On we "March" together. And hopefully happily, looking forward to a bright future. It may not entirely work out that way, but it is much better if we hope it will. Don`t you think?
This week I have done a bit more of the Magazine Archive story, and also added more Cards of the Day to the Index. These will continue to grow as I get time.
I have been on the fence about that index, stuck on A. & B.C Gum`s "Footballers" Scottish - Green back 2nd Series (1963-64), for our original British Trade Index part II says that the fronts of this set are a "Portrait or action picture with L/base corner "turned in", brown border 81 x 57", which clearly this is not, and that the Scottish players have a "Back in green, style of Back 4", which this is also not, back four being clearly shown on the picture in that volume as vertical rather than horizontal, with a coin rub quiz and a box with curving frames to the top and bottom lines. Our card is back 3 of those pictures, which is also the back given to the English version of this set. So I imagined that there was a small error, and both sets here ought to have said "Back 3". And though I have now spoken to a few collectors, who say that this description in the British Trade Index is nothing to do with our set, it relates to the 1964-65 A & B.C. "Footballers", this leaves me uncertain of what code to give this card so I may proceed.
Anyway, onwards to this coming week, and lets start with...
British American Tobacco [tobacco : O/S - Mauritius] "Corsaires et Boucaniers" (1961) 23/25 - B705-554
We start this week with a centenary, of the founding of Viking Press, in New York, today in 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer. This card not only shows the Vikings, but references he fact that the Press used a logo of a longboat just like the one on our card, but with a plain sail and sailing straight towards the right.
In the early 1930s they started to consider branching out into other genres. Their first one, under the imprint of Viking Junior Books, was a tale of a duck called Ping, who found himself lost on the Yangtze River, , written by Marjorie Flack and illustrated by Kurt Wiese, and it was published in 1933. Later on that group was renamed to Viking Children`s Books, and it also had a sibling, Viking Kestrel. Many of its books are still in print, but the company is now owned by Penguin, so these are published as Puffin Books.
In the mid 1940s there was some sort of trouble, involving John Steinbeck, and this seems to have soured the public against the company, much as people find themselves "cancelled" today. I cannot find a book, and feel their publication of "The Grapes of Wrath" in 1939 was just too early but I do wonder if it might not instead involve his 1946 memorial eulogy to Harry L. Hopkins, the Special Assistant to President Roosevelt, and considered by many to be the most important allied leader in World War II, despite the fact he actually had no official title, nor leadership role.
To our card - and at the moment the home page for the B.A.T. Domino issues is with our Card of the Day for February the 27th, 2022 but that may alter as I continue to add more cards. This lists all the issues already but not yet the links in and out to the pages where they were shown. However, eventually, those link pages will carry the entries for each particular set, as extracted from our reference books, and any New Issues reports etc.
I am continually refining how I do things, as I find better ways, so do please bear with me.
This set is catalogued in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index part I, as :
CORSAIRES ET BOUCANIERS (Pirates and Buccaneers). Sm. Nd. (25) ... B705-554
John Player & Sons [tobacco : UK - Nottingham] "International Air Liners" (November 1936) 40/50 - P644-672 : P72-220 : P/116.B
Our second centenary is a curious tale of how a crop-duster became a world airline, for today, March the 2nd, also in 1925, Huff Daland Dusters Inc. was founded.
The story actually starts before that, in 1920, when Ogdensburg Aeroway Corp was set up to manufacture aeroplanes. It was started by a group of men, Thomas Henri Huff, Elliot Daland, George G. Post and Harold Harris, who took the name of Ogdensburg for the area of New York in which they were based, but they quite quickly decided to change it to the names of the two main founders, becoming Huff-Daland Aero Corp.
One of their lines was the first aircraft that was specifically designed to spray fields with fertilisers and chemicals, rather than adapting a craft already in existence. They were not, as is often quoted, the first to so spray fields, that, amazingly, was done in New Zealand, in 1906, using a hot air balloon, and nor were they the first to do it with an aeroplane, that happened in America, in 1921, and it was developed by the U.S. Army, who threw a kind of arsenic over fields infested with caterpillars. And that is undoubtedly what ultimately led to the use of Agent Orange, etc.
