Off we go again, into the wonderful world of cards - but more than that, in our endeavouring to show how cards can connect us with events of all kinds, from the humble beginnings of things we take for granted, and budding musicians, actors and actresses who went on to be great, household names. Then there are the strange ways that it was thought the future would develop. Lastly, they also provide us with contemporary illustrations of things that have oft been lost with the passing of time, or that ended up to not be so positive for mankind as was once imagined. Some of them, admittedly, also touch on, or depict, subjects and beliefs that we do not find so palatable today, in what some of us try to make a gentler, better world. '
This week has not been such a struggle as usual. Not just because mum is now under the care, at least a few times a week, of the district nurse. The subjects I found were, for the most part, those which appear. Thursday was the first day that had to be abandoned and the hunt restart for a subject, at first it was Spion Kop, then Clashing Clothes Day, but it ended up as archery, mainly because I had been sent a scan of a card ages ago by a reader in response to my using Taddy`s "Sports and Pastimes", however the back, red and rather blurry, took some working on. The same was true for my efforts to make Monday`s card look straight. I have done my best with both of these, though I remain not entirely happy.
Guerin-Boutron [trade : chocolate : O/S - Paris France] "Fleurs et les Pays d`Origine" / "Flowers and their Countries of Origin" (1900) Un/84
This card admirably celebrates National Tulip Day, which is today, or rather which is every third Saturday in January. Why it is that date, believe it or not, is that this is the start of Tulip season, which runs right until April. In Holland, as you may imagine, they put on all manner of spectacles and there are special events and offers in the garden shops and nurseries.
Most of the original tulip species come from Asia, not Europe, though, just like today, they were reportedly welcomed as a sign that the weather was changing. And as usually happens with beautiful things, they were shown off and this led to them being spread around the world, by fair means or by foul. This led them to regions where they were seen by visiting Western dignitaries and explorers, and brought them back to Europe, where they became a craze, during which wealthy households would go to extraordinary lengths and pay vast sums of money in order to have the bulb they wanted for their garden displays. However, as most crazes, this ended as quickly as it had begun - though it did result in the unsold tulips being sold cheaply, so allowing the less wealthy to be able to grow and admire them.
Now on the card it also says that the tulip is "de la famille des liliacees", which means the lily family. I had to look that up, and they are right, the tulip is indeed a lily, or at least a member of the Liliaceae family.
These cards are very pretty, but they make me think they are out of square, and I had many attempts at trying to make it look square without really getting anywhere. I think it is that the gilt frame moves inwards as it rises up the card. Some of the other cards are even worse, with one side moving in as the other moves out. It was all quite fiendish.... All the cards have the same gilt winding frame, and an outside colour of this mid green, making them are quite easy to spot. i am not sure what the connection is with the card and the country, dealers call them the countries of origin, but I think there will need to be more research done into that - one does sit well though, the Egyptian lotus, which was definitely a significant symbol used within ancient Egypt, a symbol of creation and rebirth, which opened its petals with the suns rays and closed them at night.
Anyway the cards are unnumbered, so one day there may be a list of all eighty four of them. Not today. Though I have found nine, which are :
- Belladone - Colombie [Belladonna, Colombia]
- Campanule - Hongrie [Campanula, Hungary]
- Dahlia - Mexique [Dahlia, Mexico]
- Digitale - Bretagne [Foxglove, Brittany]
- Lotus - Egypte [Lotus, Egypt[
- Mimosa - Monaco
- Myosotis - Lorraine
- Pavot - Russie
- Pourpier - Java
And any others are warmly welcomed.
Wm. RUDDELL Ltd. [tobacco : UK : Dublin] "Grand Opera Series" (1924) 8/25 - R905-100 : R60-1
What fun to have this card, because if you look at the reverse it actually tells you the theme of today, for it reads "Verdi`s `Il Trovatore` First produced in Rome, January 19th, 1853".
The text also tells us that "This is considered Verdi`s most popular opera", and yet again it is not a happy tale - even in this scant descriptive text we are told of imprisonment and fratricide, and there are other rather odd subjects thrown in for good measure.
The name translates to "The Troubadour", or wandering minstrel, and he is Manrico, the character shown here with his mother
The opera was written by Guiseppe Verdi, but the idea came from a Spanish play of about twenty-five years earlier, written by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez. The words of the opera were not written by Verdi, but partially by Salvadore Cammarano, who died in July 1852, without finishing his work, and then by his replacement, Leone Emanuele Bardare, who Verdi only met in December 1852. The new man had different ideas, most of which was to flesh out the minor role of Leonora, to the extent of giving her songs of her own, both new ones, and ones diverted from the other characters.
Now William Ruddell Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, and Liverpool, was founded in 1840. A brief biography appears in our original Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers (RB.7, issued in 1946). That reads :
Wm. Ruddell Ltd.
Hanbury Lane, Dublin (also Liverpool).
134 James Street.
Founded 1840.
The third line proved of interest, as it has found us a reference to a William Ruddell in an 1872 Trades Index, who lived at 134 James Street, and who operated out of premises at numbers 147 and 148 Francis Street. Another, earlier, address has also turned up, 45 South Great George's Street .He is also listed as a "manufacturer" of tobacco, cigars, and snuff, rather than just a retailer.
We have also discovered that William Ruddell`s daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas Clarke, the son of William Clarke & Son, another Irish tobacco manufacturer. Clarke`s was founded in 1830, in Cork, but it later moved to Liverpool, coming back to Dublin in 1923 when customs barriers were imposed in Eire. We also know that there was a William Ruddell Clarke, presumably the son of this marriage, who was the managing director of William Clarke and Son at a later date.
