Almost the end of March now, and we are rapidly coming towards our 2025 Card Convention, which is the end of next month. We are also working on a dedicated page which will include what will be going on, and all manner of breaking news until the event takes place - plus a spot of roving reporting across the weekend.
So if you have any local card news, or would like to share what are you most hoping to find or what was your best ever find at one of our Conventions, please do.
And if you are stalling out with us, for which thank you, do please let us know of your specialities, plus anything amazing that you have been saving for this event.
The address, as always, is webmaster@card-world.co.uk - and this can be used for any corrections, or for general cartophilic correspondence and chat.
To this week, the newsletter came together quite well, with one exception, that you will read of later, but even that was sorted in the end.
And so allow us to introduce this week`s cast, which are - glorious glaciers, stormy seas, a dread disease, a monster moon, first fables, thrilling theatricals, and charitable chapeaux.
Lets start with ....
W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Beautiful New Zealand" (June 1928) 23/50 - W675-627 : W62-437 : W/149
Today is #WorldWaterDay, an annual event that began in 1993, after the idea was mooted at the United Nations General Assembly, in Rio de Janeiro, the year before.
In the first year it was simply general topics related to water and its supply, or lack thereof, but now there is a theme, and this year`s revolves around glacier preservation, something which is becoming increasingly necessary, for though they store almost three quarters of the World`s water supply, they are now melting, and melting fast, due to climate change. The immediate effect of this is to release more water which leads to flooding, and higher tides, but it also leads to drought later in the year, because the water that would have been released slowly with time has all gone in a rush.
This card is very apt, as it was an export issue, circulated in New Zealand, one of the places which is being more and more affected by global warming, with the glaciers becoming so much smaller, year on year, that it is forecast that many of them will be gone within ten years.
Our featured glacier, the Franz Josef, has also experienced a lot of melting and lost about three kilometres since the 1880s, which is a rather odd thing to say considering that eight hundred metres of that loss has occurred since 2008.
The set first appears in our Wills book part IV (or, more correctly, RB.16 – The Cigarette Card Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills Parts I, II, and III (revised) and Part IV), which was published in 1950. In there it appears as
149 BEAUTIFUL NEW ZEALAND. Fronts : Photoprints in black and white. Backs in black, with descriptive text. Issued in New Zealand between 1925-30.
Now it may have been issued in New Zealand but we know it was printed in Great Britain and shipped out there for distribution, because it appears in the Wills Works Magazine as having been printed in "June1928" - and that would not be there if the set had been printed in New Zealand.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index the set appears as part of the Wills listing under section 5, "Other Export Issues" and sub section 5.B, "English Language Issues, 1923-30. Issued chiefly in New Zealand, some series in Malaya, Malta, and elsewhere" as :
BEAUTIFUL NEW ZEALAND. Sm. Black and white photos. Nd. (50) ... W62-437
This is identical in our updated version, save a new code, of W675-627, and a slightly new location, sub section 6.B, in order to fit in issues that were produced in the 1980s with Embassy etc, and in the 1990s with Castella Cigars.
Peter JACKSON [tobacco : UK - London] "Coastwise" (1938) 7/28 - J110-150.A : J4-2.A
Today`s awareness day is connected to yesterday`s, oddly, for it is #WorldMeterologicalDay - and the weather affects the water in many ways, whipping up the tide, flooding the rivers, and also drying them completely out in the summer sun.
Like yesterday`s event this too has an annual theme and this year it is safety and well-being, which brings us neatly to the fishing fleet, for whom both of those things are entirely dependent on the weather, the wind and the rain making it hard for their boat to travel in the required direction, and, perhaps, even capsizing it. The fish they are seeking are often driven to waters further away, or the climate does not suit them and they no longer breed so readily, nor grow so fast. And so the poor fisherman is forced to take ever increasing risks, and not be so scrupulous over health and safety. Think of this, when you buy your fish ....
