Saturday rapidly approaches and so it must be time for me to race ahead and complete your new newsletter.
This week seems to have gone very fast indeed, and also been very cold, I even have a jumper on, though I have not yet succumbed to wearing a coat. The sorting, sleeving, and boxing of my gum cards is going well but it is a very slow process as there are checklists to check and wants lists to write. Also it turns out that a four compartment box which takes 1800 gum cards is rather unwieldy. Then there is the other slight problem, of size, though this is my doing, for I obviously measured the dimensions completely wrong, and was rather surprised when it would not slide neatly into its new storage place - turns out that there is about two inches too much on each side. Of course perhaps it was not my measurements at fault, for I have a feeling I may have noted down the size for the boxes with the three compartments. Anyway one day I will find it a place to stay!
As we near autumn, we must start to think of the future. First up will be Hallowe`en, then Guy Fawkes, and then Christmas. Thinking caps on for how we can celebrate, please. And after Christmas we will be changing the Branch Meeting Dates, so please let us have your club`s 2025 dates, as soon as possible, or at least the first few if the later ones have not yet been carved in stone. We also appreciate hearing if your club charges an admittance fee, or an annual subscription, because many readers are not yet Society members, and like to know in advance of such things.
Okay I have waffled enough. Tonight may I present to you - a Milwall Midfielder - a Masked Man - a Magnificent Moll - a Massachusetts Mystery - Michel`s Misery - Martian Migrants - and - Mischief Makers. That was hard! It was pretty easy until Thursday though, then I struggled.
Lets start with .....
Leaf [trade : bubble gum : "100 Years of Soccer Stars" (1988) 81/100
Our Millwall Midfielder was Ray Wilkins, or more correctly, Raymond Colin Wilkins, and he was born today in 1956. After playing football with a local non-league side, encouraged by his family who were all keen players, he was signed by Chelsea, where his immediate skills made him Captain at the age of just eighteen. He could play in several roles, but was a great midfielder, and was especially valuable in the England squad. He changed teams several times, including a stint in Italy with A.C. Milan but his heart was always back home.
After leaving the ground as a player he became a sports commentator, and a coach and manager with several teams, including Chelsea. He also coached and managed several young players. Sadly none of this seemed to have fulfilled him, and he found solace in drinking, which he did admit, and seek help for. Sadly, a few years later, he had a heart attack, and never regained consciousness. He died, aged just sixty-one, on the 4th of April, 2018.
Now his father, [Ernest] George Wilkins, was a professional football player, but I have not found any cards of him yet. He played for Hayes and then for Brentford, Bradford and Leeds. Maybe you have a card for him?
Our man has almost a hundred cards cited at the Trading Card Database / Ray Wilkins - they show his first card to be as part of FKS` "Wonderful World of Sport" (1974-5) but there is an amusing twist to that. That means that they consider his rookie card to have been issued in 1977. As he joined the Chelsea squad in 1973, I am certain that he should be on another earlier.
Our card was issued by Leaf, which was founded in 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, by Sol. Leaf. However in 1947 they merged with several other companies to form Lead Brands, which does sound a bit more of a take over than a merger. The next year they issued their first set of baseball cards. Several other mergers followed, until, in 1983 it was sold to a company in Finland, who also bought Donruss at about the same time. .
The set is a true trade card, being issued in packets with bubble gum, and four cards.
It does have a bit of a secret though, because though billed as a set of a hundred there were three printings, and, as all of these have blue backs, it is a bit of a squint job to see the differences. Two of these revolve around the fronts, which can be found either glossy or matt, and the third, which some collectors discount, is that the ink on the backs is much lighter; some, on the other hand, think this was just the ink running out and rather than discarding these cards they were used.
In addition there are two versions of card 51 with Stanley Matthews on it - it is the same picture, but one is reversed. You can see that at the Football Cartophilic Information Exchange
Gum Inc. [trade : chewing gum : O/S : Philadelphia, USA] "Lone Ranger" (1940) 22/48 - R.83
"Who..." you may be asking, "...Was that Masked Man?" - though if you were a child of the 1940s you would know already that it was The Lone Ranger.
In fact he was based on a lot of characters, with a very enlightened twist, that being that his friend was Tonto, a Native American, who, in most cowboy stories, would have been the enemy.
The back story was that one day, a posse of Texas Rangers were ambushed by the outlaws whom they were chasing. Everyone believed they were dead but they were found by a Native American, called Tonto, who discovered one man was alive. He could have killed him, but did not, and instead he nursed him back to health. When he is well again, he digs graves for his friends, and promises to find the men who killed his friends, without them knowing who he is, hence the disguise, of a black mask. He then digs himself a grave, to help in his illusion that all the troop were killed.
