The St Neots Museum website has a page devoted to these babies, and it is fascinating indeed.
Ogden`s Ltd [tobacco : UK - Liverpool] “Foreign Birds” 26/50 – O100-524 : O/2-151 : RB.21/215-87A : O/87 [RB.15/87]
Our second centenary of the week marks the birth of Maria Koepcke, or Maria Emilie Anna von Mikulicz-Radecki.
She was born on the 15th of May, 1924, in Leipzig, Germany, and will hopefully be eternally remembered as part of the scientific names of several South American species, these being Koepcke`s hairy-nosed bat, hermit hummingbird, and screech owl - along with two other birds (a cacique, and a curassow) and an iguana (Frost`s) which bear the Koepcke name only in the Latin. The Iguana is rather special because the Latin name is in the plural, for her and her husband, a fellow zoologist. If any of these appear in your cards, do let us know, and we can alter the picture for this entry.
She loved the birds the best, though she had to study all animals to pass her zoology doctorate. During her studies she fell in love with her future husband, and once they had both graduated they gained employment at the former home of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt in Lima, the Peruvian capital. Their daughter was born there in 1954.
In 1971 she took her daughter to visit his father, who was at that moment working overseas. The aeroplane crashed, and she was killed, but her daughter survived, the only one on board to do so - her seat being somehow ejected from the fuselage at ten thousand feet, and, even more miraculously, serving to cushion her fall when she hit the ground, or, more likely, became entangled in the trees, for it is recorded that she then hiked through the rain forest for eleven days until she found someone to help her. She was then re-united with her father and took up some of the studies of her mother - though her personal love was in the study of bats, and I am actually wondering if the hairy-nosed bat might not, in fact, be named for her.
Sadly this is not the species named after Maria Koepcke, this is the Ruby-Throated Humming Bird, or Archilochus Colubris, though it does inhabit Central America, along with the United States, and Central Canada.
Our original Ogden`s Reference Book RB.15, issued in 1949, describes this set as :
87. 50. FOREIGN BIRDS. Fronts printed in letterpress in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Home issue, 1924. Similar series issued by B.A.T.
We have featured that “similar series” before. It can be easily identified because it does not need to say “Ogden`s Cigarettes” so the top band to the front that contains those words has been removed.
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes this listing is shortened, and slightly altered, to read:
FOREIGN BIRDS. Sm. Nd. (50). See RB.21/215-87A
The RB.21 code refers to the British American Tobacco Reference Book, which had only been printed in 1952, the last of the soft covered volumes, to be superseded by our World Tobacco Issues Index when it was issued in 1956.
Godfrey Phillips [tobacco : UK - London E.1] "Eggs, Nests, and Birds" (1913) 10/30 - P521-250 : P50-35.A: Ph/60.A [RB.13/60]
Here we have the pigeon, but not that which is seen at Trafalgar Square, this is its country cousin, the woody, or wood-pigeon, with its muted grey colouration and gentle coo. This call is perhaps why it has the alternative name of the rock dove. However, in those suburban places where the country meets the town, you will often see them existing quite happily together. And reportedly they can interbreed, quite successfully.
As to why we have this card, well today is the International Day of Living Together in Peace, and also Wear Purple for Peace Day. So the card fits in quite well on several levels, not just the dove part of the name, which is universally the symbol for peace, but also the fact that the wood pigeon sports a permanent splash of purple on their necks.
This set first appears in our original reference book to Godfrey Phillips, RB.13, issued in 1949, where it is described as :
60. 30. EGGS, NESTS, AND BIRDS. No. 1 Issue. Small cards, size 62 x 37 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in blue, with descriptive text. Issued 1913. There were two printings
A. Numbered 1-3
B. Unnumbered.
Subject titles of Series B (numbers in brackets represent the corresponding number in Series A). Titles from BACKS of cards :-
This table will be scanned later on and added in tomorrow.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index this has all been condensed heavily. The listing there is simply :
EGGS, NESTS & BIRDS. Sm. 62 x 36. Inscribed "No.1 Issue". (30) ... P50-35
A. Numbered
B. Unnumbered. See RB.13/60
This is almost the same in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, save the fact that the reference to RB.13 is omitted, that A and B are on one line, and that there is a new code of P521-250
Chocolat d`Aiguebelle [trade : chocolate : O/S - France] "Mushrooms" (1900)
To close our newsletter, we are going to celebrate National Mushroom Hunting Day, which has been an annual event on this day for exactly ten years. And the idea is just that, people go out into the countryside to see if they can find any of these miniature marvels to enhance their meals. As far as the law goes, it is okay to do this, so long as you only pick a few of them for your personal eating, and you do not take any protected species.