This set is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
COASTWISE. Nd. See Ha.564.2 ... J4-2
A. Small (28)
B. Medium (48)
This is only slightly different in our updated version, which reads :
COASTWISE. See Ha.564.2. A. Small (28) B. Medium (48) ... J110-150
Ha.564.2 leads us to the original handbook, which was published by the London Cigarette Card Company. But first, in their catalogue, for 1955, the set is listed as
Coastwise (1938) Ha.564.2 odds sets
A. Small size .... 6d. 25/-
B. Medium size 77 x 52 m/m ... 9d. 50/-
Now Ha.564 is the handbook, and it tells us that this set has other issuers too, the text in full reading :
GALLAHER GROUP. Four Photographic Series. Fronts glossy photographs in black and white. Four numbered series as follows :-
- 564.1 - Beautiful Scotland
- 564.2 - Coastwise
- 564.3 - Flying
- 564.4 - Our Countryside
Each series issued as follows :
- Gallaher - Medium Size, series of 48
- Illingworth - Medium Size, series of 48
- Peter Jackson -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48- Pattrieouex -
A. Small size, series of 28
B. Medium Size, series of 48, inscribed "SENIOR SERVICE CIGARETTES" without firm`s name. Captions in front in large or small letters
Now oddly, the Gallaher small sized version of this card is numbered differently, as our card is no. 7 and theirs is no.9. I have not yet checked the others. In the medium size, their card appears to be no.9 too, or at least the "Senior Service" branded one is.
Chocolaterie d`Aiguebelle [trade : chocolate : O/S - Drome, France] "Addictions"? (19??) 4/??
A rather macabre card now but I am delighted to be able to share it, as the scan of it was sent to me many moons ago by a reader. As to why, well today is #WorldTuberculosisDay - and though you may think this disease has long disappeared, sadly it has not, it is still on the list of causes of death, worldwide, coming in at number thirteen.
The reasons for this are many and varied, but mostly because in some countries, and not always the undeveloped ones, there is no vaccine programme in place, and also no way of detecting who has it until it is too late. The true disease, as always, is not the germ, but our unreadiness to fight it. And, once out of control, it is the great leveller, and leaps on the rich, and the poor, with equal gusto. But the rich do not think of this, until it is too late.
Now I do not know much about the card, not even the name of the set. It has a large heading on the back "L`Anti-Alcoolisme", which means the fight against alcoholism.
On the front it says "L`Alcoolisme est la cause de Multiples Maladies. L`Alcoolique echoue les miserablement sur un lit d`hopital en proie a la tuberculose". That translates to "Alcoholism is the cause of many diseases. The alcoholic ends up miserably on a hospital bed with tuberculosis".
In fact, though this seems to be scare-mongering, its true, because tuberculosis is a lung disease which is spread by bacteria, generally transmitted by coughing, spitting, and sneezing. Now if a healthy person comes in contact with this germ, their bodies can usually fight them off, but if your immune system has been damaged by drinking, or drug abuse, then it may no longer be able to do this, and the disease can get a better hold.
Recently we have seen a rise in the rate of something called latent, or sleeping tuberculosis, which means that the person has tuberculosis, and has had so for many years, without any knowledge thereof, but suddenly the bacteria wake up and not only affect their carrier, but can spread to other people too, including the people that they have lived with, or met at work, or play, for many years. The good news is that there is a simple blood or skin test, which is available from your doctor, you only have to ask. And there are also free treatments, which, if you discover early on, can greatly reduce the risk to yourself or others.
Echte WAGNER [trade : plant margarine ; O/S - Elmshorn, Germany] "Wunder des Himmels II" / "Wonder of the Heavens II" (1930s) Series 2, Picture 1
For today`s theme I am going to speak of this fine planet, which is in the sky every night, but, in the British Isles, is often too low in the night sky to be able to be seen.
It is a strange planet, and freezing cold, but most curious of all are its two hundred and seventy four moons, including the largest, the aptly named Titan, which was discovered today in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer, scientist, and physician.
Most of the cards, but not ours, seem to have more than one view on the front, and that is what the number means which is in the brackets. As we came across some cards from an earlier set, we have included those, but we will move them and link the two together when we use one of those. Finding them also made us realise that our set was not Serie II (or two) but Serie 11 (or eleven) as the earlier set is Serie 10. And if anyone knows the missing ones of Serie 10, do let us know, please.
So here is a list of both :
Serie 10
- Sternschnuppen (1)
- Schema Einer Sonnenfinsternis (1)
Serie 11
- Saturn (1 - our card)
- Jupiter und seine Monde (1)
- Milchstrasse und Dopplesterne (3)
- Sternhaufen (2)
- Sternnebel (2)
- Komet (1)
John PLAYER [tobacco : UK - Nottingham] "Fables of Aesop" (March 1927) V/XXV : P644-196 : P72-94 : P/84 [RB.17/84]
So far the days were straight forward - I found the themes quickly, and the cards were not so hard to acquire. This was the one that held me back. I started off with "National Skipping Day", which turned out to have been on March the 21st, then found it was Train-it Choose Day, an initiative by West Midlands Railway, where on a given Tuesday you pledge to take the train instead of your car. I did quite a lot of work on that - then suddenly noticed that today is a Wednesday, not a Tuesday....