The Lone Ranger made his debut on radio, in Buffalo, in 1933, then the series proper was broadcast in Detroit. This led to books, comics, and films, and to a television show which premiered today in 1949.
These cards were issued in 1940, but he had already appeared on a set of forty-six ice cream cartons, circulated in Baltimore, which you can see at The Trading Card Database/LRice.
Our cards are by Gum Inc, and they are wonderfully drawn, though I have not been able to find who by. You can see all the cards at Skytamer.Inc/LR. but the packaging stresses that these are "Official Cards" which does not bode well for those ice cream ones.
Ours say that they were issued with chewing gum, and you got one large piece of gum and one single card per packet. However it does say on that packet that "It is a good big bulky chew with a delicious flavour. It blows big bubbles" and this does seem more like bubble gum than chewing gum. Amusingly, the packet also says that you could "chew a piece every day after school" - which either means it was huge, or you were expected to either ration it or chew some bits twice...
The R.83 code is from Jefferson Burdick`s American Card Catalogue, "R" being the prefix he gave to candy and gum cards, and 83 simply being the number of this set after he had listed all the sets he knew of in alphabetical order of the set title, hence R.82 is "Little Henry (130) Switzers pkge" and R.84 is "Magic Candy (48) Collins Co". Our set is described as :
R.83 - Lone Ranger (48) Gum Inc. ... .03 c.
A & B.C. Gum [trade : bubble gum : UK - London] "Film & T.V. Stars" second series (December 1953) card 88 - AAB-240.2 : ABF-8.2
Now it is time for our Magnificent Moll, by which we mean the female companion of a gangster, and as this lady was the companion, and wife, of Humphrey Bogart, on screen and in real life, it is very suitable.
She was born Betty Joan Perske, in New York, today in 1924, a hundred years ago, but acted as Lauren Bacall. At first she was a model, and that led her to the movies, where she was cast, aged nineteen, as the female lead in a film called "To Have and Have Not" (released in 1944), mainly about a fisherman who gets caught up in the French Resistance, from a story by Ernest Hemingway. The male lead was Humphrey Bogart, aged forty-five, and already a star, known for gritty, powerful performances, several of which were as gangsters.
It does not seem to have been an immediate attraction, but it was something, and it developed from there, so much so that before their second film together was released he had divorced his third wife and married Miss Bacall.
She made many other films without her husband too, including the one mentioned on our card, "How to Marry a Millionaire", released in 1953, about a trio of models who move into an apartment in New York City and then try to find themselves rich husbands. The other two female leads were Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.
Sadly Mr. Bogart died in 1957, the same year she appeared in "Designing Woman" with Gregory Peck. She had an eight year old son and five year old daughter at the time, and decided to move to New York. In 1961 she remarried, another actor, Jason Robards, and they had a son too, but they were divorced in 1969.
She continued to work on stage and screen almost until she died in August 2014, aged eighty-nine. Her last screen appearance had been on March 9, 2014, as a voice on the cartoon series "Family Guy".
The Trading Card Database/Lauren Bacall has her on a hundred cards starting with the Carreras Turf package issue set of "Film Stars", issued in 1947. Number 5 of the same set shows Humphrey Bogart. Her cards run up to the mid 1950s and then there is a long gap until classic film stars were rediscovered by modern cards, and her re-appreciation started in 1991, as part of the Starline "Hollywood Walk of Fame"
Our card is part two of the A & B.C. Gum`s "Film & T.V. Star" cards, and it was followed by a third. As the numbering continues through all the sets we get one of those odd situations where the set is of forty-eight cards but this is card 88.
It is catalogued in our original British Trade Index pt II as :
FILM & T.V. STARS. (A). Md.70 x 49. Nd. Albums issued for Sets 1 and 2 (combined) and set 3. ... ABF-8.
1. "Set of 48". Odd numbers inscribed at top "Presented by A. & B.C. Ltd. London, N.W.2". Even numbers card, "Presented by A. & B.C. Chewing Gum Ltd.". Plain back.
2. "No.2 Series". Nd. 49/96. Odd numbers in colour, plain back, even numbers in black, printed back, "Blackstar" address at base. Three different premium photos exchanged for one odd plus any four even numbers.
3. "No.3 Series". Nd. 97/144. Black. Plain back.
Now in our updated British Trade Index this is virtually the same, but there are small differences, including a new variant of set 3. That text reads :
FILM & T.V. STARS. (A). 1953. 70 x 49. Nd. Albums issued for sets 1 and 2 (combined) and for set 3. ... AAB-240.
1. "Set of 48". Odd numbers, in colour, have "Presented ... London, N.W.2". and even numbers, in B&W, have "Presented ... Chewing Gum Ltd.". Plain back.