As far as Ruddell`s cards, they did not start to issue any until the 1920s, and even then there were only three sets. These appear in the London Cigarette Card Company catalogue for 1955 priced up as :
- 25 Grand Opera Series (1924)- odds 1/6 each - sets 50/-
- 25 Rod & Gun (1924) - odds 2/- each - sets 60/-
- 50 Songs That Will Live For Ever (no date) odds 1/6 each - sets 100/-
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index it tells us that the company were still trading in 1956, the date of the book`s publication. Our set is listed in that book as :
GRAND OPERA SERIES. Sm. 63 x 38. Nd. (25) ... R60-1
All the sets measure about the same, though the set of "Rod & Gun" is very slightly narrower at 63 x 37 m/m.
In our updated version of the World Tobacco Issues Index the text is identical, save the code, which has also been updated, to R905-100
JACQUES [trade : chocolate : O/S - Belgium] "La Grande Enigme des Oceans" / "The Great Enigmas of the Oceans" (1966) 51/136
Today in 1961 John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as the President of the United States of America - but this card shows him in another role, during the Second World War, when, according to the text, he was "an officer in the Marines".
In fact he was not in the Marines, but he was in the navy. Something which is not discussed is that he took that place in the Navy despite a back injury which would have ordinarily allowed him to be excused from service, yet instead of that he found someone higher up who would sign him in and make it possible.
At first he served on land, as as ensign in the Naval Reserve, but after his training was over he was assigned to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron, based in Rhode Island, and in January 1943 he was sent to Panama.
He could also stayed there, but he transferred to another squadron which was off to the Solomon Islands, to take part in the Invasion of New Georgia. Once there he was assigned the command of PT109 and one fateful night in 1943, whilst off to intercept Japanese Warships, they were involved in contact with an enemy destroyer, the Amagiri. This not only sent all the men flying about on their boat, a portion of which was set afire, but some of the crew were sent overboard into the water, and others killed.
However, afterwards, our man, despite his back, and injuries sustained in the incident, swam repeatedly to rescue men over the course of three hours, and also attempted best he could to keep up the morale of the surviving and the injured until they could be rescued. For this he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
And you can read a much better account of this at the website of the Naval History and Heritage Command, which also has several links at the bottom of the page, including one to his citation for the medal.
He is also pictured aboard his boat, and with his medal, on a set of cards issued by Rosan Printing Corp in Brooklyn New York in 1963 - and they form the first cards on his card-ography, as compiled by the Trading Card Database/JFK. Strangely they are also said to be his "Rookie" cards, but i am certain that there must be earlier ones, especially as by the time they were issued he had been President for two years.
Our card is the one from this set that seems to command a premium, though there is also a card of the Titanic, and that does too. I am not sure why it is titled "enigmas" though, except that the date of issue given by dealers varies from 1960 to 1966. However as the card states that Kennedy is the President already it must be after 1961 and before 1963, when he was assassinated.
Liebig [trade : meat extract : O/S - South America] "La Cote D`Azur" / "The French Riviera" (1912) Un/6 - F.1029 : S.1060
Now this card may seem a big segue from today`s subject, which is the Monte Carlo Rally, the first of which took place today in 1911 - but wait, for this view is very similar to the original poster for that event.
The idea of a motor race had been suggested by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, as far back as 1909. He first approached Sport Velocipédique et Automobile Monégasque, which had actually only allowed motorists to join for two years; before then membership had been restricted to cyclists. The President, who sounds like he may have been one of the motorists, heartily agreed.
Unlike today, the race was to start at various places within Europe, and end at Monaco. The winner, Henri Rougier, in a Turcat-Mery automobile, had set out from Paris, over six hundred miles away. In second place was J.A. de Aspiazu, in a Gobron-Brille, and he came from Avignon, also in France. The third car, a Martini 28/35 HP, seems to have had two drivers, a Julius Beutler and Karl Friedrich von Esmarch, both of whom were German; presumably they started there.
The curious thing about this event was that it was a two part contest, judged on what is called the driving (a word that does not seem to suggest the fastest) and also the look and feel of the car, strange things like how comfortable it was, and the condition it was when it arrived. There seems to have been many complaints when Henri Rougier won, but all came to naught and he kept the title.
This set is very striking, with its inset miniature and a larger scene behind.
It is available in several versions, of which the Belgian version, titled "La Cote d`Azur" is by far the cheapest and easiest to obtain. The French has the same title, but is slightly more prized. The Dutch version and the German versions are about £40 to £60, the German one. "Die Riviera" being more sought after simply because we know that it was the first to be produced, the artwork being signed off in that country. That just leaves the Spanish version, "La Costa Azul", which is by far the most expensive
The full set of cards consists of :
- Antibes
- Cannes
- Menton
- Monaco
- Nice
- Villefranche
Carreras Ltd. [tobacco : UK - London] "British Aircraft" (1953) 43/50 - C151-620 : C18-113
Today, in 1952, it is widely reported that the first commercial flight, of a BOAC Comet, took to the skies.
That is not exactly true; and the first flight, containing paying passengers, actually took place on May 2nd, 1952, from London to Johannesburg, South Africa.
What did happen today was that the fifth version of the de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1, registration number G-ALYS, received a certificate of airworthiness on this day, though the prototype had already flown, on July the 27th, 1949, at Hatfield - which was the same date as the birthday of both Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, and the test pilot John Cunningham, though there were over thirty years between them.