After I deleted all I had written (and stopped crying) I found the fact that today in 1484 William Caxton printed his first copy of Aesop`s Fables, so here we are - despite the fact that I cannot find the actual day date in any place but one, and I am not too sure abut their veracity. Actually William Caxton`s book was not just Aesop`s Fables, it contained other fables too, of Avianus, Alfonse, and Poggio Bracciolini.
Now this is a very curious set, and very highbrow, to my way of thinking. It is also rather monotone, with black and white fronts, "From Engravings by W. Hollar, etc. MDCXLV" (which is 1665). In fact this is Wenceslaus Hollar, who produced fifty-seven full page engravings, and a plate of Aesop and his animals, for a version of Aesop`s Fables that was published in that year, 1665.
The text on the card is also written in an olde-worlde style, as can be seen from the fact that the tale depicted is what we call the Town Mouse and the County Mouse, but here is named, on the reverse, "of the Court Moufe & the Country Moufe". They even call it card "No. V" of "A Series of XXV" - which I have to say is all a bit pretentious.
The tale is actually a simple one, a bit like the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence, but meaning plain food in safety is way better than rich food but under duress. Or, as it says on this card "Better Plain Fare in Peace than Rich Living in Fear".
Cards 24/25 of the sets of "Aesop`s Fables" by Anstie and by Gallaher say it even better - as "Poverty with content is better than riches with fear" - and their mice are way cuter than the ones I cannot even see on our picture. In colour, too.
I thought this set would have been first listed in our original John Player reference book, RB.17, first published in 1950 - but it is not, it goes straight from "Aeroplanes" to "Aircraft of the Royal Air Force". However now I have entered the card I see it is actually entitled "Fables of Aesop", so it is there after all, just further along. It is described as :
84. FABLES OF AESOP. Large cards. From engravings by W. Hollar, etc. (1665). Fronts in black and white on cream. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Numbering in Roman numerals. Home issue, March 1927.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, they are listed as :
FABLES OF AESOP. Lg. Black and white on cream. Nd. (XXV) ... P72-94
In the 1955 London Cigarette Card Company catalogue, which was issued at the same time, the set appears as :
25 Fables of Aesop (Mar.1927) odds 1/- sets 30/-
And in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, they are listed as :
FABLES OF AESOP. Lg. Black and white on cream. Nd. in Roman numerals (25) ... P644-196
Guerin Boutron [trade : chocolate : O/S - Paris, France] "Le Theatre Travers Les Ages" / "Theatre Through the Ages" (1900) Un/72
This day held me back a bit too, but only because I could not read what I jotted down, and thought it said #WorldTractorDay. Then I could not find that, anywhere, so I looked it up again and found it was #WorldTheatreDay.
I find it odd that the word "theatre", actually means the building, and not the entertainment - they are plays, and were authored by playwrights. But somewhere along the line the name of the building became, also, the name of the show.
In the early days, when most of the people were illiterate, most of the action was mimed, using grand gestures which were easy to understand by all. We think that the first plays were performed in ancient Egypt, but we know that prehistoric man was able to weave a story together, for their cave paintings show almost a story board, the chase, and then the capture, of their dinner. In fact almost all cultures and at all times, entertained each other with stories, in their simplest forms, just to tell of what they had done, who they had met, and what they had captured. As they grew more developed, they wove tales abut gods and monsters. Nothing was written down, and so the tale slowly changed - and the monsters grew larger and ever more terrible. And so it is today.
The date I have added for this card is only a guess, it is the last one mentioned on the reverse as far as their most recent gold medal, awarded at the Exposition Universelle that ran from from April the 14th to November the 12th, 1900. Both the exhibitions mentioned here, in 1899 and 1900, were held in Paris. Whilst the next "World`s Fair" was the Pan-American Exposition, held in Buffalo, New York, from May the 1st to November the 2nd, 1901
This is one of those long sets, again, but tonight there will not be time for more than a cursory list, if that. And again it will be numbered, until I get them all, to stop me looking long after I have the lot but do not realise.
