Saturday again, and not just that, for we are heading rapidly into autumn, wet grass, slippery leaves and loads of slugs and snails. No mists yet, but they will soon be here.
Autumn always seems to herald the start of going to events, the boot sales are packing up, and it is chilly, so maybe you should have a look at our events calendar and make a note to visit your local branch, or have a little trip out to one that is a little further. Most serve cups of tea, and refreshments, and there is bound to be an inn along your route if not. Make a day of it. Somethng to remember, as winter comes, even colder, and wetter, and gloomier, right on its heels...
This week a rather short newsletter, but some interesting adventures. Few centenaries though. Not sure why. And we manage to encompass a brilliant boat, a curious child, a famous flier, a biting beast, an art adventure, a frantic fight, and an earthly encounter - on Friday, of course.....
So let us start with that brilliant boat
Nestle [trade : confectionery : O/S : Switzerland] "Inventeurs" / "Inventors" - series V, stamp 6
Today, in 1807, saw the start of the first steam powered boat to run a commercial service. This was the North River Steamboat and it chugged out of New York and headed out along the Hudson River at an average speed of five miles an hour towards Albany. The journey, there and back, took sixty-two hours. Today, this journey, there and back, by road, takes about three hours.
Our man, Robert Fulton, was born on November 14th 1765, at a place called Little Britain, in Pennsylvania. He was not even a teenager when he started to tinker with steam, and have the idea that, if controlled, it could be used for propulsion. There had been earlier steamships, the earliest recorded being the French vessel Palmipede, which was built in 1776. And there had also been one made in America, in 1787. It seems likely that Robert Fulton was aware of these, and maybe both used them for inspiration, and noted refinements that he might make.
By the time he made his steamboat, he was well known in Naval circles, and had already designed a submarine, the original Nautilus, for Napoleon Bonaparte. He had also visited James Watt, in England. Possibly this was not a special trip, but part of his visits to Britain, working on steam-powered boats for use on the Bridgewater Canal in 1796-1800. He also spent some time in Paris, which is where he first conducted experiments into the feasibility of designing a missile which could leave a ship secretly, below the water, by means of air-compression chambers. Today we call these torpedoes.
He seems to have enjoyed travelling the world, and did not lack for companions. Indeed it came as a surprise when he married Harriet Livingston, in 1808. He was forty-three and she was twenty five. And they went on to have four children, the youngest of which was only two when he died, in 1815, as the result of saving one of his friends from drowning in a frozen river. However the oldest child was born in the same year that he was married, which may explain the why he did.
Now according to the Trading Card Database/Robert Fulton, his first card was issued in 1887 by the Lone Jack Cigarette Co., closely followed the next year by Duke`s "Great Americans". Neither of these had biographical details. You can see all the rest by clicking that link. Our card was sent to us by a reader who joined in with the search when we featured another version of this set, as part of our newsletter dated 22nd of July 2024 (on Saturday 22nd of June, so not much scrolling down required there). However that set is branded on the top border for Peter, Cailler, Kohler, Nestlé - whilst ours is just Nestle alone. There are other differences too, because on the bottom border it says Serie IX and ours is Serie V. In addition we know that this set was also issued by Cailler alone, and that their name appears, like Nestle`s does on our card, in the decorative cartouche which is inside the picture, whilst the joint issued card has the title of the set in that place.
We have also managed to complete the list of cards, the missing ones turning out to be 5. Niepce - photography and 8. Pasteur - vaccine de la rage
Salem Cigarettenfabrik G.m.b.H. [tobacco : O/S - Germany - Dresden] "Die Welt in Bildern" Serie 96,`Bilder aus Sudschweden` (19??) Bild 3/1180 - S033-900.3 :S14-10.3 : X24-8.3.H
Our second day of this week celebrates a strange disappearance, that of Virginia Dare, born today in 1587 and died, well nobody knows....
All that we do know is that she was the first English child to be born in America, and she was the grand-daughter of the governor of Virginia, John White. This is how she came to carry the colony name as her own. Her mother, the daughter of John White, had been married a few years earlier to a tiler and brickmaker, who also went to Virginia, and whose skills were well used to build the colony.
Another child, a boy, was also born that year, to another of the settlers. And nine children had gone across.
John White returned to England later that year, because the settlers were in urgent need of supplies. He thought he would load his ship and return, but unfortunately the Spanish Armada prevented this, and he did not return for three years. And when he did, he found the buildings deserted and not a trace of anyone he had left behind, some eighty men, seventeen women, and eleven children.