This set is one that they should definitely look at first, for it shows "good - bon" and "bad - mauvais" mushrooms - or, more properly, "edible" and "poisonous". Some of them are hallucinogenic, which could be interesting. The strangest fact, though, is that there are over fifty thousand species of mushrooms, of which, proportionally, very few taste good - or take a lot of spices and additions in order that they taste at all.
Before we close, mushrooms are technically alien life forms. They are not related to plants, nor to animals or insects, and they derive no energy from the soil or the sunshine, they are simply threads that spring up seemingly from nowhere, often by decaying wood. They then grow into the wood, digesting and converting it into more threads, until it has turned to powder. The wide brim that grows on top is simply to protect the threads from the heat and the wetness of our environment and allow them to chew on, regardless.
I am not sure how many cards are in this set, but maybe you do and can tell us.
This week's Cards of the Day...
This week’s “Theme of the Week” celebrated Europe Day, which is annually on May 9th. This celebrates peace and togetherness between all the countries that make up Europe, and the date was chosen to remember of The Schuman Declaration, signed on May the 9th 1950, which is now considered to be the foundation of the current European Union.
This scheme was named after an actual person, the French foreign minister Robert Schuman. Who does not seem to feature on any card, though at that date it would probably have to be a trade one. Unless you know of any, of course....?
Saturday, 4th May 2024
The clue here was Belgium, which has many links to Europe.
It was one of the original countries to join the E.C.S.C in 1958. Alphabetically, it is listed first, as it was in 1958, after the Treaty of Rome. which stated that "the office of President shall be held in turn by each member state in the Council for a term of six months, in alphabetic order of member states." It provided the first President of the Council of the European Union in 1958; who picked, for his HQ, his homeland`s capital, Brussels. And Brussels still remains the capital of the European Union.
This set first appears in our original British Trade Index Part III, as :
World Cup 1970. 76 x 56. Nd. (48) … ANF-20
However, the listing in our updated British Trade Index is :
WORLD CUP. 1970. 76 x 56. Sketches. Nd. (48). Backs have sketches of football hints. … ANG-450
This entry is not strictly correct, as you will see if you visit our Card of the Day for 27 November 2021, because not all of the backs do have “sketches of football hints”, some, as we show here, have flags and team details.
Via that link you will also find a fuller listing, and even a scan of the original write up from the "Cartophilic Notes and News " magazine.
Sunday, 5th May 2024
Our subject, coal, is vital to Europe Day, for the Schuman Declaration set out to stop one nation taking control of coal, and steel, by which means they could once more go to war. Though the "nation" was unstated, the declaration was written just five years after the end of the Second World War, and much of Europe was still floundering amidst the rubble.
Therefore, the European Coal and Steel Community would take over as a head, and insist that every member jwould agree to share in the production, the distribution, and the profits, for there was a subsidiary effect too, or so they hoped; that the poorer countries would be able get back on their feet more quickly.
The E.C.S.C. started small, with just six founding members: Belgium, France, Germany (or, more correctly, at that time, West Germany, the East still being controlled by the non-European U.S.S.R or Russia), Italy, Luxembourg. and the Netherlands.
This card really demonstrates the claustrophobic conditions in which coal is mined, under ground, in narrow passages, where your head scrapes the roof. Even worse is that this machine, the electric coal cutter, drills not entirely for coal; it has the capability to drill a slot at the base of the seam where the coal lies. Then explosive charges are pushed in above, and this, if all goes well, releases the coal that it might be collected. Or the men are never seen again.
This set is first described in The London Cigarette Card Company`s “Cigarette Card News” dated August 1937 (Vol.4, No.46). This reads :
This Mechanized Age. 50 small cards. As good, if not better, than the first which is certainly one of the very best sellers among modern production. Glossy finish in full colour.
It next appears in our original reference book to the issues of Godfrey Phillips (RB.13 – published in 1949). That entry reads :
THIS MECHANIZED AGE. Small cards, size 67 x 37 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour, glazed. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. There are two series : -
142. First Series of 50. Home and export issue 1936. (a) White card, no adhesive wording (b) Cream card, inscribed “This surface is adhesive”.