However, even then the certificate to fly was different to the one required to carry passengers. Today there are even more different classes, for all kinds of craft, even balloons. It is a bit like a driving licence, in that it has to be on the aircraft and be allowed to be inspected by the authorities at any time. It remains valid all the time that the aircraft maintains its yearly and monthly checks, right until that particular craft is removed from operation. This is often because a better craft has superseded it, but it can also be the result of an accident, and sadly the de Havilland Comet story is marred by two major incidents, in January and April 1954, which were found to be the result of metal fatigue. And, as a result, all DH106 Comet 1 aircraft were immediately grounded and withdrawn from service
Now I was a bit slow doing this piece because, as of yesterday, there is a new home page for these Carreras "Turf" package issues, on which all the sets so far used link in and out. This home page is with our Card of the Day for the 18th of February 2024, and it lists all the sets. Also on there you will find out all about our blue package issues, plus the other Carreras sets which used "Turf" as brand, though I have not yet had time to link in the Australian ones.
This means that the link pages, of which this is one, will merely contain the details of the one set, though it will allow for those to be expanded and to carry the lists of un-numbered cards etc.
So our set is listed as :
BRITISH AIRCRAFT. Nd. (50). Issued 1953 ... C18-113
In the updated World Tobacco Issues Index the sets are listed in alphabetical order, and that makes our set of “British Aircraft” first up. However the text is exactly as above, just with a new card code, of C151-620.
This set was also issued as a double set., and some time, not today, there will be a list of which aeroplanes flew in formation together. (T) means that they are on the top as viewed and (B) means they were underneath it
- 2. (T) Vickers Valiant B.1 (Jet) - 40. (B) de Havilland Venom F.B.1 (Jet)
- 9. (T) Blackburn Universal - (B). 28. Hawker Sea Hawk F.1 (Jet)
- 14. (T) De Havilland Vampire N.F.10 (Jet) - (B) 37. Airspeed Ambassador
- 22. (T) Hawker Hunter F1 (Jet) - (B). Supermarine 508 (Jet)
- 24. (T) Percival Provost T.1 - (B) 41. Vickers Viking 1.B
HUDDEN & Co. Ltd [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Sports and Pastimes" (1926) 23/25 - H766-80 : H68-23
Speaking of "flight" today in 1879 the National Archery Association of the United States was founded.
The story of the bow and arrow, which is archery in its most basic form, is a strange one, for we know that the bow was in use in prehistory, we just do not fully understand how they made them; after all, to make a bow you need the right sort of wood, pliable, but able to bend and not break. Then you need a projectile, which must be fairly straight, and not too heavy. Most importantly of all, though, you need some method of pulling this projectile backwards, and gaining enough propulsion in doing that to fling the projectile not only forwards, but in the direction, and to the range that its shooter desires. And then ask how prehistoric man sat down and designed such a weapon.
Egyptians are thought to have been the first to go to war with archers as part of their forces. From the ones we have found we know that the bow was made of horn and wood, and the catapult part was made of animal gut or sinew. They were pretty much standardised until the Assyrians discovered how to make them smaller, lighter, and easier to handle.
Curiously, though today we celebrate the founding of the National Archery Association of the United States, it was not the first Archery Club in America, that honour goes to the United Bowmen of Philadelphia, which had been founded fifty-one years earlier. You may also find it interesting that the National Association consisted of just eight clubs.
In 1900 archery became an Olympic sport for the first time, with seven different events, all for men, from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. France came top of the medal table, with four gold, five silver, and four bronze; Belgium was runner up, winning the other three gold medals. It seems that no medals went to the Netherlands, and they do not appear in any records or lists, in fact several records state that only France and Belgium competed. More research on that, I think.
At the next Olympics, in 1904, women were allowed to compete, and these events were listed as being "the 26th Grand Annual Target Meeting of the National Archery Association". Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the Olympics were held in America that year, in St. Louis. All the medals were won by Americans, and it seems that though some other countries sent archers, they were allowed to compete but their scores did not count.
In 1908, again women and men took part, from France, America, and Great Britain (who was hosting that year). The sport was not included in the 1912 Olympics, and the 1916 ones were cancelled due to the First World War. It returned in 1920, with three countries, Belgium, France and the Netherlands sending competitors, all of whom were men. However that was the last time archery was at the Olympics - until 1972.
Our set was also issued by many other companies, both tobacco and trade. It has a home page, as our Card of the Day for the 4th of February, 2022, on which all of these permutations are listed, with links in and out to where the tales of each different one are told.
Today we are going to chat about the Hudden & Co. Ltd. version, which was one of the latest, for the set was originally issued by Redford & Co,. of London, in 1906 - twenty years earlier.
Hudden & Co. Ltd. were indeed established in 1790, as it says on the back of this card, but their last UK issue was in 1903. The reason for this is explained in our original Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers (RB.7, published in 1946) reads ;
HUDDEN & Co, Ltd. (defunct)
Avon Street, Bristol (afterwards Victoria Street)
This name is still carried on by Teofani (The Associated Tobacco Manufacturers (Gt. Britain Ltd). See entry under that name.
Founded 1790
Present title : Hudden & Co. Ltd., 643.b Fulham Road, London, S.W.6.
Sold out tobacco business to South Wales Tobacco Co. (1903) and cigarette section to J.R. Freeman & Co, Ltd. (Teofani)
Brands - "Two Lilies", "Crown", "Crown Seal" etc.
What this means is that though our card bears the name of Hudden, it was issued overseas, twenty three years after their last UK issue, and through The Associated Tobacco Mfrs., which was an odd alliance of Hudden, Teofani, and Sandorides, also owned by Teofani. Their cards were issued in the Bahamas and South America. However their Associated name only appears on one set, that being entitled "Cinema Stars". Two sets they issued were also, however, branded as Hudden, these being "Famous Boxers" and "Public Schools and Colleges".