Most curious was that they had a signal set up, that if they were forced to leave, that someone would carve the sign of a cross into a tree. This was never done, but they did leave a single word "Croatoan", which was the name of an island nearby. However he never searched there, and I am not sure why, all that was recorded was that he was "unable" to search.
As to what actually happened there are many theories, that they went with the Native Americans, either forcibly, or willingly when their own food ran out, or that disease claimed them, though no trace was found of any burials. One thing we do know though, and that is that in the intervening years the Native Americans in that region suddenly seem to have developed the ability to build houses out of stone, rather than living under canvas - maybe their new companions showed them how...
Now reportedly Virginia Dare has been used for all manner of advertising, even though there is no real idea of what she looked like. If some of that advertising is ephemeral, and you can supply a scan, I will happily change this card, which is only here because I found no other. Though it is a grandfather, with a child, and the clothing is somewhat reminiscent of what the colonists may have worn.
Now this set was featured as our Card of the Day for February the 2nd 2022, which means that I will try to find another maker for either that card or this. We have already used Jasmatzi, but there is plenty of scope for other reverses! All offers welcomed, with thanks in advance, and I will only require a scan of the reverse.
Zigarettenbilder-Zentrale Kosmos [tobacco : O/S - Germany] "Sieg uber Raum und Zeit" / "Victory over Space and Time" (1952) 237/250 - K737-800 : K38-17
Today, in 1871, was the birthday of Orville Wright, brother of Wilbur, both pioneer fliers. By the way, these were not twins, as is sometimes said, and Wilbur was born earlier, by some time, on April the 16th, 1867.
They not only designed and built an aeroplane, but they flew it, in the first controlled and sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier than air, craft, called The Wright Flyer, on December 17th 1903, though the flight was only of eight hundred and fifty two feet in length and lasted just twelve seconds duration. There were other flights too, on the same day, and both brothers flew, but Wilbur was at the controls when the longest flight was done.
Yet they were home grown inventors, who ran a little shop selling and repairing bicycles and machinery. And it was those bicycles that held the key to their exploration of flight, because it showed them that a machine, even with additional weight, could become balanced enough that you could gain propulsion in a forward motion.
Sadly their fame did not bring them happiness nor success. In less than ten years they were one of many aircraft designers, and several craft were faster and better designed. There were many problems with the business and continual fights to protect their patent, which had not been for an aeroplane but for the system they used, easy to counteract with just slight changes.
In 1911 the brothers found cartophilic fame on their first ever card, issued by American Tobacco, as part of a lovely set called "The Aviators" (T.38). In fact I think it is one of the best sets ever, though the version with the gold back is very hard to read. This was the only card that it would have been possible for both brothers to see, for in 1912, Wilbur Wright died, of typhoid. And, less than five years later, Orville sold the business.
Now time is short so I will direct you to WrightBros.org - which has many fascinating pages and also a really good biography, which is where this link will take you.
If you want a cartophilic tribute, then fly over to the Trading Card Database/OrvilleWright - where there are a hundred and fifty seven cards listed, though only six were issued during his lifetime
Now this card looks like a 1920s and 30s one, but it is not, it was issued in the 1950s. However Kosmos did issue cards in that period, starting in 1928, though they were founded much earlier, in 1886. They also used an alias, of "Walter Krebs, Luxor-Bilderstelle". Their first cards, up until 1942, were issued out of Dresden, then, after the Second World War, they seem to have relocated to Memmingen, so that is a great way of telling when the card in your hand was issued.
This set is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which was itself only published in the late 1950s, as :
SIEG UBER RAUM UND ZEIT : AUTOS - FLUGZEUGE - SCHIFFE. (Victory over Space and Time : Motor Cars - Aeroplanes - Ships). Md. 74 x 54 and Lg. 108 x 74. Partly black and white. Nd. (250) ... K38-17
This description is repeated in our updated volume, but the "black and white" has been shortened to "B & W".
Goodies Ltd [trade : confectionery : UK - Watford & Bristol] "Mini Monsters" (1970) 7/25 - GOO-180 : GOT-8
A very unusual one now, because today is World Mosquito Day
According to the Trading Card Database/Mosquito/Insect there are only five cards of this insect, and ours is not amongst them. There is also another missing one, because "Britain's Nocturnal Wildlife" was issued both by Grandee and Doncella. Plus we can add that it was featured by Liebig. One set was issued in 1942, in the Netherlands as "De Muggen" and in France as "Les Moustiques". This has the reference numbers of F.1440 and S.1447. Whilst yet another appearance comes as card five of the 1956 Liebig set called "Arthopodes venimeux ou vecteurs de maladies du Congo" - or insect based diseases of the Congo" - the others being spider, scorpion, flea, tsetse fly and something called the Taon De La Filariose - which I have no clue about.