2. "No.2 Series". Nd. 49/96. Odd numbers in colour, plain backs, even numbers in black, printed back, "Blackstar" address at base. Three different premium photos exchanged for 1 odd and any 4 even numbers.
3. "No.3 Series". Nd. 97/144. Black, on a) thin b) thick card Plain back.
Now below the listing of this set is something interesting, which does not appear in our original set of Trade Indexes. This reads :
FILM & T.V. STARS. (A). 1953. 203 x 55. B&W, on art paper. Autographed. Unnd. (25). Plain backs. Issued in exchange for Film & TV Stars - No.2 Series. See HA-6 ... AAB-245.
As for HA-6, that leads us to the Handbook accompanying the updated volume, and it is this list of all twenty-five cards -
A. Coite [trade : clothing ; O/S : Paris, France] "Le Jeu Boston"? (????) 44/52?
Time, now, for that Massachusetts Mystery. And it concerns the city of Boston, which is generally regarded as having been founded today in 1630. But wait. I promised you a mystery...
You see, that founding is a rather sketchy one. All we know for sure, and it seems like we can no longer prove it, is that in September 1630 the first man to settle in that area wrote a letter to the leader of another settlement. This letter seems to no longer exist, but reportedly it was dated on the 7th of September, which is one of the dates that is quoted for the founding of Boston.
The problem there is that it was written about problems with the area in which he currently lived, and it asked if there was not a better place elsewhere. The reply came back and it said that the main problem, of good water, could easily be solved by moving down the hill to live with the people at that other settlement. Which he did. But therefore on September 7th our man was living up the hill, elsewhere, and kvetching about it. He was not founding, or really even in, Boston.
On to the next oft-quoted date then, which is September 30th, 1630. Most people think that this was the date that the area of the surviving settlement became the town of Boston, and, yes, it was named after the town in England, presumably because it was the former home of some of the new Bostonian residents.
Neither of these dates, you may already have noticed, is today. But actually one is. Because, some years afterwards, in 1752, the calendar changed. Before that it was the Julian system (or the old style) and afterwards it became the Gregorian system.
The main way that the calendar changed was in making the start of the New Year January 1st - it had been March the 25th. However, what they also did was delete some of the days in September, and on one of these days, September the 7th, Boston had been founded.
That meant that the festivities had to take place on another date, and they chose September 17th, which, technically, took place when September 7th ought to have been.
Why they did not revert to the 7th the next year when it reappeared in the calendar I do not know. Especially as it still seems the least plausible date of the two to be Boston`s founding.
This card is nothing to do with Boston in England or in America, but it is another interesting story, for it relates to Boston, a card game, named after the American place. In fact it has other names (Boston Whist, French Boston, Bostogne, and Boston Whist), and it was first played in the Eighteenth Century in France, as a variety of standard Whist.
Why they chose the name Boston is complex, but basically it is because the game involves taking tricks and they thought that Boston had played a trick on their rivals, England, (who were, of course, not France`s playmates either), through the Siege of Boston, the opening salvo in the American Revolutionary War, when George Washington`s troops had prevented the British Army, based in Boston, from joining the fight, beseiging, and trapping them in where they were garrisoned.
This action took place between 1775 and 1776, and the game first appears in the mid 1770s.
You can read the rules at Gameplay/Boston - and if there is nothing on the television at Christmas you can try and play it with your friends.
This set was issued by several other makers, and it is most attractive. All follow this pattern, which shows a card and that character - ours being "valet de carreau" or Jack of Diamonds. Not sure why he is playing a harp though. On the left hand side panel as viewed is a hand, illustrated, and on the right there are two panels, the upper one showing the game at the start and the lower one telling a bit about the game.
Our issuer was A. Coite, and you may think he was a chemisier, but that word simply means blouses. As for "Chemises Reclame" that means blouses as advertised, in other words a special offer. Not quite sure about the "Chemises Ceremonie et Fantaisie" - Ceremony of course is any kind of special occasion; as for the fantasy, I guess we all have our own. It then mentions some of the other goods, three different words for umbrellas, "parapluies [literally `against the rain`], en cas [just in case] and ombrelles". After that there are three lines, referring to ties of all sorts, gloves for women, men and children, and long gloves for soirees.
The curious thing is that this card advertises, for the most part, ladies clothing, and yet cards were not played by ladies, or not in polite society, especially not cards that involved gambling, even with counters. Indeed gambling was confined to men`s clubs. If women wanted to play, they had to do it in secret, often by telling their menfolk that they were off to the theatre for the night.