Our set is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
SPORTS AND PASTIMES. Sm. 67 x 36. Nd. (25) See H.225 ... H68-23
It is identical in our updated version of that book, save an updated card code of H766-680.
And for the full text of H.225, nip along to that home page we mentioned earlier
Panini [trade/commercial : stickers : O/S - Italy] "Simpsons Mania" (2002) 55/90
I am not sure why I picked National Beer Can Appreciation Day, for it took me quite a while to find a beer can on a card, but look, I found one. In fact I originally thought it was the only beer can to be so immortalised, but in fact there is an entire set devoted to them, issued in 1993, which are checklisted by Jeff Allender on his website - though it must be noted that the set was sold as a set, not to be collected individually, and also it seems to be sold as a complete unopened set by most dealers. Which is kind of sad, just entombed forever in cardboard, without anyone to play with them.
As to why today is National Beer Can Appreciation Day, well it commemorates The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey, which was founded in 1858, and who later became the first brewery to seal beer in cans. Their first cans were produced in 1933, and only for employees. These proved very popular, so it was decided to see if the general public were so enthusiastic; though it has be noted that the first delivery was shipped off to Virginia for sale, just in case it was not a success.
Now I mentioned this set briefly in a former newsletter, (on Tuesday the 17th of November, 2024), saying that it was a tie in with the Simpsons Mania tour.
The set is split into sections, starting with a one off title card showing Bart holding up a "Simpsons Mania" sign; this card caused a bit of controversy as on the back of the card he is shown from behind and revealed to be naked. The next section, cards 2-36, show all the popular Springfield characters. Cards 37-45 are kind of riffs on psychedelia, with a nod to the Beatles` "Yellow Submarine" and 1960s concert posters. Cards 46-63 are also a bit of a knowing wink to the "Wacky Packages" which were issued by Topps from 1967 to 1977, but including products features on screen in The Simpsons; our card is of Homer Simpson`s favourite "Duff Beer". Cards 64-71 are showcase cards, with art by famous artists and animators, though do note that card 71 was drawn by none other than musician, and twenty time Grammy winner, Tony Bennett. Card 72 is a checklist of all the cards in the series.
However that is not quite the end, as there are seven additional "Treehouse" cards (from the episodes "Treehouse of Horror") and nine "Fold-Em" cards.
These pictures seem to have also been issued by Inkworks, with their logo. That needs more investigation
This week's Cards of the Day...
This week we are going to be thinking about Religious Freedom Day. This is a larger, and older story than you might imagine - for though ostensibly it is about allowing everyone the right to worship in a way that pleases them, without the interference of another who wishes to convert them to their own faith, by entreaties or by violence, it dates right back to January the 16th, 1786. On that day, James Madison stood before the Virginia General Assembly and delivered a statute originally crafted by Thomas Jefferson, nine years before. This was then set into the American Constitution, as an addition, also to be known thereafter as "The First Amendment".
This sounds grand, but the day was not officially commemorated until 1993, and some states still do not recognise it.
Now if I asked you to name a religion, you might come up with all manner of names, but I imagine you, like me, would be astounded to hear that though there are many of them, there are only four main ones, these being Christianity (the largest of all), Islam (a quarter of the World`s population), and Hinduism and Buddhism (together making up just over twenty per cent of the chart, combined; Hinduism at just over fifteen per cent and Buddhism just under seven per cent).
The third largest religion is actually no religion, it is Atheism.
The only other religion that scores over five per cent of the World`s people is not really a religion either, it is folklore, often a mixture of various beliefs in signs and symbols, and the natural world, that has been passed down from the ancients, either through family lore, or increasingly these days, found online by people who do not feel allied to anything else.
All the rest fall under "others", and, even combined, make up less than a percent, a tiny sliver on a pie chart, too thin even to really show up.
So our clue cards this week were..... :
Saturday, 11th January 2025
This card shows Roberto Baggio, was born on the 18th of February, 1967, in Caldogno, Italy. The card tells us that he was the 1994 European and World Player of the Year, but does not mention that he would later become the President of the technical section of the Italian Football Federation, nor something even more important, that he is also a Buddhist.
Buddhism is both a religion and also a philosophy. And the man we call "Buddha" was born Siddhartha Gautama, who took his new name from the word "budhi", which means to awaken, to become enlightened, something that only happened to him when he was thirty-five years old. Before that he had been a member of a high born family, but had discovered that their way of life did not give him pleasure.
Buddhism is often called a gentle religion, because it asks its followers to be kind, and moral, and to suffer injustices by developing awareness of peace and love. And Mr. Baggio credits Buddhist beliefs with keeping him on the right path through the many challenges that he faced along his career, not least his missed penalty shootout, against Brazil, in the final of the 1994 World Cup.
In fact he discovered Buddhism through accident, in more ways than one, for in 1985 he was badly injured, and he discovered the faith during his recovery.
In 2002, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and since then he has not shied from taking on sometimes difficult challenges, so much so that he was awarded the Nobel "Man of Peace" title in 2010.
Now at first I could not track this set down in our original British Trade Indexes, and it is too late for the updated edition, which is pre-1970 issues only. It does, however, appear, under another name, "Europe`s Best", at the Trading Card Database, and there is a checklist, along with a page showing all the different packets which were available. These reveal that if you collected the tokens off the sides you could send them up and receive football postcards in exchange, which turn out to be dual branded, "Barratt Football Candy Sticks" at the top, and "Match Football Magazine" at the bottom.