143. Second Series of 50. Home and export issue 1937. Inscribed “This surface is adhesive”.
Both series with the adhesive wording are found with this inscription but without the adhesive gum.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, it appears as :
THIS MECHANIZED AGE. Sm. Nd. … P50-130
1. “First Series”. Back (a) with (b) without inscription “This surface is adhesive”. (50)
2. “Second Series” Back inscribed “This surface is adhesive”. (50)
Our updated World Tobacco Issues Index has exactly this same text, just a different code.
Monday, 6th May 2024
This card shows the Hague Peace Palace, which, the card tells us, was opened in August 1913.
It is here for two reasons, firstly, that it is in the Netherlands, which. as you discovered above, was another one of the first countries to join Europe, and, secondly, further stressing that "Europe" was an idea intended to provide lasting peace between the nations, something that had sadly not happened after the original peace treaty of 1918, because it, and its stringent reparations, had almost certainly led to the Second world War.
The picture for this card, by the way, was supplied by Imperial Airways, so it might just be a set that an airline collector reading does not know of….
Now if you look on the inside back cover of our Lambert and Butler reference book (RB.9, published in 1948), a book covering the Sarony issues was planned. It is listed as :
17. Rothman, Sandorides, Sarony, Teofani, Westminster, Wix.
This would not have been RB.17 though, because numbers 1 to 10 were already printed. In addition, books 10 (Ogden), 14 (Phillips), 18 (Taddy) and 19 (Wills part II) were asterisked to show that they were earmarked for the 1948 programme. In the end this proved incorrect, Wills Part II was first out, as RB.11, immediately followed by Taddy, as RB.12, and both within 1948. Phillips came next, RB.13, but in 1949. Ogden`s (all issues, exclusing “Guinea Gold” Series) was RB.15, also in 1949, but it had been bumped by a volume not even on the list, Wills Part III.
As for the volume on “Rothman, Sandorides, Sarony, Teofani, Westminster, Wix” … it was never mentioned again.
That means this set first appears in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as
A DAY ON THE AIRWAY. Nd. (25). Special Travel Book issued … S26-10
A. Small. 68 x 39.
B. Large. 78 x 63.
This almost identical in our updated version, except for a new code, and the text is only on two lines, the sizes being squeezed on to one line, abbreviated to “Sm.” and “Lg.” and followed by each measurement.
The "Travel Book", by the way, was a special album, and for how to receive one you just had to look at the bottom of each card, where it says : “Collect Nos. 1-25, post them to Nicolas Sarony & Co, and receive a handsome travel book in which to mount your set.”
This is very much the same idea as we have featured before with another of Sarony`s sets, namely :
-
Around The Mediterranean - large (June 1926) - 27 December 2023 - https://csgb.co.uk/cardoftheday/2022-12-27
-
Around The Mediterranean - small (June 1926) - 29 March 2024 - https://csgb.co.uk/cardoftheday/2024-03-29
and, just as that set, these cards are in the same two sizes, small and large. They also measure exactly the same as the two versions of this set.
Tuesday, 7th May 2024
These curious items first appear in our third original booklet on the Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills as :
67. FLAGS OF THE ALLIES – Shaped for buttonhole. (Adopted title). Overall size 59 x 37 m/m. Unnumbered. Fronts per Fig.44, printed by letterpress in colour. Attachment to flag bears subject title, and is inscribed “Wills`s Cigarettes. Regd. 530,973 D”. Plain backs. Home issue about 1915
1. Belgium
2. France
3. Great Britain
4. Japan
5. Russia
6. Servia
When the five volumes were printed together under a hard cover, in 1950, they included a new section of dates of issue, some of which had appeared in W.D. & H.O. Wills` “Works Magazine” in the late autumn of 1936, and others were supplied later, by the company, directly to us.
It is interesting to note that from this dates section we are informed that in the very same month these were issued so was another set, “First Aid”, the second version with the album clause, for the non-album-clause cards had been first circulated in April 1913. Both had replaced “Garden Life”, which was first issued in October 1914. Then, in March 1915, they were replaced by the set of “Recruiting Posters”
It is a mighty hunt to find these in the original World Index, where they have been shunted to the back under section “6.C. SHAPED ITEMS ON BOARD. Insert issues.”. The text is :
FLAGS OF THE ALLIES (A). Series of 6. See W/67
Their only stable mate in that section is the Australian “Football Flags”, with pins, branded for “Capstan” and “Havelock”.