Wm. Duke, Sons & Co. [tobacco : O/S : Durham and New York, USA] "Scenes of Perilous Occupations" (1889) Un/50 - D900-360.c : D76-38.c : ABC/86 : N.86 : USA/86
Michel`s Misery refers to a very odd event that took place today in 1819, which has become known as The Great Philadelphia Balloon Riot.
Now some people call it by another name, the Vauxhall Garden Riot, which at first made me think it was in England. In fact, by 1819, in Europe and the British Isles, there had been several balloon flights, the first in the world being in France in 1783 and the second in Scotland about a year later.
Strangely the first flight in America was also in 1784, so there were over thirty years of developments and flights before it was announced, in 1819, that the French balloonist Mr. Michel would be coming to Vauxhall Gardens in Philadelphia to rise from the ground and parachute back to earth safely. So why it was such a top attraction is a bit uncertain.
Anyway, possibly because they suspected it would draw the crowds, the organisers announced that you would have to pay to get in, a dollar. Someone much more brilliant than I, writing for Wikipedia, has worked out that this equates to about $25 today in 2024 and so this was out of reach to all but the top echelon of the area. However, as you do, the general public wanted to be part of the event and so they went anyway, thinking that there might be a way in for free, and that once the balloon rose they would see it above the fence just as well as those who paid.
We do not really know what happened then. The balloon took a long time to fill with air, and people got miffed that they had paid all that money for a no show, and some of them started to amuse themselves by being a general nuisance, during which the balloon was damaged. At the same time some of the people outside the fence started to climb it and were manhandled by the guards, in the process of which one young teenage lad was beaten unconscious, and then it all, as they say, went to Hell in a handbasket, with one riot inside the fence and another on the outside. After all was over the balloon was just shreds in the grass, minus a large proportion of it which had been put into pockets as souvenirs. And even the pavilion was on fire. The only thing I have not been able to find out is whether the boy survived, so I will just hope he did.
This card may not be Mr. Michel`s but it does speak of an ascent being a great trial. Sadly it is not a great example, being both stained and very light, and in trying to rectify the lightness into darkness the stain was coming up ever darker too. So if anyone would like to donate a better scan of front and back - in any of the colours - it will be warmly welcomed
This set appears in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as part of the "Regular Coloured Issues in USA" - as opposed to the photographic cards and the medium/large sized ones. It is catalogued as;
SCENES OF PERILOUS OCCUPATIONS. Sm. Unnd. (50). ... D76-38
Background to front in (a) green (b) grey (c) yellow (d) violet. See ABC/86. Ref. USA/86.
This text is identical in our updated version of this book, except there is no ABC/86, the American Book of Checklists being both out of print and very scarce. #
The 86 code is from Jefferson Burdick`s American Card Catalogue, and it comes from section 5, insert cards. Again 86 was simply the number of this set after he had listed all the sets he knew of in alphabetical order of the set title. Duke issues start at 70 and go on to 92. Our set is described as :
86 - Scenes of Perilous Occupations. (50). .... 0.25c
(a) green bkgd (b) grey bkgd (c) yellow bkgd (d) violet bkgd
Some transposed backs are known.
As he uses the same letters and order for the colours of the background it is almost certain that his words were provided to us for our World Tobacco Issues Index.
Topps [commercial : cards : UK] "The X Files" first series, base cards (1996) 1/72
Not so happy with "Martian Migrants" but I had managed to make two "m"s for all the above cards. And the costliest episode of the first series (episode nine) did deal with the human-looking face that has oft been glimpsed on the Martian landscape, but which sceptics insist is just a mound of earth that our brains make into a face quite unwontedly. The basic premise of the story is that an ex-astronaut`s body may have been taken over by an extra terrestrial.
Anyway, regular readers will remember that last year about this time (10th of September 2023) I regaled you with the fact it was the thirtieth Anniversary of screening of the first ever episode of the television show "The X Files". However this was the American screening - and you can rediscover that in our newsletter of the 9th of September 2023. Now at that time, I chose the first ever card to mention the cards, which was a promotional card numbered P.2, (because P.1 only mentioned the comics - which were also produced by Topps, in case you didn`t know).
Today we have the first true card from the first set, card 1 of 72, to mark the first terrestrial screening of the show in the United Kingdom, which was today, September 19th, 1994.
These British cards are basically the same as the American set, though many of the backs are in colour whereas the American cards were all in black. They were also printed in Ireland by Topps U.K./Merlin. And, as I said last time, there was one completely new card, or, should I say, a replacement, which was the checklist. This had to be changed because the American packets had a chance of including bonus cards, either in etched foil or chromium (our card was one of the ones which was reproduced in chromium). It is easy to tell the difference though because our checklist is in larger type, and more spread out, to conceal the fact that it is ten lines shorter.