Now I at first thought that the men saw the test and based their invention on it, but the test seems to have been rather hush hush. However, it turns out that one of the men involved with that test was a Lt. Harris, and he, as Harold Harris, was also part of our company.
So it was just three years later, in 1924, that the first flight of a Huff-Daland crop duster took place, the target being boll weevils on cotton, in the Macon, Georgia area. And the following year, on March the 2nd, 1925, that a new branch of their company, Huff-Daland Dusters, was formed.
They then moved to Louisiana, and to Pennsylvania, where they again changed their main name slightly, to Huff-Daland Aero Company. At this time their general manager seems to have bought the company, though he did not change the name until December 1928, to Delta Air Service. And yes, that is the Delta Airlines we know today
There is a home page to this set as our Card of the Day for April the 12th, 2023, where all the versions are displayed.
Ours is not the standard home issue, as revealed by its listing in our original reference book to John Player, RB.17 - which reads ;
116. 50. INTERNATIONAL AIR LINERS. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Special album issued.
- A. Home issue, adhesive backs. With Album clause ("price one penny") and I.T.C. clause. Issued November, 1936
- B. Channel Islands issue, adhesive backs. No Album or I.T.C. clauses. Issued November 1936]
- C. Irish issue, adhesive backs. With Album clause (no price stated) and I.T.C. clause. Issued July, 1937
- D. Overseas issue, non-adhesive backs. No album or I.T.C. Clause. Anonymous issue. issued May 1937.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index the sets are split asunder, so the above book is the only place you can see them all. Our version is in the John Player listings, but all alone, in section 3.C, for "Issues 1935-39. Chiefly in Channel Islands and Malta. Small size 67-68 x 35-36, large 79 x 62 m/m", where it is listed as :
INTERNATIONAL AIR LINERS. Sm. Nd. (50). See RB.17/116.B ... P72-220
This is more or less the same in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index except that because there were more modern John Player issues, they have moved to section 4.C, for "Issues 1935-39. Chiefly in Channel Islands and Malta. Small size 67-68 x 35-36 (All with adhesive backs, unless stated), large 79 x 62 m/m. All similar to GB issues", where it is listed as :
INTERNATIONAL AIR LINERS. Sm. Nd. (50). ... P644-672
R. & J. Hill [tobacco : UK - London] "Film Stars and Celebrity Dancers" (1935) 44/48 - H554-740 : H46-88
This one was the day that was the most awkward. It started off as a third centenary - the authorization of Mount Rushmore, but we have featured that impressive statuary before. Then I found out it was the start of the second Opium war in 1887, but the day date was sketchy to say the least. Thirdly I tried "Simplify Your Life Day", but I had no idea of what sort of card may sum that up.
However, and eventually, I discovered that it was the birth day of Edna Clara Best, so here she is.
She was born today in 1900, in Hove, which is near to Brighton, where she went to school. She studied drama, and began her career on the stage in 1917. This was a regional performance, on the South Coast, but she then moved to London, and, from 1921, became involved with motion pictures. She was sufficiently well known to be the leading lady and play the title role, Tilly Welwyn, in her first film, Tilly of Bloomsbury, adapted from a play by Ian Hay.
At about this time, though there is, oddly, no record of the date, she married William Seymour Beard. Then there are conflicting stories. The only thing we know for sure is that he divorced her, in 1928, citing her "misconduct .. with Mr. Marshall". Her husband was also given custody of their twins.
Now Mr. Marshall was also divorced, by his wife, Hilda Lloyd Bosley, also known as Mollie Maitland, for much the same reason, in the same session of court. But the inclusion of her name tells us that he was actually the actor, Herbert Marshall. In fact also in that same session of court, seemingly adding insult to injury, he married Edna Best.