Now in our original British Trade Index part II, this set is not listed, though the header does tell us that Goodies Ltd were based at Watford and Bristol, and that they had issued four sets of cards between 1961 and 1967, these being "Flags and Emblems", two series of "The Monkees" the first being black and white and the second being coloured, a set of "Prehistoric Animals", and lastly "Wide World - People of Other Lands". These are found as sets GOT1 to GOT-4.
However in our original British Trade Index part III, they have had a huge flurry of other issues - eleven of them, of which our set is one, described as :
MINI MONSTERS. 68 x 36. Nd. (25) issued 1970 ... GOT-8
In the updated version of our British Trade Index we find out a lot more, including an additional three sets. The full listing of our set is :
GOODIES LTD. Watford & Bristol
Confectionery, sweet cigarettes. Issued 1961-1971. Later issues in post 1970 volume.MINI MONSTERS. 1970. 68 x 36. Nd. (25). Cards issued in packs of Sweet Cigarettes. Set of 4 packs, displaying different insect `monsters` ... GOO-180
W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Art Photogravures" (February 1912) 5/50 - W675-550 : W62-397 : W/43.A.i
Here we have the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Now she was not painted today, or bought by the Louvre Museum in France then, and it is nothing to do with her artist. However if you look at the last line of this card, it reads "The disappearance from the Louvre, in 1911, when it was stolen, caused a sensation throughout the world, and its fate is still unknown." And it was indeed still missing when this card was issued - and not recovered until December 1913.
The theft happened in the early morning and it was not discovered until a wealthy patron arrived at the Louvre Museum and asked to look at the painting. Then, to everyone`s amazement, it was not there.
The story goes that an Italian immigrant, Pietro Vincenzo Antonio Peruggia, who was working at the museum, as well as being an amateur artist, took the painting. He had accomplices, two other workers, and they simply took it off the wall when nobody was looking, hid it in a cupboard, and then left with it in the morning.
Now he is very hard to find anything about, and, oddly, he was both born and died on the 8th of October, 1881 and 1925 respectively.
He moved from Italy to Paris a few years before the theft, in 1908, and he gained employment at the Louvre quite easily. As to what he did there, there are many thoughts, some say that he cleaned paintings, whilst others say that he retouched them, painting in the bits that were missing, something that was not strictly honourable, but must have been sanctioned by the gallery. There are also tales that he did not touch the paintings, he was a skilled woodworker who made replacement frames - or that he made the boxes that the paintings in storage were kept inside
There are problems with all this, because we know that he was arrested in 1908, and for something that resulted in him having a mugshot taken by the police, so not just a petty theft or accident. We do not know what it was. However it would have surely come up when he was interviewed to work at the Louvre. Then there is his own statement, shortly after his arrest, in which he says that he entered the museum, out of sight amidst the staff, and stole a smock to make him appear to be one of the workers.Well if he worked there, especially as a painter, he would surely have had a smock, and also would have had no need to sneak in with the staff. Then he made his way about the gallery, found the painting, and took it off the wall, hiding it in a stairwell.
There were other versions, that he told later, too. In one he said that he stole the smock to wrap the painting in, but found the work to be too large, and in another that he simply used it to wrap the painting in before running out through the same door he had come in by. He never says in the later versions that he hid the painting or even tried to. Then there is another story, that he was not stealing it, but returning it to Italy, the land of its birth.
He was eventually captured, and sent to jail for just over a year, though this was later reduced and he only served just over six months.
All the while, there are other stories, that he either stole it for a private collector, and the deal went sour, or that someone wanted to make copies and flood the market with them, or to replace the original with a copy, maybe even done by our man, return that to the Louvre, and own the original. This latter one is also backed up by the fact that the painting was hidden for two years, in our man`s apartment. Perhaps whilst he worked on that copy.
Now this is not the only cartophilic appearance of this beautiful lady, for she also appears on R & J Hill “Famous Pictures” (H554-335 : H46-26 : H.468 ~1913) 2/25 - John Player “Miniatures” (P644-230 : P72-111 : RB.17/127 ~ June 1923) 1/25 - and on Coopers Tea “Mysteries and Wonders of the World” second series of 25 (1961) number 35 (the mystery and wonder being that her eyes reputedly seem to follow you around the gallery as you walk).