And they remain at the back in our updated Wills Reference Book, still alone with those “Football Flags”, with a very similar text to the above :
FLAGS OF THE ALLIES (A). Unnd. (6). See W/67
Wednesday, 8th May 2024
Here we have West Germany, and look, they show the industrial build up, maybe even a steel works, that the E.C.S.C. were so keen on preventing.
This card comes from a very narrow window in the story of Germany, because West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany, began on the 23rd of May 1949 and became joined again with East Germany on the 3rd of October 1990. And at that time it became just Germany again.
This is not the same set of A. & B.C. Flags that we showed you before, with the flag as a cut-out on a black background – they are correctly catalogued as “Flags and Bank Notes” and were issued in 1971; though in our updated British Trade Index they are only known as “Flags”, and the “Bank Notes” are on their own.
Our set is described in our British Trade Index part II as :
FLAGS OF THE WORLD. Nd. (80). Back in red and black “How They Say” in centre. As USA/R714-5. Album issued. … ABF-9
A. Medium, 81 x 57.
B. Large, 95 x 67.
In our updated British Trade Index they are listed as :
FLAGS OF THE WORLD. Nd. (80). “How They Say” in centre of red and black back. Special Album … AAB-280
1. 1959. 95 x 67. Cards (a) grey (b) white
2. 1963. 81 x 57. Also issued in Australia and overseas, titled “Flaggen Der Welt”
Thursday, 9th May 2024
This is Italy, almost the last of our founding countries of Europe, though if you look back in time it was the Roman Empire who had the idea of colonising many countries under one banner, which, in a much more peaceable way, is the same idea of Europe.
After the Second World War parts of Italy were given to other places, including all of its former colonies. Then, in 1949, it followed a similar route to several of our other countries from this week and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO the idea of which is to look after your own country, but also protect those with whom you share a border. This brought them into the effect of the United Nations, and then into the European Economic Community in 1957.
So lets start our card chat with a very brief chat about polish, which is purely to soften and waterproof leather, not to shine it. Yes, that surprised me too.
In early times it was often made by the shoe wearer themselves (or their servants) out of wax, tallow and oils. It was not until the 18th Century that it took on the idea of shining the item, and also when the ingredients were changed to beeswax, or lanolin from sheep.
Strangely, after that the shininess became outmoded and the requirements were for blackness. I am actually wondering if this had something to do with the Army, or with wars? Anyway the same beeswax and lanolin were still used but the makers added something very unusual to make it black - namely soot. The idea of darkness remained but some manufacturers went away from soot, indeed the earliest reference we have to a shop sold shoe polish in the early 19th century was made of vinegar, sugar and black dye, diluted with water, possibly also the water was to dilute the rather whiffy niffs of the vinegar so the wearer did not have to fight off the stray cats who followed them down the street. This idea was soon abandoned though, because the black dye was not of the permanent kind, and transfer and staining was impossible to prevent. Another popular ingredient was sulphuric acid, which is why if you look at a Nugget tin it will say "Free from Acid"
Nugget was one of the first branded polishes. It was amazingly successful and was sold across the globe. The company was Nugget Polish Company, and they were based at the Kennington Oval, near the Cricket ground which was founded in 1845.
They teamed up with a rival, the Chiswick Polish Company, in 1916, and it seemed to be a sharing of profits scheme, which, for all sorts of reasons, soon failed. It was all over, probably bar the shouting, by 1919. We know that Nugget as a brand continued after this, and that at the 1922 British Industries Fair they were exhibiting polishes and creams along with white buckskin cleaning cream and polishes for furniture and horse harnesses.
Then it all get a bit confusing and Chiswick Products are back on the scene in another merger of sorts. Reportedly Nugget was then lost as a brand, and the polish was retailed under the Chiswick name, but this cannot be true for we have adverts of Nugget being sold in New Zealand well into the mid 1930s. And they appear as one of the brands on a rather nice set of playing cards in the 1950s.
And then we read that Nugget closed down in 1967.
Our original British Trade Index of 1962, older, even, than me, lists Nugget simply as “polish”, which means it was not entirely that for shoes. It says that the cards were issued “about 1910-1925”, and lists four sets in alphabetical order. Our set is catalogued as :
FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS. Sm. 69 x 36. Nd. (50) … NUG-3
However, in our updated British Trade Index of the year 2000, the header says “Boot Polish”. It also has a big surprise, because the cards are catalogued as :
FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS. 1925. 69 x 36. Nd. (50) Vari-backed, 26 different backs known. See HN-47 … NUG-070
HN-47 is the Handbook reference, and, curiously, this does not list the cards, but the backs. Here is the listing, scanned in.