His liaison with her actually began on the stage, and not in a film, as is often quoted, and we can prove that because their first film appearance together was not until 1931, three years after they were wed, this being a romantic drama about racing life called "The Calendar", which had formerly been a play, in 1929.
She made many films, not just with her husband, but took time off to have a daughter in 1933. Soon after that she was cast as "mother" in Alfred Hitchcock`s "The Man Who Knew Too Much", and moved into the new medium of television.
She was divorced from Herbert Marshall in 1940, giving the reason that he now lived in Hollywood and she was based in London, and she married Nat Wolff shortly after, staying with him until his death in 1959 and not remarrying. Herbert Marshall also married in 1940, to Lee Russell, the sister of Rosalind Russell, whom he had another daughter with, but divorced in 1947. After that he married twice more, the last in 1960, just six years before he died.
She died in Geneva, Switzerland in 1974.
Our version first appears in our original reference book to the cards of R. & J. Hill, RB.2, published in 1942, as :
1935. 48. FILM STARS AND CELEBRITY DANCERS. (titled series). Size 2 5/16" x 1/2". Numbered 1-48. Fronts, printed in two colour letterpress, from half-tone blocks. White margins and title in margins; varnished to give a glossy appearance. Backs, printed in grey black with descriptions and "Issued by the Spinet House ..." (See Henry Archer & Co.). Printed by W. Oliver, London.
It next appears, with less wording, in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, as :
FILM STARS AND CELEBRITY DANCERS. Sm. 64 x 39. Nd. (48) ... H46-88
This is slightly altered in our updated version, to :
FILM STARS AND CELEBRITY DANCERS. Shades of brown and white. Sm. 64 x 39. Nd. (48) ... H554-740
Oddly, neither of these listings cross reference to any other sets, but we know that it was issued by others, including "Eminent Stage & Screen Personalities" a black and white set issued by The Premier Manufacturers Ltd. Even more curiously, if you look at the Premier listing in the same books, both actually cite Ha.569, which is the Handbook. I will follow that link when I have more time.
Chocolat Poulain [trade : chocolate : O.S - France] "Connaissance des Grands Musiciens" / "Knowledge of the Great Musicians" - Series No. 17 (1974) 5/24
No problems with finding a subject for this date, only in finding the card, and I had help with that from a reader, for which, many thanks.
So today we celebrate Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, born today, the 4th of March, in 1678, at Venice. And until I started writing this I knew only one of those things, his surname. In fact few people today know of him at all, though in his day he was known right across Europe, and without him, many of the developments in music would never have occurred. Odd too, that he was going to be a priest, not a musician, and was actually ordained at the age of twenty-five, but his health meant that he could not deliver public masses, and so he decided to console himself with his former love of music. It seems that this may have been some form of asthma.
His instrument of choice was also his father`s speciality, the violin, with which he was most skilled, and for which he wrote many concertos, showing off its characteristic tones to their best advantage. The best known of these is "The Four Seasons", written between 1718 and 1720, and published in 1725.
In September 1703, he took a job as violin master at a home and hospital for abandoned children in Venice. During his time there he wrote many works for them to perform, and also he either encouraged or formed an all female orchestra, quite a novelty at that time. He worked there for thirty years, save a brief spell in 1709, when he seems to have fallen out of favour with the management more than usual, and left. However they called him back and made him pretty much the head of all music at the school.
Towards the end of his time there he started to travel, but still worked with them, even after he moved to Vienna. The reasons for that move were rather foolish, for he hoped that being closer to Emperor Charles VI would afford him Royal Patronage. However the Emperor died in 1740, and was succeeded by Maria Theresa, an unpopular choice with many, and in fact the cause of the the War of Austrian Succession. This left Vivaldi with nothing, and he soon fell into poverty, dying some time in the night of the 27th of July 1741, aged just sixty-three. He was buried the next day, in a simple grave in a cemetery which ceased to exist in 1807.