Curiously, I have tracked down the postcards, in our original British Trade Index part IV, where they are listed as
Barratt Football - Match Football Magazine. 148 x 105. Back ruled as postcard. Twelve groupings .. BAR-143.
The groupings are each of six cards, these being, in number order
- Europe`s Best
- Football Action
- Great Defenders
- Great Goalkeepers
- Great Grounds
- Great Managers
- Midfield Dynamos
- Top Strikers
- Top Strikers (2)
- Winners in 1992
- The World`s Greatest Teams
Though I have to add that this may not be our set, for "Winners in 1992" seems rather outdated.
Sunday, 12th January 2025
Here we have the Hindu, representing Hinduism - which is considered the oldest religion in the world.
It covers several branches of the same beliefs, but all of them have one thing in common, the belief that a person should endeavour to live virtuously, and perform certain rituals in order to receive good fortune, or at least the solutions to their problems.
Like many other of the ancient religions, they believe in the eternal cycle of being born, dying, and then being reborn in a different form, sometimes a lower form, to atone for any sins that you have done in this life, and sometimes a higher one, if you have performed acts of kindness in this one.
This set again both creates a connection and ties a loose end, for we have featured these fronts before, on the 3rd of November, 2022 - but in another version issued by Allen & Ginter, in 1888, and titled "World`s Smokers". There is a link though, for the Dominion Tobacco Co were associated with the American Tobacco Company, of which Allen & Ginter were a founder member.
Today`s version was issued quite a while after, though we are not entirely certain of the date, some records say they came along in 1904, others in 1910. There is no title as such, the wording we use for them comes from amidst the text of the backs, lines four and five. The fronts are also slightly different to Allen and Ginter`s cards, for they have the smoker`s name in upper and lower case, rather than all capitals.
Our cards are listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
THE SMOKERS OF THE WORLD. Sm. 70 x 37. Unnd. (50). See RB.18/166. Ref. USA/C.181 ... D50-2
A. Back in black, with series title
B. Back in brown, without series title
This text also appears in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but the cross reference is slightly different, leading to RB.118, which is our newly updated Tobacco War Index, RB.18, its ancestor, having first been issued in 1951. The card code is also altered, to D635-700
As far as the original RB.18, that does not mention the Dominion Tobacco Co at all, only
166. World`s Smokers. Series of 50, with captions
Allen & Ginter issue in USA. Burdick No.33. Series title and list of subjects on back.
Murai issue. Burdick T.483. Fronts inscribed "MURAI`S CIGARETTES are the Best and Cheapest. Backs per Fig.G,1 in blueThere then follows a list of subjects in alphabetical order
The series was also issued by Dominion Tobacco Co. Montreal (Burdick C.181)
Monday, 13th January 2025
This card, of a church, gave us Christianity, the world`s largest religion, though it encompasses six quite different branches, Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrian - of which Catholicism is by far the oldest.
Now I picked this church at random not realising that it had such a tale to tell. The card tells us, on the front, that this is South Elmham, and, on the reverse, mentions the Church of St. Nicholas, no other. Therefore I started to research, only to find there are six Churches in South Elmham, and none are called St. Nicholas.
However, a bit more research unearths the fact that there was a St. Nicholas, and in South Elmham, both a Church and a parish, but there were few residents, and it was merged to form the Church and parish of All Saints and St. Nicholas. This took place quite a while before the issue of our card though - as long ago as 1737 - at which time the Church of St. Nicholas was said to need repair, and shortly after it was declared as a ruin. Today, only a cross remains, as a marker of its location, but this is on private land and is growing ever more obscured by vegetation. There also seem to be no images of it, and all that survives is some stained glass, which now brightens the Church at Eyke, and odd pieces of masonry which were used to rebuild sections of St. Peter`s Hall.
After even more research I can confirm that the photograph of the round tower on this card is the Church of All Saints - but that makes it even stranger that the text on the card reads "The Church of St. Nicholas is of flint and stone, the south doorway is Norman, so is the font, also the round western tower, containing one bell" - which applies to the Church of All Saints.
Sadly, like its predecessor, the Church of All Saints is also now a redundant Church, with insufficient residents to need to be classed as a parish and provided with regular Church services. The Church is upkept, by the Churches Conservation Trust, but they rely almost entirely on donations, and, without parishioners, that falls on people like us, who do not live in the area.
I am delighted to be able to feature this card, with thanks to reader Mr. Frost, because it has a companion, which we featured as part of the newsletter for the 19th of March, 2022, on Monday the 21st of March. Today therefore becomes the home page for both sets, or, I should say, all the sets, for in our original reference book to the issues of W. A. and A.C. Churchman (RB.10, published in 1948) this item is described as :
46. Feb.1912. 50. EAST SUFFOLK CHURCHES (titled series). Size 2 11/16" x 1 7/16" or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-50. Fronts printed by letterpress, half tone in one printing, in BLACK. Backs in blue on CREAM card, with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall.
47. 1917. 50. EAST SUFFOLK CHURCHES. Identical to (46) but backs in blue on WHITE card.
48. Aug.1923. 50. EAST SUFFOLK CHURCHES. Identical to (46) but fronts in sepia
So why the three sets? Well look at the dates. The original dates from before the First World War was even a grumbling. However the second, issued just as the war was perhaps felt to be coming to an end, was perhaps designed as their tentative return to card issuing, using slightly whiter board that they had in stock, but from every other point of view a straight up reprint - and yet no month of issue is shown, so perhaps it was merely printed as a trial, and then abandoned, whilst the war rolled on? Then the third version, in 1923, was that their first set after the cessation of hostilities?
