So this week it has been another chance for you to follow the progress of a newsletter as it builds. Things are pretty hectic right now. However they will settle down, I am sure. And I am heartened by the kind messages that I have been sent. Thanks to you all.
Getting towards the middle of the year now, and also the sun is making a bit more of an appearance though we have also had a lot of rain. When the sun is awake before me I am always happy, I love to wake up and know I can go anywhere and will not have to run amongst the showers. Rain is dark and cold and I think for a moment that someone has pulled the curtains on me whilst I was asleep - I never liked curtains, the windows are enough.
Anyway thanks for your perseverance and this ought to be entirely finished tomorrow. In the mean time, read on for a delightful drink, a powerless plane, a sun saviour, a golden goal, an `ounded otter, more`s the pity, a baseball birthday, and a cigarette-smoking man....
Kinney Bros. [tobacco : O/S : U.S.A – New York] “Novelties” (1888) Un/150? – K524—305.A.a : K32-19.A.a : USA/228-3
So let us start with some wine. Aptly, because it is National Wine Day today. And this lovely card is certainly a card worth raising a glass, or even a whole bottle, or two, to....
Today, it matters not what is in those glasses, but it you are a wine fan you may like to note in your diaries that August 4th will be National White Wine Day and August 28th National Red Wine Day. And for next year`s diary, you can also add .National Drink Wine Day on February 18th.
Kinney all started with one man, Francis S. Kinney, a tobacco manufacturer, whose rather grandiosely named "Kinney Tobacco Co." opened in 1869. Once his brother, Abbot, joined the firm it was renamed to "Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company".
These cards were issued in various styles.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists the sections as :
- NOVELTIES - TYPE 1 (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thick, no border. Unnd. (25). Ref. USA/228-1. [K32-17]
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 2. (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thin, coloured border. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey. Unnd. (50). Ref. USA/228-2. [K32-18]
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 3 to 5. (A). Unnd. See ABC/228. [K32-19]
A. Type 3. Die cut to shape. Ref USA/228-3
(a) Inscribed “25 Styles” (25)
(b) Inscribed “50 Styles” (50)
(c) Inscribed “75 Styles” (75)
B. Type 4. Die cut to shape and embossed. Inscribed “50 Styles” (50) Ref USA/228-4
C. Type 5. Small Card Type. 73 x 40. (50)/ Ref USA/228/5- NOVELTIES – TYPE 6 (A). Oval, 65 m/m long. Inscribed “125 Styles”. About 5 seen. Designs partly on set D76-30. Ref. USA/228-6 [KT32-20]
D76-30 is under Duke, 28 Miniature Novelties
Jefferson Burdick used the section system, more or less similarly, in his American Card Catalog too, as follows :
228. Novelties
- Type 1 - Round (1 5/8 in) thick, no border (25) … .25
- Type 2 - Round (1 5/8 in) thin, coloured border (50) diff. .... .10
May be collected with red, blue, or gray backs.- Type 3 – Irregular die cut to shape (75) … .10
Girl’s head on object. May read 25, 50, or 75 subjects- Type 4 – Irregular die cut to shape, embossed (50) … .15
- Type 5 – Small card shape (50) … .15
Types 4 and 5 show the same 50 as the type 3 designs- Type 6 – Irregular die cut, marked “125 Subjects” … 1.00
Irreg. or egg shape (partly shown on set 120).
Set 120, to save you looking, is under “Large Cards”, and the text there reads :
120. Miniature Novelties (26) 2 to card … .35
The small design mostly as Kinney No. 228.3. See set 228.6
What it does not have is any link to Duke, which I find rather curious.
Now in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index this set is also in sections, but there are some differences, namely :
- [K524-295] NOVELTIES - TYPE 1 (A). Thick, no border. Unnd. (25). Ref. USA/228-1.
A. Circular, 40 m/m diameter. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey
B. Square, 45 x 45. Back in blue. (1 known)- [K524-300] NOVELTIES – TYPE 2. (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thin, coloured border. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey. 25 with and 25 without “50 Subjects”. Unnd. (50). Ref. USA/228-2.
- [K524-305] NOVELTIES – TYPE 3 to 5. (A). Unnd.