This is a very different type of Chocolat Poulain card than those we have featured before, and much later. Every set starts with the word "Connaissance....", which some collectors say is "knowledge of", but I would say could possibly be "Do You Know". In the list below I have only listed what follows that word, first in French, as appears on the cards, and then a translation. And it seems that each set was of twenty-four cards, numbered from 1 to 24. As the sets are issued, gradually the backs change, cards from sets 1 to 6 listing only themselves, as do sets 7-12, 13-18, 19-24
- ...des Mammiferes (Mammals)
- ...des Oiseaux (Birds)
- ...du Chemin de Fer (Railways)
- ...des Mineraux (Minerals)
- ...de l`automobile (Cars)
- ...du Cycle et de la Moto (Cycles and Motor Cycles)
- ...des Champignons (Mushrooms)
- ...des Fleurs (Wild Flowers)
- ...de l`Aviation (Aviation)
- ...de la Marine (The Navy)
- ...des Poissons (Fish)
- ...du Chocolat (Chocolate)
- ...des Papillons du Jour (Butterflies)
- ...des Fruites Sauvage (Wild Fruits)
- ...des Engins Interplanetaires (Space Craft)
- ...des Monuments du France (French Monuments)
- ...des Grandes Musiciens (Great Musicians)
- ...de la Photographie (Photography)
- ...des Arbres et nus Forets (Trees)
- ...de la Mer et sa Faune, Cotes Francaise (the sea and its animals, French Coasts)
- ...de la Peinture Francaise (French Painters)
- ...de la Sculpture Francaise (French Sculptors)
- ...des Jeux Olympiques (The Olympic Games)
- ...des Grandes Capitales Europeennes (European Capital Cities)
That will do for now, but they seem to have gone up to Series 46, "Great Discoveries". And if anyone can supply the years of the sets that would be useful.
By the way the name "Roger Viollet" on our card is not the artist, it is a photo agency, founded in 1938, which supplied the picture.
A & M Wix [tobacco : UK] “The Age of Power and Wonder”, Max brand (1935) 171/250 - W800-20 : W70-4
Not certain that this card is perfect, but never mind, for it is a camera of sorts, and those are definitely reels, and today is #ReelFilmDay, when we celebrate actual film, especially that shot on 35 m/m film, rather than the modern digital movies which are made by computer.
The day is a relatively new one, and only started in 2017. One of the big supporters for and of the event is Kodak, but they quickly teamed up with Alamo Drafthouse, a kind of Indie Cinema, which seems to be preserving its individuality and ethics despite being bought by Sony in 2024. They set to programming a selection of classic films which were on reels; and the idea was so popular that it spread to other cinema chains too, maybe even one near you, so do check.
This card is from a curious set, which was issued with some large sized cards and some of these standard sized one. We feature one of the larger format ones as our Card of the Day for May the 17th, 2022, where you will find all the details from our reference books. There was a reason for the two sizes, for they were to go in a hard back album, resembling a book, and it was thought that the differing sizes would make it look even more like a book and less like stuck in cards.
Today we call this science, of making a film through a microscope, cinemicrography, and because of the size of the things which are being filmed it is more or less done entirely digital. This card cites the name of Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch, but he was not a cinematographer, he was a German microbiologist, considered to be one of the founders of bacteriology, and whose work helped to combat such diseases as tuberculosis and anthrax. And this is still the kind of work that these films do, they show the movement of cells and bacteria when the film is speeded up, and chemical reactions when slowed down, both helping to save lives.
Stollwerck [trade : chocolate : O/S - Germany] "Italienische Kunstler" / "Italian Artists" (1899) Album 3, Group 99, picture 2
Now today we have an anniversary, but slightly longer than a centenary, actually five and a half centenaries ago, for the artist and sculptor Michelangelo was born, today, March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy - which is now called Caprese Michelangelo.
His full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, and this card seems to be based on a painting of him by Daniele da Volterra, though that work is unfinished as far as his body, and it seems the yellow chains have been added for effect.