Our set was first catalogued in the original Wills booklets, parts III and IV. In part III it describes it at length, over three pages. I will attempt to shorten this for you, though one of the pages is a list of cards, which I will scan in. The first section reads :
43. ART PHOTOGRAVURES - Two series of 50. Fronts printed by gravure in brown. Backs per Fig. 35 in brown, with descriptive back (except C.3 below). General Overseas Issues, 1913-14, but in view of the number of cards found in this country, it appears likely that some cards were circulated in U.K. brands. In South Africa the cards were accompanied by coupons, which were exchangeable for a "Handsome Photogravure" measuring 15" x 20".
The size of cards in all issues is extremely variable. Cards under A (i) and D average rather smaller than normal, all other issues are noticeably larger than normal, almost medium size. Approximate measurements are given below, but it should be noted that a great many cards of the larger size are found cut down - presumably by collectors holding mixed batches of cards who desired to standardise their cards to the smaller size.
1st 50 Subjects :-
A. Backs per Fig. 35.A WITH dots between "W.D." and "H.O." of name in circle trade mark. Letters "H.O." close together. Words "Trade Mark" quite legible. The back format of all cards is VERTICAL, There were two printings :-
(i) Average size 67 x 33 m/m. Small size portraits. On fronts, title appears immediately below portrait, with painter`s name underneath. There are thus TWO lines of letterpress on fronts.
(ii) Average size 67 x 44 m/m. Larger size portraits. On fronts, title of portrait appears on right, painter`s name on left. There is thus only ONE line of letterpress on fronts.B. Backs per Fig. 35.B. As A., but letters "H.O." normally spaced. Average size 67 x 42 m/m. There is one printing only. The back format of cards Nos. 1-4, 8, 16 and 41 is HORIZONTAL - other cards VERTICAL. On the seven cards with backs in horizontal format, the words "ART PHOTOGRAVURES" are in capitals. On fronts, title of portrait appears on right, painter`s name on left
C. Anonymous Issues - Average size 67 x 43 m/m. On fronts, title of portrait appears on right, painter`s name on left.
C.1. Backs per Fig.35 C.1, without circle trade mark and WITH frame line. At card No.5 "The Question" replaces "Mona Lisa"
C.2. As C.1., but WITHOUT FRAMELINES
C.3. Plain backsNote : complete sets of the above have not been compared card for card with series A and B - such a comparison will probably reveal variations.
2nd 50 Subjects -
D. Backs per Fig.35.D, WITHOUT dots between "W.D." and "H.O." of name in circle trade mark. Words "Trade Mark" hardly legible. Average size 67 x 36 m/m/ The back format of all cards is VERTICAL. On fronts, title appears immediately below portrait, with painter`s name underneath
I will add in the figures and the comparison back photos, asap
Now in our original Wills booklet part IV, there was an update, which reads :
43. ART PHOTOGRAVURES - see pages 90-92.
The anonymous series under "C.2" was issued in Canada - see page 41, item C.43, of Mr. Burdick`s American Catalogue
As you might imagine, this text is shortened for our original World Tobacco Index. It falls under Wills` "Other Export Issues", and says that the sets were "...issued chiefly in Channel Islands, Malta, India and Malaya". It reads :
ART PHOTOGRAVURES. Sm. Brown gravures. Nd. See W/43 ... W62-397.
1. First 50 subjects. Back with dots between "W.D." and "H.O." and words "Trade Mark" quite legible in circle.
A. Letters "H.O." close together.
(a) Size about 67 x 33. Small portraits on front.
(b) Size about 67 x 41-2. Larger portraits on front
B. Letters "H.O." normally spaced. Size about 67 x 42-432. Second 50 subjects. Back without dots between "W.D." and "H.O." and words "Trade Mark" scarcely legible or partly omitted. Size 67 x 36
This is exactly the same in our updated version, except the code has been enlarged.
As for the Canadian issue, it is there in the original World Tobacco Issues Index as well, but some distance away, right at the back of the book and coded as ZB4-3 (and as ZB04-40 in our updated version). The text in both reads :
ART PHOTOGRAVURES. Sm. Brown gravures. Nd (50) See W/43
(a) printing C.1., with framelines. Size 70 x 41
(b) printing C.2., without framelines. Size 68 x 48. Issued in Canada. Ref USA/C43.