However we did have a special card that was not available in America, an oversized one to fit on top of your set and prevent it getting damaged, which would come to be called a "box topper" and this shows the front cover of one of the Topps comics.
Now these cards did not come with gum, so they are commercial rather than trade. In each packet there were just the eight cards, though in Europe this was reduced to only six. On which note, this first set of cards was also printed with the text in German, Italian (twice, with different wording), and in Spanish. They are quite hard to come by unless you look at European internet sites, because they are easy to get out there; in fact some times the sellers are happy to swap for our cards because they are harder to come by.
Stollwerck [trade : chocolate ; O.S - Cologne, Germany] "Spielenden Kinder" / "Children Playing" (1897?)
And so, to bed, with these "Mischief Makers", celebrating Universal Children`s Day in Germany.
This is a very poignant day, as it comes from a time when Germany was split into two regions, the East and the West, and held apart by the Berlin Wall.
East Germany celebrated its International Children`s Day on June 1st, because that part was more allied with the communist zones, who also celebrated it then. However it was definitely a communist ideology, with the intent being that children should use the day to give things, and food, to those who had none.
However, in 1954 the West German government chose September 20th as their date and called it Children's Day. There was a slight political overtone, because often the nearing of the date prompted them to pass legislation regarding children`s rights. However, it was not a great success and hardly celebrated. Perhaps it might even have been forgotten, if it had not been for local charities and the sudden interest of UNICEF.
When the wall came down, so did many of the barriers. However one thing remained different, and continues to this day, and that is the fact that there are still two dates for two separate Children`s Days, one in the East and one in the West.
This card is confusing too, because it has a different back to the ones usually found, much more decorative. Those other ones are just text, two columns of places where Stollwerck has presence, but this one has the eagle and globes. The only thing the owner has spotted is that the plainer ones say they are from "Serie 7 No.VI" and this one says "Gruppe 7 No.6". SAnd I just had a quick look and have found a mixed set on sale on eBay, which has three of our back, one of which appears to be printed in black, and three of the plainer version. So we both await any information you can provide.
The picture in both is identical, and what fun it is, for if you look closely you can see that the back of the little cart.sled is a section of a bar of chocolate, as is the beckoning prize that the little boy in red is doing his best to reach. The boy in blue is also juggling small chocolate circles. However the chocolate is very large and the children tiny in comparison, so perhaps they are elves, not children at all.
This week's Cards of the Day...
sent us off on another adventure, which will culminate in the Pitlochry Highland Games, this Saturday, the 14th of September.
The event was first held in 1852, on the 10th of September, then moved to the first Saturday in the month. This continued until 1968, when it conflicted with Royal Braemar, and Pitlochry moved. Ever since that time they have held fast to the second Saturday of this month - with only two reasons ever being noted for its cancellation, war, and covid.
The original event was ground breaking in more ways than one, because they had to make the field, and the buildings, and after the event it stayed as a recreation ground, eventually incorporating a football pitch, a golf course, and a tennis courts. Sadly almost none of this survived, being literally swept away when Loch Faskally was made in 1950; the one exception was the Pavilion, which was moved carefully to the replacement ground, and upgraded, we hope sympathetically, in the mid 1990s.
Saturday, 7th September 2024
This clue referred to Mr. Paul Whitehead Sturrock, on the right hand side as viewed, because though he was born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, he grew up in Pitlochry, where he attended local schools and first played football.
Unusually for these days, he spent his whole playing career with a single team, Dundee United, though he also represented his country, Scotland, in a score of matches and two World Cups. He then went on to become a manager and coach
This set appears to only be catalogued in our original British Trade Index part III, under the first section, for "Series with backs in English only". Now the first of those sections deals with plastic game cards, or scratchies, which seem to be the way that Panini entered the British market. This is followed by the more conventional thin card stickers, the first sporting related set of which was "Football 78". There is, however, not much detail there, and most of the sets are described as ours :
Football 85. 74 x 49. Nd. (529) ... PAP-21
The sizes vary though, 65-76 m/m x 41-52 m/m, as do the number in the set, which at the lowest is 514 (1986) and at the highest 584 (1979).
You will find a checklist of the entire set at The Football Cartophilic Info Exchange / Panini 85. This is the main page but there are also sundry corrections, and details of a Norwegian version that can be discovered off the Index/Panini.
Now on the back of the original album (which cost 20p) it cites "Minicards Ltd. 118-120 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7QD" as being the distributor for the United Kingdom and Eire. This was also where you wrote when you were down to needing your last fifty stickers or less.
The packets (and the albums) were sold in shops, and we know that the packets, or five stickers, cost 10p - because it tells us so on the inside of the front cover of that album.