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In his lifetime, which was extraordinarily lengthy for the time, he was an artist at almost every field, architecture, drawing, painting, poetry, sculpting and sketching. He started early, and was still working almost to his death at the age of eighty-eight.
His father was a banker, in Florence, but the bank failed, and so he moved to Caprese. This did not last for long and they returned to Florence, where his mother died. Michelangelo was just six at the time, so he had to have a nanny, whose husband was a stone cutter, something he says inspired his love of sculpture, but also seems to suggest that he was farmed out to the nanny, even if only for the daytime.
He was then sent away to school, which did not fill him with enthusiasm, and he would often abscond and be found staring at paintings and watching artists at work. One of his favourite haunts was the Sistine Chapel, undergoing its first stage of decoration, and where a man called Domenico Ghirlandaio was busily working. Somehow he agreed to take Michelangelo on as an apprentice, when the boy was just thirteen, and he became a waged apprentice the following year, which was almost unheard of.
In 1508, Michelangelo would return to the Sistine Chapel, and paint the ceiling. It took him about four years, during which he almost certainly remembered marvelling at the artists there when he was but a child.
He never married, and had no children, but he had many close friendships, including one quite late in life with a widow, with whom he exchanged much poetry but it seems nothing more.
He died in Rome, in February 1564, with a statue still unfinished, aged eighty-eight, and was buried in Florence, which was his wish.
Fosters [trade : alcohol : O/S - Australia] "Sporting Greats" (1994) 10/30
And to close out our week, we have Ivan Lendl, who was born today, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1960, where his parents were both tennis professionals. Naturally he played too, from a very early age, and in 1978, he won the boys' singles titles at Wimbledon, as well as at the French Open.
In his career he won ninety-four singles titles and he played internationally for Czechoslovakia. In 1987, he applied to live permanently in America, hoping to be allowed to represent them at the 1988 Olympics, but his former country refused to send the paperwork, and he had to wait the usual five years before he could become a US Citizen.
He married in September 1989, and now has five daughters, all sporting, but not in the tennis arena.
Today he no longer plays tennis, owing to a back injury, but he does still coach.
This set contains mixed sports, Soccer (cards 1-6), Tennis (7-12), Rugby Union (13-18), Golf (19-24), and Cricket (25-30).
There was also a promotional card, showing a silhouette of a cricketer, and called "The Winning Six", which entitled anyone who found it to two tickets for England vs Pakistan at the Fosters Oval. This seems to suggest that the cards were issued in closed packets but I have not been able to find any to prove that.
This week's Cards of the Day...
...have been exploring National Athletic Training Month, which starts today, on March the 1st, and gives us a chance to celebrate the often unsung heroes behind the heroes, their trainers and coaches.
The sportsman might come with the raw talent, but it is their trainer who encourages this, and finds the various means by which it can be enhanced.
Saturday, 22nd February 2025
This card supplies the main theme word of "Athletic", from Oldham Athletic Association Football Club. They began in 1895, as Pine Villa Football Club. However, in 1899, when Oldham County disbanded, Pine Villa not only moved into their stadium at Boundary Park, but changed their name to Oldham Athletic. They joined the Football League in 1907, and, at the time of this card, in 1914, were in the First Division.
Our man, George Woodger, was born in Croydon in September 1883. He started out with several clubs in his home town, including Thornton Heath Wednesday, from where he was signed by Crystal Palace in 1905. You can actually see him in that strip as our Card of the Day for the 13th of November, 2021
Now many sources will tell you that whilst with them, he played in the 1907 F.A. Cup against Newcastle United. However this makes it sound like it was the F.A. Cup Final, and it was not, it was a first round match, played on the 12th of January at St. James` Park, Newcastle. However it is well worth a mention, as Newcastle were a First Division team, and Cup Final contenders for the last two years - whilst this version of Crystal Palace F.C. was a Southern League side, only formed in September 1905. Another notable thing about this match was that Crystal Palace won, 1-0.