John Player & Sons [tobacco : UK - Nottingham] "Arms & Armour" (April 1909) 27/50 - P72-15 : P/12 [RB.17/12] : H.273
As I am running out of time a bit, I have chosen to remember today in 1485, which is when the Battle of Bosworth Field took place. This was also known as the Battle of Bosworth, but it is a vitally important event, because it was the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, Yorkshire versus Lancashire, and it led to Henry Tudor becoming not just King of England, but the first Tudor King. Whilst his opponent, the Plantagenet Richard III, lost, in every way, for he was killed on the field, becoming the last English King to die in combat.
Henry Tudor did one other very interesting thing though, for he married a princess from the opposing side, hoping to unite both the warring factions together. We are not sure that it worked entirely, but it was a good thought.
Now our card shows a foot soldier with a hand gun, though it is way too large to fit in a hand, however it was carried in the hand rather than wheeled on to a field like a cannon. This may sound a very early use of such a weapon, and you may think it the first of all - but that honour goes t the Chinese, who, not un-connectedly, also invented gunpowder. If you read the description of these weapons, you will see that the one shown is not much further along in the development, for the Chinese ones were tubes full of gunpowder, held up by spears.
Now when we uploaded this newsletter this card was entirely different, being F. & J. Smith`s "Battlefields of Great Britain", however we had used that card before, so now we have this one. Like the Smith`s card, we can also, with this, add another back to our growing gallery of the various backs of this set of cards. And don`t forget that the main listing for this set can be found as our Card of the Day for 18th of September, 2023 - and it also has the links to the other brands that we have featured so far.
Now the Player version is quite an important one, because, unlike some of the other issuers, they have a reference book (RB.17, published in 1950) which gives extra information. The entry there reads :
12. 50 ARMS & ARMOUR. Small cards. Fronts in colour, no border. Backs with descriptive text.
A. Home issue, April, 1909. Backs in blue, with I.T.C. clause
B. Overseas issue, April 1926. Backs in grey, without I.T.C. clause.
Similar series issued by Hignett, Mitchell, Wills and Anonymous.
By the time of our World Tobacco Issues Index, this text has been reduced, and also split, the Home issue being found under section 2.A of the Player listings ("Issues with I.T.C. Clause. All issued in the U.K.") and described as :
ARMS & ARMOUR. Sm. Nd. (50). See H.273 ... P72-15
and the overseas issue being in section 3.B, ("Export issues without I.T.C. Clause. Issued through B.A.T., chiefly in New Zealand, Malays and Siam."). It has the same text as for the Home issue, but a different code, P72-174.
This is slightly altered in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, though they remain split. The home issue is in the same section, 2.A, but the text now adds "Back in blue" between the Sm. and the Nd. and changes the card code to P644-040. The export issue, however, has been relocated to section 4.A, because the modern Player issues now occupy section 3. That text also adds the colour back in, placing "Back in grey" between Sm. and Nd.
As for H.273, well you can find that at the main listing for this set, which is as our Card of the Day for 18th of September, 2023
Brooke Bond [trade : tea : UK] "Out Into Space" (19) 8/50 - BRO-285.b : BRM-14.b : B.3
And we end this week with our Centenary Card, which celebrates a very exciting event in which the planet Mars came within fifty-six million kilometres of Earth, the closest it had come for many years.
In fact that last near pass was in 1845, and then it was almost exactly the same distance away, which suggests that this is part of a regular orbit. And in August 2003, they again neared each other, but by only fifty-five million kilometres. Looking back still further I also find that there was an approach in August 1766. And I discovered a table that you may find interesting - at Alpo-Astronomy
Now Mars is the red planet, though it is actually more like deep orange, and simply caused by iron oxide dust. It is also the planet of War, red being for anger, and Mars being the God of War, so, understandably, people were scared that the Warriors of Mars were planning an attack on the Earth during that time.
We know that the first time that Mars appeared in a written story was in 1656, and it was part of a dramatized trip around the solar system, or the parts of it that were known at that time. Intriguingly Mars was depicted as uninhabitable due to volcanic activity.
It was really in the nineteenth century that the Mars and Martian phenomenon started, thanks to H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds", published in 1897, and he admitted that he chose Mars because it was already known that life on the Moon would be improbable. He was also hoping that his readers would recall the news headlines of just twenty years earlier, when an Italian astronomer had discovered that Mars had many channels incised into its surface. He described these as Canali, and somehow the general public believed them to be canals - but if you translate "canali" into English it actually means channels, and it does not suggest life, or any construction work, simply a long line in a surface.