A. Type 3. Die cut to shape. Ref USA/228-3
(a) Inscribed “25 Styles” (26 known)
(b) Inscribed “50 Styles” (50)
(c) Inscribed “75 Styles” (75)
B. Type 4. Die cut to shape and embossed. Inscribed “50 Styles” (50) Ref USA/228-4.
C. Type 5. Small Card Type. 73 x 40. (50)/ Ref USA/228/5- [K524-310] NOVELTIES – TYPE 6 (A). Oval, 65 m/m long. Inscribed “125 Styles”. (14). Designs based partly on set D900-280. Ref. USA/228-6
J.A. Pattrieouex [tobacco : UK – Manchester] “Flying” (1938) P246-700.2 : P18-68
Today is National Paper Aeroplane Day, and I really thought there would be a card of such a thing, somewhere, but have not yet found one. Do you know of any?
So for the time being we have this, which shows a glider. Technically if you enlarged a paper plane you would get a glider - which, basically, is an aircraft whose wings do not move, whose structure contains no engine, and whose flight is entirely dependent on the currents in the air in which its path goes through.
The date of the first paper aeroplane is unknown, but we know that it is an evolution through the Oriental craft of origami, or paper folding. It is not hard to imagine two people, making shapes, and one throwing paper at the other, then folding it to make it fly further and more accurately. However they were not thought of as paper aeroplanes, for such a thing had not been invented - they would have been paper birds.
Paper does have another connection with flight though, because the Montgolfier Brothers used paper to make their trial and first flying hot air balloons, though they did evolve to be lined with cloth.
I have used this set already for Gatwick Airport, but there is a possibility I may keep it, especially if I continue to draw a blank at finding a card of a paper aeroplane, because it turns out that there are three versions, and hopefully either this one or Gatwick Airport is also available in the small size.
Anyway these are described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as
FLYING. See H-564.3. Five subjects are common to both sizes
1. Small (28)
2. Medium (48) “Senior Service” brand issue. Two printings.
Now H.564 is the handbook, and it tells us that this set has other issuers too. The text in full reads :
GALLAHER GROUP. Fout Photographic Series. Fronts glossy photographs in black and white/ Four numbered series as follows :-
564.1 - Beautiful Scotland
564.2 - Coastwise
564.3 - Flying
564.4 - Our Countryside
Each series issuec as follows :
Gallaher - Medium Size, series of 48
Illingworth - Medium Size, series of 48
Peter Jackson -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48
Pattrieouex -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48, inscribed "SENIOR
SERVICE CIGARETTES" without firm`s name.
Captions in front in large or small letters
American Tobacco Co – `Hassan` brand “Arctic Scenes”- untitled (1910) Un/25 - A565-010 : T.30
Today, just as the sun starts to feel warm enough to sit in, just for a little while, it is Sun Screen Day. Sun screen is easy to apply, and could save your life.
When we use it, we are following a long tradition, which, curiously, began with plants, not chemicals. In Greece, the ancients used olive oil, and the Egyptians used to boil rice and then use a mixture of the liquid and the mashed rice. Rice seemed to be the product of choice across Asia too - and it is becoming a must have ingredient in modern expensive sunscreens too, though in modern times it seems that only the water is used, not the mash.
The first chemical sun screen was invented in Australia in 1932. The 1920s and 30s were the heyday of tanning; before that having a tan would have marked you down as a labourer, spending your days outdoors and toiling with your hands - rather than being a lady or gentleman who stayed indoors. And, remember, these interwar years were also the heyday of the outdoors movements, hiking, walking, and cycling. Note too, that the first Youth Hostel in Great Britain opened in 1930.
This card shows the midnight sun, in the Arctic. It is also known as polar day, because the sun remains visible in the sky the whole day. This card may show the Arctic, but it happens at both ends of the globe, north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. As does the opposite phenomenon, polar night - which is where the sun is not visible above the horizon in the daytime.