This is a good story, but we know that Churchman sets continued to be issued through 1916, with "Boy Scouts", first, second, and third, in respectively January, August, and October of that year, and "Army Badges of Rank" in March. However, the white card version of our set may have been a rush job, hoping to continue their issues a little longer, but being unable to do so, for whatever reason, that we will probably never know. And as far as the sepia version being their first set after the War, sadly that is not true either, for in 1922, they issued two sets of "Rivers and Broads", and the set of "Boxing", the hints and tips one, which was also issued by Davies, Franklyn Davey, Ogden and Williams.
In the 1955 London Cigarette Card Company catalogue, however, there is a different order of events. That reads :
18. 50 East Suffolk Churches :-
BW - A. Black front, cream back (1912) odds 1/6 to 5/- : sets £12
BW - B. Black front, white back (1912) odds 3 to 7/6 : sets £12
U - C. Sepia front (1917, reissued 1923) odds 1/6 to 4/- : sets £10
If this is correct, and both the black and white versions were issued at the same time, with the sepia cards being the later re-issue(s), it makes more sense - but, more importantly, this entry means that there were enough of the white backed version available to be able to not only offer complete sets, but to sell them at the same price as the cream backed cards, though the odds of the whiter cards were obviously less plentiful as they were more expensive.
Curiously though, in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, issued at more or less the same time as the above catalogue, the sets are reduced to :
EAST SUFFOLK CHURCHES. Sm. Nd. (50) ...C82-16
A. Black and White
B. Sepia. Reissued 1923.
The same text, and of the two sets alone, also appears in our updated version, but with a new card code, of C504-230
Tuesday, 14th January 2025
Here we have the 45th Sikhs, also known as Rattray`s Sikhs, because they were first turned into a regiment, in April 1856, by one Captain Thomas Rattray - by the name of The 1st Bengal Military Police Department. It was a mixture of cavalry (men who could ride horses) and infantry (men who could not, so fought on foot). Not so many could ride, and the cavalry outnumbered the infantry by a ratio of five to one.
In the mid 1860s they were amalgamated with the Bengal Infantry, though they kept a reminder of their past, for they were thenceforth known as the 45th (Rattray's Sikh) Native Regiment of Infantry. The cavalrymen seem to have been forced to dismount at that time, and become infantry. It is not recorded how well this was received by them, but we can imagine it did not go down too well.
After the First World War, the mention of Rattray was lost, and they just became part of the 11th Sikh Regiment.
Now you may be wondering why we have this card in a week on religion - and the truth is that Sikhs, or Sikhism, is the fifth-largest religion across the world. In fact it is regarded by many that the verb "to seek" comes from their name - and it does indeed translate to mean someone who looks for the truth and kindness in all things". They believe in fair play in all things, social justice, family ties, and tolerance for other ways of life, including other religions.
The men wear a turban, beneath which their hair is left to grow uncut. If you look at Gallaher`s "Great War Series", card 118 of the first series, it shows a weapon called a chakkar, which fastens around the turban. It suggests that the Sikhs are fierce fighters, and they were, fighting in both World Wars, and winning fourteen Victoria Crosses.
One more thing. Although the regiment was known as Rattray`s Sikhs, there were actually other religions within it, namely Hindus, Islamics, and Muslims - it was just that the Sikhs formed the highest proportion on its founding, just over half the men.
As this is the first Card of The Day to have been issued by Harvey & Davy, a brief biography is needed. They were founded in Newcastle-on-Tyne, in 1762, by John Harvey Senior,. He died shortly after, and presumably left the business to his widow, who, very intriguingly, moved it, to larger premises within a few months of her husband`s death.
Their grandson, also, confusingly, called John Harvey, was born in 1804, and he seems to have taken over, but I am not sure when. We also know that he felt the need to move to larger premises at Hanover Square, and that perhaps this was occasioned by his daughter`s marriage, to a young man called Herbert Davy, who became not only his son in law but his business partner and very great friend. He may have been American, for he was also the American Vice Consul to Newcastle (whatever that means? Does anyone know?).
Unfortunately in 1889, Herbert Davy died, aged just fifty-five, and four years later John Harvey also died. They are both buried, in Jesmond Old Cemetery, in separate graves but side by side.
I am not sure what happened after that but the business seems to have foundered, and in 1905 it was taken over by Gallaher Ltd., in 1905, during the issue of Harvey and Davy`s "Birds and Eggs" - and we know this because the stocks that had not yet made it into the packets were re-issued by Gallaher, in a rather novel way, by simply sticking a label over the back that read "Gallaher Ltd."
And so to the description of this very interesting set (or sets). Let us start with the original World Tobacco Issues Index, where the entry reads :
COLONIAL TROOPS. (A). Sm. 67 x 38. Unnd. (30) See H.40. ... H22-3
Now at the date of publication, the H references were in the London Cigarette Card Company`s Handbook, and that text is mighty long. However, as I will be linking in and out I will type it in, or as much as I can at a time, though the list of the cards used by the various makers will be scanned and uploaded. The text is as it appears in the Handbook, except for the dates the set was issued, I have added them in for reference and so that you can see in which order the versions were issued.
H.40. COLONIAL TROOPS (adopted title). Fronts per Fig.40 in colour Unnumbered. Most issuers used Nos. 1-30 only, but a few issued the whole series of 50 subjects.