Sunday, 8th September 2024
This clue showed you the larch, and that, along with the Scots Pine, is the tree of choice for making cabers, as seen in the Heavy Events category of the Pitlochry Highland Games. And the full list of these are :
- pitching (or putting) the stone - a local river stone, today either 16lbs or 22lbs in weight -
- throwing the hammer - a weight, again 16lbs or 22lbs, on a shaft - thrown the longest distance
- throwing the weight - a 28 lb ball on a chain - thrown the longest distance
- throwing the weight - a 56 lb block with a ring - thrown for height, over a bar.
- tossing the caber ...
Now a caber is a long pole, tapered either naturally or by careful trimming. The word comes from Gaelic, both the Irish form (cabar) and the Scottish form (chabair), and both mean a wooden beam. However it is a pretty massive one, usually sixteen to twenty feet, at least, and weighing up to a hundred and fifty pounds.
The idea is that the contestant runs with the caber upright into the air in order to gain momentum, and then throws it so that the ends change places. The aim is for the caber to land on the ground and lie as straight as possible, rather than what most people tend to think, which is that you have to throw it for the longest distance.
Now this set first appears in our original Ogdens reference book (RB.15, first published in 1949), as :
53. 25. BRITISH TREES AND THEIR USES. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. backs in grey, with descriptive text, "Ogden`s Guinea Gold Cigarettes" at base. Export issue, about 1930 - known to have been issued in New Zealand, where special album was also issued. Similar series by B.A.T., Edwards Ringer & Bigg, and Lambert & Butler.
Now I am following date order here, and going for RB.21, which is the B.A.T. reference book - that lists this set under Lambert & Butler, additions and corrections, as simply :
209-34. BRITISH TREES & THEIR USES.
A. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back
B. Ogden`s Guinea Gold Cigarettes issue
C. Edwards, Ringer & Bigg Home issue
D. Lambert & Butler Home issue.
However this gets a lot more interesting in the front index, where it is revealed that the Anonymous issue was circulated in Malaya, in 1930, and the Ogden`s in New Zealand, in 1927.
We also know from other sources that the Lambert & Butler version was issued, in the British Isles, in the same year, 1927. We featured that in our newsletter for the 18th of March 2023, on Tuesday the 21st of March.
In our World Tobacco Issues Index it catalogues our set under Ogdens Section 5, "Export issues without I.T.C. Clause, issued through B.A.T" and under sub section "B", for "Guinea Gold Cigarettes" issues. Coloured cards, inscribed "Ogden`s Guines Gold Cigarettes" at base of back. Issued in New Zealand 1927-28.".
There are just two sets in this section, ours, and Famous Railway Trains, and our set is listed as :
BRITISH TREES AND THEIR USES. Sm. 67 x 36. Nd. (25) See RB21/209-34.B ... O/2-106
In the updated version of this volume, the section and the text remains the same, (though I forgot to note the code) - however there has been an addition to the heading, which tells us that "A special album was issued to hold the two series, and also Set D640-550" - which was Dominion Tobacco`s “People and Places Famous in New Zealand History”.
Monday, 9th September 2024
This card represented the bagpipes, for they are a class at the Pitlochry Highland Games.
Some say that this celebrates rebellion, and remembers how bagpipes were banned after the Battle of Culloden in 1745. Not just banned, but considered an instrument of war, so much so that if you were caught with them on your person you would be punished and hard, by the loyalist government. The wearing of kilts was also outlawed. This ban lasted for forty years.
These events begin with a parade of pipe bands, which goes around the town, and these bands are then judged on smartness of turnout and overall marching ability as far as being in step at all times. The prize for the best band currently stands at £500, well worth winning. And the section continues with classes for juniors, and pipers of all ages.
Mickey Mouse actually has quite a long association with bagpipes, but not as far back as Culloden - for in his first sound film "Steamboat Willie", released in 1928, he is shown amusing himself on board the boat by using the kitchenware, and then the assorted animals, as musical instruments, at which point he squeezes a duck as if it were bagpipes.
This set is actually three sets, "Favorite Stories" (cards 1-99) being a look back at cartoons from the archives - "Family Portraits" (cards 100-171) which show characters and scenes - and "World Tour" (cards 172-207) which start with cards with postcard backs, and then, from card 181, have a fun guide to touring on the reverses instead. Cards 208, 209, and 210 are checklists to these three sections, in that order. There were also two hologram cards, which seem to be quite rare.
The entire checklist can be seen at The Trading Card Database/Impel Disney 1991
The cards were sold in packets of fifteen, or in boxes, and there was also a special edition sold through Toys R Us.
Tuesday, 10th September 2024
This series of sets is said to have been issued in Belgium (titled "Danses Nationales"), Germany (as "Nationaltanze V"), Italy (as "Danzze Nazionali"), and the Netherlands (as "Nationale Dansen").