These are listed in Jefferson Burdick`s American Card Catalog in section 6, “20th Century U.S. Tobacco Insert Cards”, under General Issues, as :
T.30 – Arctic Scenes (25) Hassan, Lg. … .05
In our World Tobacco Issues Index they are described as :
ARCTIC SCENES (A). Lg. 80 x 64. Unnd. (25). “Hassan” brand issue. F30 and 649. Ref. USA/T.30
As for the most fascinating fact about this card, well it has to be that the painting is signed, "A. Operti". This is the Italian Albert L. Operti, who was the official artist on the Robert E. Peary Arctic expeditions of 1896 and 1897. He was also a scenery designer at the Metropolitan Opera House, and was responsible for producing authentic backdrops for many of the exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History.
The Nugget Polish Co., Ltd [trade : polish : UK – London S.E.] “Flags of All Nations” (1925) 18/50 - NUG-070 : HN-47.5 : NUG-3
Our first Centenary card, and it celebrates Peter Robert Duncan who, on this day, in 1924, made his debut for the Irish Free State football team, at the Olympic Games in Paris - not only that, but he scored the only goal, against Bulgaria, which sent his team into the quarter finals.
That quarter-final match was against the Netherlands and it was drawn 1-1 at the true end of the match, but went into extra time, during which the Netherlands managed to get another goal.
In the semi-finals, Netherlands were beaten 2-1 by Uruguay, who would win the gold medal. The other match saw Switzerland beat Sweden by two goals to one.
Peter Robert Duncan used the nickname of Paddy Duncan, and he played for St. James`s Gate F.C., in Dublin, technically the works team for St James`s Gate Brewery, which made Guinness.
I have now found him on a card, but it is currently on a sale listing at FootballSoccerCards.com - and it is also the very match, on this date. It was issued by Chocolat Eduardo Pi of Barcelona in Spain. And if anyone has a copy that they would like to scan front and back we will happily add it here and remove the flag - for I am pretty sure the Irish Free State will pop up again in future newsletters !
This is another back design of a set which we featured as our Card of the Day for the 9th of May, 2024. - and the full details of the set appear via that link.
John Player & Sons [tobacco : UK – Nottingham] “Boy Scout & Girl Guide Patrol Signs & Emblems” (January 1933) 12/50 – P644-144.B : P72-68.B : P/29.B [RB.17/29.B]
Today, the last Wednesday in May, is World Otter Day, a chance to celebrate this quite magical, but sadly also quite rare creature.
Part of the reason for its rarity can be seen very easily if we look at early cigarette cards, where in too many cases it features as the so-called "sport" of otter-hunting,(which is where the Otter-hound got its name) - or in W.D. and H.O. Wills` "Animals and Their Furs" (1929). It even appears in Ogden`s Ltd`s "A.B.C. of Sport" as "O - The `Ounder of Otters" (1927)
There are a few cartophilic representations that are pleasing, though, including ours, which gives us another chance to feature one of the transfers that John Player issued in the early 1930s. And, by the way, the main listing for those transfers can be found with our Card of the Day for the 9th of April, 2024
This set is actually quite unusual because it only features part of the card version - the top section, where the red stylised otter crouches in a circle, flanked by embroidered bars of brown and of white. The actual otter is removed, and so is the foliate backdrop, which extended up into the section between the lower edges of the bars. Gone too, on the transfer, is the text, which tells us that otters "travel long distances over land, sometimes in parties, exploring for fresh water." - and that - "Of all land animals the Otter is the best swimmer, and Otter Patrols therefore specialize in swimming and rambling. Otter Patrol Call : "Hoi-oi-oick".
In our original John Player reference book, RB.17, issued in 1950, this set is catalogued as :
29. 50. BOY SCOUT & GIRL GUIDE PATROL SIGNS & EMBLEMS. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey. Home issues, January 1933, with special album.
A. Small cards, backs with descriptive text.
B. Small transfers, backs with instructions for use.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index in 1956, it has reduced to :
29. 50. BOY SCOUT & GIRL GUIDE PATROL SIGNS & EMBLEMS. Sm. Nd. (50) … P72-68.
A. Cards.
B. Transfers. Special booklet issued.
This text is identical in the updated version of this book, apart from the card code.
Topps [trade : chewing gum : O/S - U.S.A.] "Baseball" (1953)
Our second Centenary Card of the week, they are a bit thin on the ground this week. This one celebrates the birth of this man, Omar Joseph Lown, today, May the 30th, 1924.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a keen baseball fan, and player, from a very early age. According to legend, his nickname, "Turk" was bestowed his because of his fondness for eating turkey.