If you look at that list you will find the cards were issued with floor polish too, look at backs 5, 11, 16, and 24.
Returning to our updated British Trade Index, rather than the Handbook, we find that there are also has additional stable-mates, which are an advertisement card of a tin, (but there are almost certainly others, lurking, in the hands of ephemera and postcard collectors) - and eight different sheets of “Dogs” (A), though more correctly it ought to have been dog’s heads, or even, perhaps, “Magic Numbers”, which appears on the bottom of the sheets. This was designed as a game, a kind of bingo. Would like to see one of these, if you have one...
Friday, 10th May 2024
And our last card is our last founder member of the original Europe, Luxembourg.
Here it is called the Gran Ducado of Luxemburgo, and we chose this card because the closest version to the present-day Luxembourg dates from exactly a hundred years before it was issued in 1915, that being the Congress of Vienna, in 1815.
That date is rather interesting, because Luxembourg was given its independence from France by the Congress of Vienna, which was set up to tackle what would happen to the lands and borders affected by the Napoleonic Wars. Actually it was in 1443 that the Duchy of Luxembourg had been sold, and passed into French hands, becoming the property of a Duke of Burgundy. His grand-daughter married into the Austrian Royal Family, and from there became one of the sections of the Netherlands, where it remained until the French Revolution.
It joined the United Nations in 1945, and NATO in 1949. Then, in 1957 it became part of the European Economic Community, less than a year before that came into effect.
You may be interested in a set of cards issued by Liebig in 1951. These are called "The History of Our Provinces - Luxembourg" and they are part of a series of European explorations. Card one shows the land just after it was colonised by Julius Caesar with the new Belgo-Romans and their villas, card two is the foundation of the Monastery at Orval in 1070, card three is Phillipe Le Bon and his minting of money on the march, card four the unsuccessful siege of Bastogne by the Dutch in 1602, card five is printing under the supervision of Bouillion, and card six is the country being rescued by American troops in 1945. The reference codes for this set are [Fada] F.1522 and [Sanguinetti] S.1527
As for our card, we have featured "La Favorita" before - have a look at newsletter/2024-02-03. They also issued a version of B. Morris & Sons, Ltd`s “National & Colonial Arms” which you can read about at newsletter/2024-05-04
Oddly, if you go first to our original World Tobacco Issues Index there is a list of several cards under the issuer of "La Favorita - Fabrica de Tabacos ... Las Palmas, Canary Islands". Our set is listed under "Section 2, Paper-Backed Silks" as :
ESCUDOS Y SOLDADOS DE LAS DIFERENTES NACIONES (Flags and Soldiers of Different Nations). Md. 68 x 48. Nd. (58?). See X50-42 ... F15-11
In this case the "X" is the silks part of the Handbook to our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which you can get either as a separate volume or as a 1975 reprint combining the two books together. Our set appears under "Group 4. Series on white material", along with thirteen other sets. The listing describes the set as :
Escudos y Soldados de las diferentes naciones (Flags and Soldiers of Different Countries). See No.2 at Fig X50-4. Size 72 x 48 m/m. Backed with board, inscribed with series title and name of issuer - "La Favorita Fabrica de Cigarillos y Tabacos". No. 58 highest seen
However in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, this set appears under F, as part of the issues of "La Favorita - Fabrica de Tabacos y Cigarillos de Eufemiano FUENTES, Las Palmas, Canary Islands", under "Section 2. Paper-Backed Silks". Here, it is catalogued as :
ESCUDOS Y SOLDADOS DE LAS DIFERENTES NACIONES (Flags and Soldiers of Different Nations). Md. 68 x 48. Nd. (?65). "La Favorita" brand issue ... F946-820
So my Friday feeling, of running away, and rashly declaring this our last card of the day, has been much lightened. I do love camping, even though I never book in advance,I have even been known to just turn up at a site and ask if they have space. And I did not even have a site booked, or even any idea of where to go, when I started typing this in the library at Beaconsfield, at about 1pm on Friday afternoon.
I still wish I was rolling on the floor with a little puppy whose only thought was to eat my shoelaces.
However I am much heartened by the fact that readers have offered support of scanning their cards and writing text on subjects of which I have no knowledge. And it would be churlish of me to refuse.
So, perhaps in different, and more wonderful form, let the newsletters continue...