However our card is definitely in French. Hopefully a Liebig collector can tell us if this is scarce or I have erred when I typed them out?
Germany is the only one of these which calls it "set V". You may think, and rightly, that this was because they were the only country who issued all five of the sets - but Italy did as well : whereas Belgium only issued set I and set V, and the Netherlands only issued set II and set V.
The easiest printing of our set to acquire, by the way, is the Belgian one - with the German and Italian turning up fairly often, and almost as cheaply too. However the Dutch version is harder to come by, and often priced at £75-£100.
The cards in our set are :
- France - Le Cotillon (formal ball)
- Germany - Danse Rustique (country dance)
- Italy - La Tarantelle (tarantella)
- Scotland - La Gigue (jig)
- Tirol - La Rapide (no idea!)
- Turkey - La Danse du Sabre (sword dance)
As for their predecessors, they were :
set I (1891 - F.0239 : S.0238) - issued in Belgium. France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain. Our version is by far the scarcest.
set II (1891 - F.0308 : S.0300) - issued in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. The Spanish version is the rare one here.
set III (1892 - F.0341 : S.0340) - this set has a subtitle, "kinder", in the German version which alerts the buyer that it features children dancing. It was issued in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. The German one is the only one that turns up with any regularity, the Italian version is expensive, but seems less so when you see the Hungarian and Czech versions priced at almost a thousand pounds a set.
set IV (1892 - F.0342 : S.0341) - issued in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Spanish version is again the scarce one
Wednesday, 11th September 2024
Here we have one of the most popular of the field sports that take place at the Highland Games in Pitlochry.
You may be surprised to hear, though, that the contest itself is of very ancient origin, and, coincidentally, has a military connection in every civilisation which has recorded it. These are many, including Greece, Rome, India and Egypt, but it is thought that the first to pit two groups of men against another with just the aid of a piece of rope were the Chinese, some ten thousand years ago, claiming, probably rightly, that it encouraged the development of arm and leg muscles, and also surefootedness.
Curiously it was an Olympic sport from 1900 until 1920, but then it was dropped.
I will start this by saying that I do not know much about these cards, so please correct me if I err.
I have found it in our original Ogden`s reference book (RB.15) published in 1949, on page 75. That lists it with a header of : "Printing B - Without Full Stop (200 subjects). See Fig.46, B and C above, and Fig,46-A on page 71. The two Printings A and B can easily be distinguished by comparing the two Figs 45-A (Printing A) and 46-A (Printing B), which are illustrated side by side on page 71. "
I will add this picture here asap, and the "Full Stop" reference will be clearer. However until I get that done I will just say that the full stop is after the card title in the white box inside the picture.
Now the card appears under O/97 in group 2, Sportsmen and Miscellaneous. This is a very interesting group, which starts with twenty-one cricketers, then goes on to footballers (25), golfers (14), cyclists (10), Fire Brigades (9), Aldershot Gymnasium (5). After that comes the miscellaneous, which I might just scan it, as I am certain that there are several unusual thematic cards that some collectors might not know about yet.
The only problem with this is that our card is plain backed, and those cards fall under O/95 as "General Interest - Similar "Tabs" C201-300. But I cannot find our card listed amongst the subjects in that listing.
So now I have had quite a bit of correspondence and was right, it is O/97.
That allows me to patch in the write up from our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which is a bit clearer, and reads :
GENERAL INTEREST. (A). Sm. 62 x 38. Format as F.321-F.420 cards, with "Ogden`s Cigarettes" in block capitals. Plain back. Unnd. (300). See RB.15/97. ... O/2-37
1. Captions with fullstop, widely-spaced lettering.
(i) Stage Artistes (81)
(ii) Ships and Miscellaneous (19)2. Captions without fullstop, smaller, closely spaced lettering.
(i) Stage Artistes (79)
(ii) Sportsmen and Miscellaneous (121)
This is exactly the same as in our updated version, save the reference number, which has changed to RB.115/97, reflecting that we now have a later update to the Ogden`s book too.
Thursday, 12th September 2024
This card was sent in by a reader, and it is such fun that despite the fact I have covered bagpipes and Scottish dancing I just had to share it.
Now this set measures about 55 x 40 m/m but it is much thinner than normal, so much so that you can see the front image reversed when they are scanned.
The numbers are sometimes obscured by the colouring of the card, but a complete set comprises :
- Danse Hindoue
- Danse Greque
- Danse Sacree (Egypte)
- Le Fandango (Espagne)
- Tzigane
- Almee
- Danseurs Russes
- La Tarantelle (Italie)
- Danse des Eventails - Japon
- La Cueca (Chili)
- Cambodgienne
- Danse Ecossaise
Friday, 13th September 2024
Now just in case anyone has been inspired by the details we have provided over this week about the Pitlochry Highland Games, our final card shows a map, albeit rudimentary, of how to get there.