This set is a very good one, yet quite expensive now. It was the third set of cards to to be issued by Brooke Bond, after "British Birds" by Frances Pitt (B.1 - complete in just twenty cards) and "Wild Flowers" by John Markham (B.2 - the first set of fifty) - though earlier, much earlier, advertising cards have now been discovered.
It comes in two formats, which are described very well in our British Trade Index part II, as :
OUT INTO SPACE. Sm. Nd. (50) ... BRM-14
A. British issue (B.3)
(a) Back "Issued with Brooke Bond ..." (No.11 with captions "Inner Planets" and "Outer Planets")
(b) Back "Issued in Packets of Brooke Bond ..." (No.11 without the above caption wordings.B. South African issue, back with title and text in Englisg and Afrikaans "In die Buitenste Ruimte". Pretoria address. SA.3
By the time of our updated British Trade Index, the text is shortened, and there are scant details of the South African issue. The entire text reads :
OUT INTO SPACE. 1956. Nd. (50). Back (a) "Issued with... " No.11 (a) with (b) without "Inner Planets" and "Outer Planets" (b) "Issued in Packets ..." Also issued in South Africa.
This week's Cards of the Day...
have been a quick look back at the Woodstock Festival - which was held from August 15th to 18th, 1969.
Though we remember it today as a Festival, it was actually billed as "The Woodstock Music and Art Fair", or as "An Aquarian Exposition, three days of peace and music".
Today we seem not to remember the art, and sometimes not the peace.
The event was originally planned to take part in Wallkill, but they decided against it, and it was relocated to a field, part of a dairy farm in Bethel, which is in a south-westerly direction from the centre of New York.
Thirty two performers took part and were watched by 460,000 attendees, despite rather inclement weather. However it was the largest festival for quite some years, and today is definitely looked back at as being one of the major events of the nineteen-sixties.
Saturday, 10th August 2024
This card gave us the "New York" the state in which Woodstock Festival was held, and also a reference to the fact that it was held at a dairy farm, with the "Bull" of Red Bulls.
Of course the Red Bull is the drinks maker, who seem to sponsor many sports - a good way of advertising their wares.
Before Red Bull got involved with the team though, they were the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars, and they were founded in 1994, even before Major League Soccer was a thing. That did not start for another two years. The reason that the team had two names is that they were based in New Jersey but wanted to represent the entire New York area. They were bought by Red Bull in 2006.
The first set of Topps MLS cards was issued in 2012 - however it appears that it was not commercially sold, it was only given out as promotional material to people at Major League Soccer and Topps. The reason why this was the first year was because in this year Topps first gained the licence to produce Major League Soccer cards. The first eleven cards all showed the New York Red Bulls, and the first card of all is very sought after as it shows Thierry Henry - who had joined them in 2010, but returned to Arsenal the same year these cards were produced, and then retired in 2014.
Sunday, 11th August 2024
This card gave us another reference to music, but also many people who went to Woodstock would have imagined, and maybe even hoped, that it would be like this very romantic image, full of be-ribboned, romantic young male poets, with long hair, just like here, sitting down on the grass, and serenading two young ladies,with long dresses, and flowers in their hair, who look quite swept away with emotion.
Now maybe there is a collector of these cards somewhere and can fill in the blanks? I do hope so because they are lovely cards
All we know is that "Vincart" is or was a trade name for a coffee substitute made of chicory, and on the card it says "La Chicoree "Des Trappistes" Vincart - ameliore le cafe". The reference to the Trappistes is indeed to monks, and if we go right back to the origins of the Trappist order it was founded in Normandy, France. Also the wording on the back is in French. The last three words mean "improve the coffee".
The cards themselves follow the same pattern as this card, a third of the front shows a picture of the instrument in a decorative frame, and the rest is a larger picture of it being used. On the back is a little potted biography of the instrument. Our card is the Luth, or lute, and a be-ribboned medieval poet is serenading two ladies, with long dresses and flowers in their hair. It is quite a Woodstockian image, just a few centuries earlier.