He played baseball wherever he could, with any kind of equipment. He was spotted, and signed for the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, before he could do too much, The Second World War began and he was called to fight.
This card mentions that he was "wounded in the Battle of the Bulge". This was during his service in the Second World War, he was in the U.S. Army, pretty much a foot solder. The "Battle" makes it sound a single engagement, but this was a long rolling campaign, more correctly known as the Ardennes Offensive, which rumbled through the forests of Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg for over a month. Almost twenty thousand American soldiers were killed, almost forty-eight thousand injured, and twenty-three thousand were classed as missing. On the opposite side, over sixty thousand German soldiers were killed or wounded. Hundreds of British were killed too. It was one of the worst tolls of the entire war.
I have not been able to find out how he was injured, but he returned to baseball as soon as he could, once again with the same team. However in 1951 he moved to Chicago, where he played for the team on this card, the Chicago Cubs. He also played for the Chicago White Sox.
After he retired he became a mailman, which he said kept him fit and helped him meet people. He did that for twenty-three years, until he died, in 2016.
Topps [trade/commercial : cards : USA] "Fight the Future" (1998) 7/72
And so we close, with No Tobacco. World No Tobacco Day is a worldwide event entirely different to No Smoking Day, for that includes all methods of smoking. and today is aimed at stopping the smoking, specifically, of tobacco.
Both days do this in a range of ways, education, better (and more graphic) product labelling, and also by enlisting the help of various celebrities, especially sports personalities, whose influence with the young might, hopefully, convince them to stop smoking, or even better, not to start. However smoking remains popular on the big, and small screen, and too often the hero pulls out a cigarette by way of celebration.
One series which did things slightly different was The X Files, in which one of the "bad guys" smoked so much that he was known as "The Cigarette Smoking Man". In real life the actor who played him, William B. Davis, had been a smoker, but had given up. However, for authenticity, he did, at first, return to smoking proper cigarettes on screen, and then rebelled, making the change to herbal ones. These may look like cigarettes, but they contain not a whiff of tobacco, nor of nicotine - instead they are highly flavoured, all natural herbs, such as mint, cinnamon or clover, honey, catmint, or fruit.
He also used his fame for good, giving of his time to the Canadian Cancer Society - and is also frequently involved in assisting with another fight against the future - climate change.
This card comes from the set called "Fight The Future", and it was issued in 1998 to tie in with the first X Files feature film. The action in the film fits in, and should be viewed, between seasons five and six of the television series.
The basic set is seventy two cards, but there were also six autograph cards, including one of our man today, six "Mystery" cards, so named because you had to press on the front of the card to see what picture was revealed, and three "promo" cards, one each for the US and the UK version of the set, plus an enlarged version which is known as a box topper, because its purpose is to go on the top of a plastic box and protect the cards beneath.
This week's Cards of the Day...
concerned a thing that some of us are naturally good at, and some are totally not - and that was Numeracy Day, on May 22nd.
Numeracy takes all forms, from simple sums right up to calculus and algebra, and whilst it is a case of training your brain, some of us, including me, are simply not wired that way, and we struggle to even recognise the numbers, or the symbols used in even the most basic of sums.
One of the ways to increase your brain power is to test it, and there is a National Numeracy Test online for all to take. I am not sure if it is one of those that at the end ask for your email to send the result, but, even if it is, taking the test can show you which sort of questions you were able to answer with ease, and which you found harder. Local councils also offer courses for numeracy skills, so check with yours - or have a look at the official site at gov.uk
So our clues this week were :
Saturday, 18th May 2024
The clue here was a very simple one, the player’s surname, “Brain”, which is where the processing of numbers and letters takes place. In fact there is a section of the brain that only handles numbers - it is the fronto-parietal cortex, which roughly runs in a sloping direction from the top of the ear to the top of the head. Recent studies have found that if the brain is given very few single digit numbers it can do the job quickly, but larger numbers and more complex sums take longer, and are not always immediately correct, though the error is often very quickly corrected.