There had been another Crystal Palace Football Club, an offshoot of the Crystal Palace Cricket Club, which started in 1861 and was one of the original founder members of the Football Association in 1863.
This card shows Mr. Woodger as a player for Oldham Athletic, which he joined in September 1910. His transfer fee was quite a big one, but records do not agree as to whether it was £650 or £750. On the reverse of this card it mentions the curious term "Ta Latics", and this is a Northern nickname for two clubs, our Oldham Athletuic A.F.C., and Wigan Athletic F.C.
Whilst he was with them he was called up for the England squad. The match was played on the 11th of February, 1911, against Ireland, and England won two nil. The match was held on neutral ground, the Baseball Ground, in Derby, later the home of Derby County F.C.
In May 1914 he was actually signed up by Tottenham Hotspur, but it seems like he did not play before the First World War broke out. It is also said that he "retired" from football during that time, but after it he is recorded as a manual worker, a plumber, and a metal worker. And I have not yet been able to find any war service.
This is part of a group of cards, described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
FOOTBALLERS. Sm. Nd. ... S84-9
- Size 63 x 36. Brown to dark brown, almost black. Back in brown, without series title, inscribed "Smith`s Cup Tie Cigarettes ... In Packets of 10". (120)
- Size 65-66 x 35-37. Brown to dark brown, almost black. Back in blue, without series title, headed "Smith`s Cup Tie Cigarettes".
(i) Nos. 1/52, excluding 1 and 13 (50). Base of back "10 for 2 1/2d".
(ii) Nos. 53/104, excluding 53 and 54 (50). Base of back "In packets of 10".- Size 67 x 35. Dark brown, yellow framelines and caption. Back in blue, with series title. (150). Vari-backed, 8 wordings - see C.C.N, Vol.21, page 67
The top two groups are identically described in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but our group is different, reading
3. Size 67 x 35. Dark brown, yellow framelines and caption. Back in (a) light (b) dark blue - many different type settings, with series title. (150). Vari-backed, 8 wordings.
Sunday, 23rd February 2025
This card shows the original "Marathon", which was later converted into a race for the Olympic Games of 1896. It is also one of the few sporting events which are possible for anyone to take part in, given training and support
There has already been lots more information coming in about this card, not least the fact that we have been able to establish that the "Phoscao" who we originally cited as the issuer, is actually a brand, belonging to A. Dardanne et Fils (or Messrs. A. Dardanne and Sons) and they actually said on their advertising that they were "Docteurs et Pharmacis".
Their tins show that they were based at 12 Rue de la Tour-des-Dames, and then (or maybe also) at 1 Rue Francoise - both of these being in Paris
Phoscao is actually a kind of chocolate powder, though it was sold as being a restorative remedy for all kinds of complaints and maladies. The name is also used in Haiti, for a drink made from corn, which is naturally sweet, and cocoa - and it comes from the area of Les Cayes. Now Haiti was a French colony, and it is probable that Haitians would have relocated to Paris, which leads to suspicions that Messrs. Dardanne may have come across the drink, rather than invented it, and slightly altered the name, or maybe only heard it.
Now this set is one of those which often turns up with a large blank section on the reverse, and this is because it was toted round by a printer`s rep, and offered to many companies. There are also two versions by Phoscao - ours, and one which says at the bottom "Phoscao-Bebe Aliment Ideal des Enfants". Therefore it was also issued by many makers - and so far we know of :
- Bon Point
- Chocolat Poulain
- Maison H. Turlure
- Phoscao
- Ville de Lyon
Monday, 24th February 2025
And here we have the reason for our theme, the coach, which is another word for trainer, but here refers to the mode of transport which would have stopped at this inn at times gone by.
Oddly the actual meaning of a coach house was an outbuilding to a landed estate where the coaches, and sometimes the horses, were kept dry and protected from theft, and where the tools to mend them and clean them were also stored. It is actually the eighteenth century equivalent of a garage, if you think about it.