Now there does seem to have been two sets because when I was asking about, compiling this list someone showed me the front of a card with a number on, it is inside the frame with the musical instrument on its own. So I have listed them as unnumbered in alphabetical order, but added that number in behind, and if we find any more numbered ones that I have not put numbers against we will know that the set was issued in both forms. The list, so far, is :
- La Clarinette
- La Flute de Pan
- La Grosse Caisse [big, maybe bass, drum]
- La Harpe
- Le Luth
- Les Timbales [kettle drum]
- Le Trombonne
- Le Trompette (No.5)
Monday, 12th August 2024
Here we have a little yellow bird that some readers may know is from the comic strip called "Peanuts" by Charles M. Shulz. However why he is here is for two reasons, the first is that he is called Woodstock, and the second because Mr. Schulz openly admitted to giving him that name because of the Festival, because he had seen the poster, in Life Magazine, with the small white bird on the guitar.
The curious fact is that the character first appeared in March 1966, several years before the Festival but was unnamed. He was first called Woodstock in the cartoon for June the 22nd, 1970. And the Festival ran from August 15th to 18th, 1969, but remember the cartoons were thought of, drawn, submitted for publication, and then joined the pile of other ones waiting to be printed in the magazine.
That bird was a dove of peace; on the other hand our bird has no species, and can sometimes not be very peaceful at all to his dog companion, Snoopy. Despite that they love each other dearly, and Woodstock is always ready willing and able to join in with Snoopy`s adventures.
You can read more about Woodstock, the bird, in a very delightful tribute which is housed at Wikipedia/Woodstock/Peanuts
Now as far as our card, less is known. But you did read right above, there are four hundred cards in this set, and you can see a checklist at The Trading Card Database/PSS/Peanuts.
The company was based in California and made two series of Peanuts cards. I cannot find any other set they made, so if you can enlighten me I would be interested to look those up too.
Now though the Trading Card Database cites four hundred cards this is the two sets combined as each was two hundred cards.
The cards were sold in dealer boxes or in packs of ten cards.
Series One, in 1992, celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the comic strip by reprinting the best loved strips of all time on the backs of the cards, and had two hundred cards in the base set, plus there was the promise that you may find a "Snoopy For President" Hologram card in any of those packets. They also offered an uncut sheet of a hundred cards for sale, at $14.95.
Series Two, in 1993, was very similar, reprinting the best loved strips of all time on the backs of the cards, and again having two hundred cards in the base set. This time there were two types of special inserts that you might find, either a colouring card and/or a Charlie Brown Stan Musial Hologram card. The packets again offered an uncut sheet of a hundred cards for sale, at $14.95. I am not sure whether this was the second part of series one, or selected cards from series two.
Tuesday, 13th August 2024
Thanks to Mr. Bowen, who sent this scan to me when I was doing the camping week, and I immediately thought ooh Woodstock. So I suppose I ought to be thanking him for providing this week`s theme as well....
And if you think you missed all that fun of camping week, fear not, it is still online at https://csgb.co.uk/publications/newsletter/2024-06-29
By the way, the VW camper is not just shown on the front of this card, it is referenced on the text, including the fact that "Robert Hieronimus` famous work on the vehicle of Bob Grimm (of the band Light) shows up prominently in a number of photos of the Woodstock Festival".
And there is a sequel to this story, which you can read at Missing The Bus
This set again follows the modern format, a set of base cards plus specials. The base cards are 49 in number and all are shown at the Trading Card Database/WoodstockGeneration.
However do be aware that not all of the cards are about Woodstock, the first eight are posters of other events, then there is a tribute to Bob Marley at cards 9, 10 and 11. Card twelve is the first one to directly reference Woodstock, and it shows Jimi Hendrix, who was the closing act, scheduled for about 8 pm on the Sunday, but actually performing some twelve hours later.
The special cards are metal-gloss, album cards, and general promo cards. All of these can be seen at the Trading Card Database/WoodstockSpecials.
Breygent did make other trading cards, including tv tie ins for the series Dexter (2009), Grimm (2013 and 2015), and Bates Motel (2016). Before they concentrated on these, which I have to say are way too scary for me, they also made a very sought after set of The Wizard of Oz in 2006. There were promises of two more series of cards for Grimm, but they have never arrived. And then nobody seems to know what happened to Breygent, though if you look online there are all sorts of tales and rumours.
And when I put in www.breygent.com to look for more information I was told that the domain was for sale, at $19,888 USD.
Wednesday, 14th August 2024
Now we featured Jimi Hendrix before in our newsletter for the 29th of January 2022 (scroll down to the 3rd of February) so this time we will talk about his Woodstock performance. He was actually top of the bill, and so was to perform last of all. However with the festival stretching on and on, due to a variety of reasons, and also the arrival of most inclement weather, the organisers gave him the option of going on at his original time, and letting people play after him, or to stick where he was and go last. He chose to go last. Unfortunately many of his fans were not made of such tough stuff and had left already.