As most things, numeracy reaches a peak, usually in young adulthood, and then declines - if it is not used. It is thought this is because when people are at school and college and then university, they are working out mathematical problems on a regular basis, but then they go to work and most people hardly use maths in their job, especially without relying on a computer or calculator.
James Brain was a footballer and a manager. He was born on September 11th 1900, in Bristol, and died in 1971. His first team was across the border though, with a trial for Cardiff City leading to a spot on the team at Ton Pentre. Then in 1923 he was signed by Arsenal, becoming one of their most prolific goal-getters. He also played in their first ever F.A. Cup Final. However in 1931 he moved to Tottenham Hotspur, for three years, before moving back closer to home and becoming part of Swansea Town, Bristol City, and Cheltenham Town. whom he also managed.
This card is described in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes as :
FOOTBALLERS SERIES. Sm. Nd.
A. Captions in blue (50)
B. Captions in black (100)
The word "captions" might be a bit misleading, but it means the footballer`s name on the front in the small white panel. Luckily we have used the black version before, which is why that is bold - if you click there it is a link and you can visit it.
I am not sure how the numbering goes, as to whether the first fifty are identical in both sets and the next fifty new. If you know, do tell us.
Sunday, 19th May 2024
The clue here was Japan, which I am sure confused many of you, but it is the country with the highest numeracy rate. They did not invent mathematics though, because archaeologists have discovered figures and symbols in ancient Sumeria, which is the south of modern day Iraq. However the Japanese did have a way of doing mathematics which was all their own, it started in the early 1600s and lasted for over two hundred years, when Western ways came along. It used a kind of abacus, a very simple system of rods and beads which was widespread throughout the East and also parts of Russia. We know that it did not start there though, because we have notes by the Greek historian Herodotus about how he had seen Egyptians moving lines of pebbles in order to make calculations, just like they did in Greece.
This card shows a Buddhist Temple in Tokyo and it was issued with chocolates. They are really just thin papers, and they were designed to be stuck in a special album, though they still printed the descriptions on the back. I do not know much about Chocolat Pupier, but their advertising proudly proclaimed them "Le Meilleur Chocolat Francaise" which meanss "The best chocolate in France".
They were based in St. Etienne, and were started in the 1860s by one man, Jean-Louis Pupier. He passed it over to his son in 1895 and his grandsons inherited in 1919.
There seems to be two versions of this set, one like ours, with "Bon Point" at the top, and the other with "Edite par le Chocolat Pupier". Those are almost certainly later, because the backs say, in red, "Nouveau prix de l`album" which means new album price. The albums were three francs and then they went up to five francs. However it looks like the red was added to a card that had the three franc price already, so there could have been three versions, ours, the black backed version with the album price, and the red overprinted version of the black priced cards.
Monday, 20th May 2024
Lastly we had “Count”, which is the simplest mathematical problem of all, until you run out of fingers and toes, of course.
The most interesting fact I found out about counting is that every Roman numeral up to a hundred can be made out of sticks or rods - just look at numbers I, II, and III. We call them Roman numerals like they died out long ago - but in actual fact they are still used today in many ways, especially on clocks, watches and sundials.
This set was issued in two versions, described in our World Tobacco Issues Index, as :
MODERN STATESMEN. Sm. Nd.(25)
A. Back “Hignett`s Pioneer Cigarettes”
B. Back “Hignett`s Butterfly Cigarettes”
There was some discussion about whether this set ought to have been called “Portrait Series”, the wording which appears in the top border. In the end it was decided that “Modern Statesmen” was to be the set title.
It was never issued by Ogdens.
Count Mensdorff was a fascinating character, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in England since 1904, and he seems to have been keen on maintaining friendly relations with England. Sadly he died, of starvation, in Austria in June 1945. There is a story there, but almost certainly too sad a one for me to look into
Tuesday, 21st May 2024
This card gives us two links to our theme.
The first of these was the issuer of this card, Wanamakers, which was a department store in America, simply because the first two questions in the basic numeracy test revolve around shopping. Level one of these is whether the candidate can add up a list of numbers, and tell which of four dated items is the oldest. Whilst level two adds in multiplication and percentages, and working out how many items come in a box when one end is left open.