What we have here is actually a coaching inn, a rest stop, with refreshments and sometimes even lodgings, that sprang up along roads that were regularly used by stage-coaches, a name which also refers to the fact that long journeys were in stages, and at the end of each stage was a place to stop and rest a while, usually every ten to eleven miles.
Moreover, they also work off the same definition as above, because one of their functions was to provide spare horses, and tools, if required, out of a coach-house which was attached to the premises.
I cannot find out if this building is still in existence. There is an Old Coach House which is now converted into student apartments but that is in Old Coach Road and this one is in East Bay. Maybe someone reading this can tell us whether it is still there?
Whilst researching this a strange fact turned up, and this is that this image is actually also used on a picture postcard dating from the 1930s - look at the signs, and the wooden fence, and the white long building further into the frame. In fact it is on all manner of picture postcards, but that does beg the question were these designs taken directly from postcards, and was the artist a collector thereof.
This set appears in our original British Trade Index Part II, as :
HISTORIC EAST ANGLIA. Sm Nd. (25) ... LAM-8
The exact same text appears in our updated version, with only a new code, of LAM-160
Tuesday, 25th February 2025
Here we have a vital part of athletic, and all sports training, for diet plays a very important part in health and strength. Indeed, whilst no food is inherently bad, too much or too little of any substance can affect performance and health.
Most polls and articles that I read whilst researching this seem to say that the very best food for athletes is salmon, so that is what we have on this card.
There are differences between whether your salmon is farmed or wild, the latter being higher in protein, and the former being engineered for additional fat content. All have over a hundred per cent of the vitamin B.12 that a human needs every day to make red blood cells, and over fifty per cent of the vitamins Niacin, which is pretty much pure energy, and Selenium which is an anti oxidant and helps the immune system to function properly.
The cards in this, the second set, are :
- Bleak
- Crayfish
- Gudgeon
- Herring
- Salmon
- Shrimp
The first set was issued in 1891, and it is classified as F.0278 or S.0280. It is easy to tell from this set we feature today because it is a full card plate, there is no inset of fish. The cards there show the crayfish, mackerel, salt cod, sardine, swordfish, and whale
Wednesday, 26th February 2025
I suppose this card stands for both power and strength, things everyone competing in sport must have in some way, though different - for the power and strength of a wrestler or weightlifter is a different kind to an athlete, and their foods different too, the former for bulk and the latter for speed.
This is a very unusual set, and it records the golden age of British wrestling, so famous that it was televised.
The card that seems to be the one everyone wants is number 45, of Mick McManus, also known as "The Man You Love to Hate", "The Dulwich Destroyer", and sometimes his birth name, William George Matthews.
I have gone instead for this really super example of physique, belonging to a man who appears on the card as Josef Moschi Molnar. As far as I have been able to discover this is inaccurate - firstly he only ever used one forename at a time, either Jozsef (which was probably his birth name spelling), Josef (the anglicised version), or Joschi (which could be a nickname). The "Moschi" on this card definitely seems to be an error, a mis-spelling of "Moschi" instead of "Joschi".
In fact the card tells us much more than I have been able to find elsewhere, and I can only add that he was a great all rounder, equally adept at man on man or in a tag team - that his height was 5`6" - his weight approximately 240 lbs - and that he died in June 2019.
There are not too many sets that feature wrestling, but the most easy to acquire are the two sets by Ogden`s called "Pugilists and Wrestlers" issued in 1980 and 1909. One card which has always appealed to me is number 8 from the first series, showing Gunner James Moir with a floral tattoo right round the area below his neck.
Then there is that curious "set" of two cards issued in 1910 by Taddy, showing wrestlers Buttan Singh and Frank Crozier - however it is not so curious when you learn that the two are actually connected, for in 1910 Frank Crozier failed to hold on to his wrestling middleweight champion of the world title, being defeated in the semi finals by Buttan Singh.The title went to the German wrestler Fritz Altroggen, with fellow German H. Bauer second and Dutchman J. Gelot third.