Pre 1919 -
- Anonymous - Plain back
A. Cream card - Nos 1-30
B. White card - Nos 1-50 [issued 1902]- Biggs - Nos. 1-30 [Jas. Biggs & Son - issued 1901]
- Brankston - All Nos. 1-30 [all issued 1901]
A. "Golf Club Mixture"
B. "Red Virginia"
C. "Sweet as the Rose" (back illustrated in C.W., page 273)- Charlesworth & Austin - Both Nos. 1-30 [issued 1901]
A. Black back
B. Brown back- Daniel - [W.R. Daniel - issued 1902]
A. Black back - Nos 13 and 16 seen
B. Brown back - Nos 10, 23, 24 and 27 seen- Drapkin & Millhoff - "Pick Me Up" Cigarettes, similar back advertisements to those listed under H.140. - Nos. 1-30 [issued 1902]
- Eldons - "Leon de Cuba" cigars - Nos. 1 and 12 seen [no idea who this is]
- Harris - Nos. 1-30 [Harris & Sons - issued 1901]
- Harvey & Davy - Nos. 1-30 [issued 1902]
- Hill - [all issued 1901]
A. (i) "Hill`s Leading Lines..." back - Nos. 1-30
(ii) "Perfection vide Dress..." back - Nos. 1-30
B. "Sweet American" back - Nos. 1-50- Mason - Nos. 1-30 [R. Mason & Co - issued 1902]
- Mouat - No.20 seen [P. Mouat & Co - issued 1902]
- Phillips - Nos. 1-50 [Godfrey Phillips - issued 1902]
- Redford - Nos. 1-30 [Redford & Co. - issued 1902]
- Roberts - [Roberts & Sons - all issued 1902]
A. "Fine Old Virginia" back - Nos. 1-30
B. "Bobs" Cigarettes" back - Nos. 31-50- J.L.S. Tobacco Co.- "Star of the World" Cigarettes - Nos. 1-30 [no idea who this is]
- Wholesale Tobacco Supply Syndicate - "Hawser" cigarettes - Nos. 1-30 [no idea who this is]
Trade :
- Clarke, Nicholls & Coombe - "Clarnico" - Nos. 1-30 [issued in 1900]
- Holloway Pills - Large cards. Nos 26 and 28 seen [issued in 1900]
- J Marshall - Titled "Our Soldiers". - Nos. 1-30 - [issued in 1900]
- Parazone Bleach - Nos. 1-30
There is one note to add to this, for the Holloway Pills version appears in our updated British Trade Index as "Indian and Colonial Series, 98 x 68. Unnd. (30)." They are larger because the card showing here appears in the middle of a large outer frame, the top of which reads, in three lines : "HOLLOWAY`S / INDIAN & COLONIAL / SERIES" and the bottom of which reads, in two lines "HOLLOWAY`S / PILLS & OINTMENT". If you cut the outer border off you would be left with what is our card, complete with the name of the Regiment. However on the reverse there is a descriptive text, the bottom part about the pills and ointments, but the top about the Regiment, that of our card reading as follows : "THE 45TH SIKHS. Of the many regiments of Sikhs, the 45th ("Rattray`s Sikhs", named after Quarter-master H.B. Rattray) is certainly one of the smartest of those hard fighting troops. They have on several occasions proved their indomitable pluck and endurance on behalf of the Empress-Queen. As a fighting force they are second to none, and though by comparison, small in stature, are exceptionally strong and wiry, The depot of the 45th is at Mooltan, and the regiment is commanded by British Officers and native "non-coms".
Then there is the table, which will be scanned asap. I will also tackle the updates from this handbook, because some new cards had come to light. Not sure how to do that yet. I do like the way that this table has turned out though, so as I work back through the system will be repeated
Wednesday, 15th January 2025
Today we are going to speak of the Catholic, or Roman Catholic faith, which forms the largest branch of Christianity. Oddly, the word comes from the Greek, "Katholikos", which means Universal, and it was first used in the second century.
Their head is The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, and he is both the Head of State, and the closest non Royal equivalent to the King, of the Vatican City, a separate city state inside Rome. The current Pope is the latest in a long line of others, of whom the first was Saint Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ.
Catholics are one of the most persecuted of all religions - back as far as the time of the Romans. In England, they suffered most during the reign of King Henry VIII. He had no son to take his throne, and asked the Catholic Church for the cancellation of his marriage so that he could marry another who may prove more fruitful. This was denied, and led to the King founding a whole new religion, the Church of England, in which he was allowed the divorce he sought. And to the dissolution of the monasteries all across the land. Mary I tried to bring Catholicism back during her brief reign, but it was swept away again when Elizabeth I took over. And during the reign of her successor, King James I, came the Gunpowder Plot, enacted by Catholics.
This set first appears in our original British Trade Index part II as :
FLAGS AND EMBLEMS. Sm. Nd. (25). See D.282. ... AME-4
and in our updated version as :
FLAGS AND EMBLEMS. 1964. Nd. (25). See HX-17. ... AMB-100
Returning, a bit, the "D" codes are in the handbook, at the back of our original British Trade Index part II, and they mean that the set was duplicated, issued by another maker. In this instance we are told that there were several - and the text reads :
D.282 FLAGS AND EMBLEMS. Nd. (25)
- Amaran Tea - Set AME-8
- Goodies Ltd - Set GOT-1
- A.S. Prior - Set PTO-4
- Anonymous, Letterpress back - Set ZB9-20
Now let us deal with those separately.
Goodies Ltd, of either Cherry Tree Road in Watford, (the address on the black backed version) or Bristol, were confectioners. Their version was issued before ours, in 1963, but there were two versions, for it was available with either a red or black back.
A. S. Prior, of Battersea in London, were actually a fish and chip shop. They have long gone. We do not know when this version of the set was issued. Amusingly, to me, anyway, they issued a set of ten cards of "Freshwater Fish" in the 1970s.