The second was the shield, for Spain, which is currently twenty-third and lowest in the chart of worldwide numeracy. However America is twenty-first, and England seventeenth.
The problem with any kind of test is that it depends on whether everyone is included; there are some places which would probably have not included females. And not all the countries were included, none from Africa, where numeracy, and literacy, can be dependent on something we take for granted, simply being able to go to school. Yet in 2022 Kenya, Tanzania, and Swaziland topped the African numeracy charts. It would be interesting indeed to have those figures, and to find out where they fitted in to our list.
John Wanamaker first opened a shop in 1861 in Philadelphia, selling mens clothing. His brother in law ran it with him, but died in 1868. The store remained, and was very profitable, but John Wanmamaker had dreams of being the biggest retailer in the world, and he knew he would not get there just by selling clothes. Then two lucky coincidences came along; the Pennyslvania Railroad station came up for sale, just before the American Centennial Exposition opened. John Wanamaker`s idea was to cater to all these people, who would not have time to shop around, by offering a range of very different goods under one single roof. One of his first brilliant ideas was simply to save the staff having to remember the price of everything, whatever part of the store it came from, when it reached the tills - and what he did was to attach a small tag to every item, with the price on it, becoming the first shop to do such a thing.
They were also very quick off the mark at printing advertising cards. And they were the first to have an in store restaurant.
Just after the turn of the Twentieth Century they had the flagship in Philadelphia and two stores in New York. By the end of the century there were sixteen stores.
Then, in the 1980s the stores were bought by a Mr. Taubman. He went bankrupt in 1994, and the stores were split up between two rival chains, May and Penney.
There are actually two kinds of cards in this so-called series, there are flags, which are lengthways along the card and generally slightly darker, and shields, like ours which are upright. Note that they only advertise the clothing store, so they must be early - whilst any cards that mention the Grand Depot can be dated to after 1876.
Wednesday, 22nd May 2024
This is here because it is a map, and mapping and mileage estimation forms the next part of the numeracy test.
This very thin, paper, card also shows the other version of the one we showed earlier in the week from the companion set of "L`Asie" (or Asia), without the reference to Bon Point.
And thanks to Mr. Parkes who has supplied it, replacing the rather light copy I had of Togo that resisted all my efforts at making it look even half decent.
The set on "L`Europe" seems to have been issued first, in 1935, then "L`Asie" (Asia), and finally "L`Afrique".(Africa). All three of these sets had.a hardback album.
However there was a fourth album, "L`Amerique du Nord" (North America, Greenland, Mexico, and Canada) which only had a rather basic and much more garishly cover-ed paperback album - and there was also planned to be a fifth album on "L`Amerique du Sud" (South America) but it was never produced.
We know, thanks to an advertising leaflet, that you could exchange cards for this Africa set up to September 1939, and that the albums would be available until June 1941.
This puts it well into the Second World War and I have to wonder, poignantly, at the fate of too many of those late teenage boys who started to collect these cards, in 1938.
Thursday, 23rd May 2024
Gutermann & Co started as a silk mill, in Vienna, in 1867, and quite easily moved into more modern artificial threads as they were invented. However silk thread is still widely regarded as the best to use in sewing as the texture is so fine that when it pierces through the material being sewn, that material closes around it as it passes. An inferior thread leaves a mark, and never lays so smoothly.
Recently they have introduced a range of threads which are more sustainable, using natural dyes, and cutting waste and emissions throughout their many worldwide factories.
This set is available in two formats, with the red overprint of the company name, and without. The overprint may have been because without it the cards are anonymous, hence not so great for advertising purposes - the words "Soie a Coudre" that are overprinted as the top two lines translate to mean silk thread, for either hand or machine use. The cards are dual language, one on each side of the central line, French and Dutch is showing here.
Archimedes, the subject of this card, was born in Sicily in about 287 B.C. and he has many claims o mathematics fame, not only the discovery of pi and the best ways to calculate the volume and surface area of any spherical object, but also gave us the Archimedes Principal, that any object being plunged into liquid displaces an equal volume to that which the object has.
Most relevant to the numeracy test, he also invented the mileometer, a device which can measure, accurately, the distance that any wheeled vehicle has travelled, either on a single trip, or continuously over its lifetime.