This set is rather scantly described in our original British Trade Index part two as :
FAMOUS T.V. WRESTLERS. Md. 82 x 38. Black. Nd. (60) ... SOP-2
In our updated version it is slightly different, reading
FAMOUS T.V. WRESTLERS. 1964. Black. Nd. (60) ... SOM-50
Thursday, 27th February 2025
A fun little set, rather reminiscent of Wills` "Physical Culture", (issued in 1914), even to the extent of showing the dotted lines where the body parts move to. However this shows a much younger person, adding to its cuteness.
Of course exercises before sports are vital and every good coach knows not just how to make them fun, but which ones are the most beneficial for the event which is about to take place. Also they are on hand to guard that their client does not over stretch, or damage themselves in any other way.
I am intrigued by this set for many reasons. The first is that "Bee`s Polish" sounds like a brand and not an issuer, and the second is that those words are English, whilst the rest of the wording is in French - the French for the action of polishing, or waxing is "cirer". Whilst the French are associated with polish, hence "French Polishing", the application of beeswax to furniture was not their invention, it dates way back to ancient Egypt. And it is thought that it spread to France through Italy, though the Italians used plant oils for their polish, not beeswax.
In this case, "chaussures" are shoes, and not furniture. Beeswax is quite expensive for just putting on shoes, but it is very good for them, especially real leather shoes, which respond well to a nourishing polish. Also the polish acts as a waterproofer, and restores the colour in many cases, though not to deep scratches.
There seems to be some kind of link between Bee`s Polish and the Societe Generale des Cires Francaises, in as much as I have just seen a card with the latter, long name on the front and a text advertisement for Bee`s Polish on the reverse. That company is also French, from Montlucon, and it was founded in 1872, however the only brand that seems linked to it is "Diamantine", another polish. Of course the company name translates to the General Society of French Polishes, so it stands to reason there was more than one polish under their wing. It started out making candles, and the polish was a by product, presumably from beeswax candles that went wrong, and so were melted down and made into their early polishes.
That link will be investigated further when I have more time
Friday, 28th February 2025
I was sent this scan by a reader, and it is actually quite a scarce set, so many thanks. And it has led me to a quite fascinating discovery, that being that not only is this position, touching your toes, much harder to achieve than was always thought (indeed many athletes cannot do it), but it is no longer a test which demonstrates someone`s physical fitness, and in fact, being unable to perform it is an advantage for runners.
As you can see, this man is bending forward and touching his toes. This was long thought to show that you were flexible in the important regions of the lower back, hamstrings, and calves, and it was also used as a warm up to stretch those parts still further. And it would be attempted beyond the point of pain.
Yet today we know that having loose hamstrings is not good for an athlete, stiffer muscles and connective tissue have more elasticity so spring back faster, without bouncing about, and wasting energy. And the moments of looseness can not only affect balance and steadiness, but can cause injury.
This set first appears, and has its longest description, in our reference book to the issues of the British American Tobacco Company, RB.21, published in 1952, as :
374. EXERCISES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. Large cards, size 71 x 58 m/m Front in colour. Back in greyish black, with details of exercise, Numbered series of 50, Nos 1-25 covering the exercises for men, second batch covering exercises for women also numbered 1-25 and distinguishable from the first batch only from the different pictures and letterpress. U.T.C. issue.
This is converted for our World Tobacco Issues Index, published in 1956, to :
EXERCISES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. Lg. 76 x 58. Nd. 1/25 each for Men and for Women. (50). See RB.21/374 ...U14-18
I have checked several times and the dimensions do differ in each book. And though our updated World Tobacco Issues Index lists the set as appears below, it is not known whether this was just copied from the original work without cross checking with the cards :
EXERCISES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. Lg. 76 x 58. Nd. 1/25 each for Men and for Women. (50). See RB.21/374 ...U560-430
And there I must close, time has beat me again.
This time I am trialling my former system, where the cards for the diary dates are slightly smaller, so do let us know what you think - the email address is webmaster@card-world.co.uk