When he hit the stage, ten hours later than he was originally meant to do, he played a medley of tunes, that lasted for over half an hour. This included his best sellers, as well as an improv that he made up as he went along. In the middle he stopped, and played The Star Spangled Banner, which he had played and recorded many times, but never with such feeling. And after the time was up he kept playing, an encore, of his first ever song "Hey Joe". Then Woodstock was all over. There is a fun little story though, that says that originally the show was to close with Roy Rogers singing Happy Trails, and not Jimi Hendrix. However Roy Rogers chose not to attend.
This card was not easy to scan, it has a heavy linen finish and came out horrendously blurry. However it does say "Woodstock", and though not named, it is definitely modelled on Jimi Hendrix. I have no idea how it was issued though, and it may not even be truly cartophilic, because one side has a date and the other does not I imagine it is some kind of knowledge game, that one player holds up the undated side, and another has to guess. Maybe you know? If so do please tell us.
Thursday, 15th August 2024
Now we featured another set called Cantanti but that was not this one - it was earlier, being issued in 1968. That card showed Charles Asnavour, and you will need to scroll down the newsletter until you get to Wednesday, 22nd of May 2024 in order to see it.
In fact there are three sets by this name in total, one in 1968, one in 1969, and ours in 1972 - and all of them have several variants of back, ours having this red back, a similar blue back, and one entirely different known as "bisvalida". I have no idea what that means. Do please enlighten me!
I am not sure why the sets were not released in the United Kingdom, either, because although most of the stars are European, a lot of them were known to us too. You can see the whole list at the Trading Card Database/Cantanti72
Anyway here we have Arlo Guthrie, or more correctly, Arlo Davy Guthrie. You may not know him but you ought to know his father Woody Guthrie.
In fact both singers are known for folk songs protecting against a whole range of injustices.
One of our man`s best known songs was the 1967 "Alice`s Restaurant", and it was turned into a motion picture in 1969. It is a strange film. Sadly his father was no longer alive to play himself, but our man did, and I guess it is worth a look just for that.
Most curious of all, this card, or rather the three variant back of this card, appear to be the only true trade card of him in existence. Unless you know of any others?
When he played at Woodstock he was just nineteen years old. He performed on Saturday morning at 1:45 am, through the pouring rain, for forty minutes, and was followed on stage by Joan Baez.
Friday, 16th August 2024
So why did we choose the Moody Blues?
Well they were booked to play the original event, when it was at Wallkill, but they decided against it, simply because they had also booked in to play at Paris the same weekend and they thought it better to go with their European fans, rather than try to make a new audience in America.
However, if you are lucky enough to find the original poster for Wallkill you will find their names on it ! It is very sought after by fans of the band though.
You can see the whole of this set at DavidHalpen/ImageEvent
As far as the cartophilic details,you will find this set in our original Australian and New Zealand Index, RB.30, issued in 1983, where it is listed as :
Tip Top/E.M.I Pop Star Swap Card Series. Two numbered sets, each consisting of different pictures. ... T14-8
1. First set, with red magenta borders to cards. Nd. 1/20. Backs below text "Complete the full set of 25 cards ..." address "P.O. Box 222, Nunawading, 3131, Victoria. Nos 21/25 without picture - Nos 21/24 inscribed "clue card" 1/4, No. 25 "Conditions of Entry" (back with closing date December 15, 1972. No.2 is found with six-digit numbers added in red.
2. Second set, with orange red borders to cards Nd. 1/24. Two backs :
A. "Great New Competition" or "Competition Extended" below text address "P.O. Box 222, Nunawading, 3131, Victoria." except No.24 with back below text "Conditions of Entry" and closing date 18th April (no year stated). Issued 1973
B. "Complete the Tip-Top Jingle...." below text, address "P.O. Box 2396, Wellington". Nos. 1/23 known, and unnumbered card "Max Miller"
Now there are a few things left to do, but I shall call it a night.
These are mostly the descriptions of the two German sets from the World Tobacco Issues Indexes, and the relevant card codes. Also the gen about the "In" printing of the Brooke Bind "Out Into Space".
They will be added tomorrow asap though tomorrow is nipper`s first day at school, (dog training classes) and that will occupy most of the morning.
And I will let you know how that goes tomorrow too.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please pass the website address over to your collecting friends and tell them to come and look as well.. And we look forward to feeling your presence next week.