Friday, 24th May 2024
Lets close our week by looking at two of the most basic skills of numeracy, and also the two most valuable. For it does not matter, to most people, about fractions and calculus and things like that; the most important things are being able to tell the time so that they arrive where they are going at the right moment, more or less, they do not miss their favourite television show, and their cooking is neither under nor overdone - and that they are able to cope with working out their money, so that they are not short-changed in shops, or online, and so that they can check their bank balance, income, and outgoings.
This set is, therefore, the perfect closure. It was first catalogued in our original Wills reference book part III as :
104. 50. TIME AND MONEY in Different Countries. Fronts lithographed in colour; backs in grey with descriptive text. Issued 1908. ... W/104
HOME ISSUE :-
A. With I.T.C. and Album Clause
AUSTRALIAN ISSUES :-
B. With "Capstan" advertisement, without Album Clause on backs.
C. With "Havelock" advertisement, with Album Clause on backs.
D. With "Vice-Regal" advertisement, without Album Clause on backs.
Similar series issued by Smith, and Fry (Trade).
The key in identification is that these export cards do not have an I.T.C. Clause. But there is another way to spot them, before turning them over, that being the fact that there is no Wills` name at the top of the front - our version, and the "Vice-Regal" sets are blank, whilst the other reads "Havelock Cigarettes".
Now we know, thanks to Wills` own records, that the Home Issue of this set was released in April, 1908. Of the Australian versions, though, there is no record, and this is thought to be because the lists are only of sets that were printed in London, either to be issued here, or to be exported - sets which were printed overseas do not appear, and it seems very likely that this was the case here, though there is a slight problem in that there is a home issue, and that it was issued also by Smith and Fry, using the same artwork. This means that either all the Wills sets, home and export, were printed at the same time, or that the artwork was sent overseas for use and was then amended, being given new backs and having the front wording removed. Either of these possibilities are not easy.
I have now done a bit more research, and it now appears the Wills export issues came first, in 1907, followed by the home issue in May 1908. The Fry issue was also in 1908, though we do not know whether it was before or after the Wills home issue. Lastly came the Smith version, a long time after too, in October 1923 - and, by the way, don`t waste time looking for this title in the Smith`s records, because they called it "Nations of the World".
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes the set is split, with the home issue in section 2A and the Australian issues either under 2.B in the original version, or 4.B in the updated version. In both, the set is catalogued more succinctly under the home issue as :
TIME AND MONEY IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. Sm. Nd. (50).
and then the Australian section continues this with
Brand issues. See W/104 and H.454
A. "Capstan" back
B. "Havelock" back
C. "Vice-Regal" back. (a) with (b) without album clause.
This means that it must have been some time between the publication of Wills book III and that of the World Tobacco Issues Index that the album-clause`d version of the "Vice-Regal" printing had been discovered.
There was another find in between then and the publication of the updated World Tobacco Issues Index too, and that was a second version of the home issue. This revolves around the album clause, which is either the usual size of 34 m/m long, (type A) or just 30 m/m long (type B). Type B is also noted to use different typefaces, and it is thought to be an overseas issue, of selected numbers only, presumably some kind of replacement, for whatever reason. If anyone can shed a bit of light on this, please do. It would be interesting to compare the texts to see whether there are any changes to that, because that may be the reason for the reprinting.
As for the text from H.454, which is the handbook, it reads as follows :
H.454. TIME AND MONEY IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES or NATIONS OF THE WORLD (titled series). Fronts in colour. Numbered series of 50.
Pre-1919 Wills – Titled “Time and Money…” – with I.T.C. Clause
A. Album clause on back normal size, 34 mm long.
B. Album clause 30 mm long, with many other typefaces changed. Possibly an overseas issue, with selected numbers only.
Post-1920 Smith – Titled “Nations of the World”
Overseas Wills – Titled “Time and Money…” – without I.T.C. Clause
A. “Capstan” back
B. “Havelock” back
C. “Vice-Regal” back
(i) With Album Clause
(ii) Without Album Clause
Trade Fry - Titled “Time and Money…”
well dear readers, we got to the end in the end. But not very long before I will need a new newsletter. Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoyed the journey.
See you all next week (in a few days time)