The anonymous version is just that, we have no idea who issued it. But I might find it one day, whilst looking for something else.
Thursday, 16th January 2025
Now I was struck, earlier in the week, by the mention of Assyrian as a religion, for I connected it with the early civilization, and thought it long vanished.
However I was wrong, for there is still a large population which counts itself Assyrian, both by descent and by choice. Most of them remain in the Middle East, and around the same area that the Assyrians knew as Mesopotamia - Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. And look at the word, Syria, which is only two letters removed from Assyria. They also continue to speak more or less the same languages, dating all the way from the third century, Aramaic and Syriac.
The early Assyrians worshipped one main god, Ashur. He started out as a minor deity in just one area, but spread steadily across Mesopotamia until he was the main god of all. His role was to make the sun come up every morning, and, when it did, his fame grew. He took many forms, usually featuring or using sun symbols. A measure of his fame was that at one time the Capital city was called Ashur, and there were several Kings who used Ashur as part of their royal name. And there is strong evidence to support the fact that Assyria was named after him too.
As well as him, there were also a vast variety of smaller gods, almost two and a half thousand, many of which had control over either one thing, or one region of Mesopotamia. Most of these were depicted as combinations of two things, often an animal with human parts, or vice versa, using the particular strength or quality of the animal concerned, a lion for strength, a bird for swiftness.
Strangely, the Assyrians were amongst the first major religions to accept, and convert to Christianity, though today there is a split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. However they still also continue to follow many of the ideas of their Syriac origins, and, in rural areas, the practise of worshipping several gods, especially the local ones, has not entirely disappeared
Again this set was issued in several languages - in Belgian and French as "Curieux Caracteres d'écriture", in German as "Eigentumliche Schriftzeichen", in Italian as "Curiosi Caratten di Scritura! and in Dutch as "Eigenaardige Schriifwiizen". You can get all but the Dutch version quite inexpensively and they turn up fairly readily at about £10 to £15 a set, however the Dutch one will set you back about £60 to £70.
The subjects of the set are :
- Arab Sheik writing on ivory
- Assyrian with clay tablets
- Chinese carving wooden letters
- Egyptian heiroglyphics
- Greek scribe with wax tablets
- Hindu sage with the Vedas
Friday, 17th January 2025
The last card of the week covers another large branch of Christianity, Judaism, and they believe that not only is there but one holy figure, he is so sacred that they should never speak of his name. In addition his writings, which appear in their holy book, are locked away most of the time, and when they are read, no human finger is allowed to touch them, they have to use a special pointer tool to trace the words with.
There are many similarities between the two religions, as is demonstrated by a comparison of their holy books. The Jewish faith calls their book the Tanakh, but the first five books, which they know as the Torah, are identical to the Christian Bible`s Old Testament. Both books also carry the words of the prophets, Joshua and Isaiah. However the Jewish scriptures end with different writings, and there are not just the ten commandments we know, there are over six hundred.
Another difference is that most of the Christian faith believe that their holy day is Sunday, whilst the Jewish faith consider theirs to run from the sunset on a Friday to the sunset on Saturday, and between those times is when they attend their Synagogue, or temple of religion.
The religion started in the Middle East, with a man called Abraham. He was a Hebrew, and he was told by this holy man to call his grandson Israel. This led to the Hebrews deciding, pretty much en masse, to rename themselves Israelites. They also decided that in future their religion would centre around obeying the holy scriptures to the letter, by way of thanking this holy man for looking after them.
This is a very similar set to the one above, and it was also issued in several countries, in Belgium, and France (as "Historique de l’Ecriture (Ecritur Phonetique), in Italy (as "Scriture Storiche"), and in the Netherlands (as "Geschiedenis der Schrijfkunst (Klankschriften)". However, in Germany, it tells a different tale, for their set, showing here today, is entitled "Zur Geschichte der Schrift II (Phonetische Schriften)", and that "II" shows us that there was an earlier set still entitled "Zur Geschichte der Schrift (Ideographische)"
The cards here, on phonetics, show
- Arabic
- Cyrillic
- Greek
- Hebrew
- Latin
- Sanskrit
Below each phrase in these languages comes a translation of that phrase into the language where that particular version of the set was issued, hence our card shows this in Hebrew and in German.
As far as the difference, phonetics, the subject of today`s set, is concerned with the way words sound, and the way they feel in your mouth as they are spoken. Whereas the other set, on ideographies, show the way symbols are used to represent an idea, soundlessly, conveyed not by words but by visualising what that symbol stands for.
The cards in that other set, on ideographies, are
- Assyrian-Babylonian cuneiform
- Chinese logographs
- Egyptian heiroglyphics
- North American Indian petroglyphs
- Peruvian guipos or knot writing
- Scandinavan runes
And so we close, for another week, half way through January already. Thanks for coming over, and having a read, and I do hope you were entertained, or at least diverted from any problems that you might have been having.
I know, or know of, a lot of our readers, and it is always great to hear from you. Some of you even send ideas for future events, which is grand, and others send scans of cards that I mentioned, whilst some even send corrections of ways in which I erred. All are really helpful, and useful, and they fill in little gaps in my knowledge - as well as everyone else`s.
These additions are added into the space in whichever newsletter they first appeared and, if especially noteworthy, to the banner on the front page, with a link to the card in question. I hope to do a lot more of this when I have lighter nights and mornings, and more time to type away.
Speaking of which, it is time for hot chocolate, maybe even a biscuit, and then I will join my canine companion in sleep. Might have to curl him up a bit though, for he has, again, filled most of the space on which I am attempting to squeeze beside him....
By the way, all the cards featured in today`s newsletter are now added to our gallery.