Pitlochry was remodelled into a tourist resort because, in 1842, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the area, and loved it so much they bought a house, Balmoral. This led to many visitors in the summer months, and to the building of a railway station in 1863. However there had been occupation in the area for many centuries earlier, and the Parish of Moulin takes its name from Moulin kirk, a fortified dwelling place which was given to Dunfermline Abbey in 1180 - though Moulin in French, and many other languages, seems to point to a windmill, not a house.
Tourism was still its major occupation until after the Second World War, and then it was decided to build a hydro electric power scheme along the River Tummel. As part of the works, they also needed a dam, hence the construction of an artificial loch, and the flooding of the original site of the Pitlochry Highland Games, north of the town, as we mentioned earlier in the week. Therefore it is rather a shame that this map was not more detailed, as we could have seen that original site on it.
Now I have more light, and better vision, I also have the original Churchman reference book (RB.10, issued in 1948). And there is a bit of a surprise, because there were actually five versions of this set. As this is the earliest version of the five, it wins the prize for being the home page, to which all the other versions will be connected through links. However along with that honour comes the delight of having the entire text for all the versions below. So let us start with that original Churchman reference book, which catalogues them as ;
66. May 1937. 48. HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. (titled series). Size 2 7/10" x 2 1/10" or 68 x 53 m/m. Numbered 1/48. Views, with brief map of district. Fronts printed by letterpress, half tone in two printings, in sepia, varnished. Backs in dark green on WHITE card, with descriptions and I.T.C. Clause. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall.
67. 48. HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Identical to (66) but CREAM card.
68. 48. HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Identical to (66) but omitting I.T.C. Clause. Overseas issue.
69. June 1938. 48. HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. (titled series). Size 2 7/10" x 2 1/10" or 68 x 53 m/m. Numbered 1/48. Views, no maps. Fronts printed by 4-colour half tone process. Backs in dark green, with descriptions, album clause, and I.T.C. Clause. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall.
70. 48. HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Identical to (69) but omitting album and I.T.C. Clause. Overseas issue.
This is drastically reduced in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, and also they are split up - Section 2, "Issues with I.T.C. Clause" containing just :
HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Md. Views and Maps. Sepia. Nd. (48) ... C82-51
HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Md. Views only. Coloured. Nd. (48) ... C82-52
The export issues appear in Section 3, with more information in the header, as :
3. Export Issues without I.T.C. Clause.Issued 1937-39 through B.A.T. in Channel Islands, Malta, and British Garrisons overseas. All series are similar to the corresponding Home Issue under Section 2.B
HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Md. Views and Maps. Sepia. Nd. (48) ... C82-94
HOLIDAYS IN BRITAIN. Md. Views only. Coloured. Nd. (48) ... C82-95
All this text is the same in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, (though the codes have changed - to C504-505 and C504-510 respectively for the Home Issues, and C504-740 and C504-750 for the export ones. Curiously there is no link to section 3 from section 2, or any mention of there being export issues in any of those books. Casual browsers may, therefore, miss these overseas versions entirely.
Now you may be wondering why this set was printed more than once. At which point we also need to say that the two main versions, with and without the maps, were all new scenes and different places - card 43 in the view set being Ben Nevis, Inverness-shire. The truth is that we do not really know why this was done. The popular thought is that the sepia maps were thought to be old fashioned as we neared the end of the 1930s. Though I definitely favour the fact that this set was replaced because the Second World War was looming fast, and cards with maps may well have been used by the other side in the event of an invasion
Confession time, I completely forgot to write up Friday`s card of the day. Never mind I will add the card gen from the reference books tomorrow. I also did not bring down the modern British Trade Index as I planned to, when I got my tea. And I only just remembered that too. Never mind, it is now Saturday morning and those are already sorted out.
Progress continues with the card of the day index - as of now the last card added was Anonymous "The Pilot" Football Fame Series (1936) - 23rd of October 2021, which was a double card, the other having now been replaced by Ogden`s "Football Club Captains" (1935) the card for the 12th of March 2022. The next card in line is Golden Wonder "All Stars", it is not a double, but for some reason it has about two lines of text, the most of which are, chidingly, me promising to come back and finish tomorrow, but never did. So that will be done when I get the British Trade Index(es) and before I plough back in to the gum card sorting and rehousing.
If you have any fairs to go to over the weekend have a great time, and be lucky. And I will return, same time next week, with another new newsletter.