- Les Coulisses d`un Theatre Romain
- Le Theatre des Grandes Marionettes
- Le Theatre Enfantin
- Moliere et sa Troupe
- Une Pastorale au Theatre de Trianon
E. ROBINSON & Sons Ltd [tobacco : UK - Stockport] "Beauties" ROBRI (19) Un/10 - R551-100 : R48-1
And now we must put a lid on the week, in more ways than one, because today is #WearAHatDay. This sounds fun, but it has a purpose, for the idea is that you wear a hat and donate money to brain tumour research.
The first event took place in 2010, and since then almost two and a half million pounds has been raised. One of their earliest sponsors was Lock & Company, the hatters, who created a bright silk top hat in a shocking pink for them to use as their logo, a very kind gesture as this is one of the lesser known, and hence lesser funded, cancers.
We have not featured this maker before, and it too is one of the lesser known ones, which seems fitting. They first appear in our "Directory of British Issues" as :
E. ROBINSON & SONS LTD (Defunct)
Old address : St. Petersgate, Stockport.
Name carried on by Gallaher Ltd.
Founded 1860.
Acquired control Illingworth 1931. Acquired controlling interest Pattreiouex 1934, both finally linked to Gallaher Ltd.
[Brands] "Kemo", "Forget-Me-Not", "Songster", "King Lud", "Oriel", "Terra Cotta"
This card mentions another brand "Three Decker" Cigarettes, in packets of ten for threepence.
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes, it appears as :
BEAUTIES - ROBRI (A) Sm. 65 x 35. Unnd. (10). See H.374. Ten back advertisements, as below, probably multi-backed ... R48-1
A "Forget-Me-Not Mixture
B. "Gold Flake Honeydew"
C. Gold Leaf Navy Cut
D. "Jack`s Best" Tobacco
E. "Jack Tar" Navy Cut
F. "Man Friday" Mixture
G. Reliable Tobacco, etc
H. "Stockport" Snuff
I. "Thin Twist" & "Thick Twist"
J. "Three Decker" Cigarettes
The codes are different, though, and that is all, the original being R48-1 and the updated being R551-100.
Before I get to H.374, which is the London Cigarette Card Company Handbook, I will share that in their catalogue of the same year 1955, these are listed for retail as
10 Beauties "ROBRI" (1938) odds sets
12/6 to 40/- £20
Now, to H.374, and there is a picture of all ten cards, surrounded by the description and a list of the backs. Actually there are ten backs, so eventually we will be able to show them all, each with a different back - and have one as a home page for the entire group ! The listing is partially a repeat of the above, but as it deals with the other issuer, I have included it here
This week's Cards of the Day...
This week we are speaking of what we have long awaited, in our long darknesses of the night, and our waking to no light - and that is spring. For spring begins on March the 20th, 2025.
Actually the name of the season comes from the German, Springen, which does not mean anything at all to do with it, it means to leap in the air. However it seems to have been associated with the season because of the animals, the lambs, the hares, which do often cavort to celebrate the sunshine on their backs and the sheer joy of being alive.
So our clue cards this week were more to do with the meaning than the season, as a little extra teasing - and they were
Saturday, 15th March 2025
This man is a footballer, of course, but he is also a goalkeeper, and they are renowned for springing in the air to deflect the ball from the target behind them.
There is no truth in the rumour that goalies are any more athletic than the rest of the team - only that their senses need to be even more acute.
Our man today is George Jacob Tweedy, and he was born in January 1913.
He started his football career with his local team, Willington F.C., then moved to Grimsby Town in 1932. He never played for anyone else, though he did appear, just once, for England, in 1936.
I have not been able to find out anything about his war service, only that he was able to play with Grimsby Town until 1942, but was then sent off to war. This seems to suggest that he was a coal miner, or in some other reserved occupation, which deferred his service in the regular forces.
This set seems to have been a co-production between the newspaper and the football club, but they were not issued with the newspaper, they were given away with the match day programmes. I suppose what the paper got out of it was the advertising.
There is also a bit of a conspiracy theory with these cards, as they are numbered up to no.25, but most collectors say it not possible to make a complete set, two of the cards never having been issued. Some collectors say that they were not printed, but twenty three is not an easy number to print in a sheet. Others swear that they were printed but destroyed, so that everyone was after them.
The truth seems to be that the club played twenty three games in that season, and in each programme for those matches, a card was given away. However they also played two cup games, at which, or so collectors believe, the other two were also supposed to be given away in a similar style, but, for whatever reason, they were not. Maybe this is what gave rise to the thought that they were printed but destroyed, with that happening some time later when the un-issued cards were discovered.
They first appear at the back of our original British Trade Index part II, as :
SET ZJ9-18. TOWN STARS. Md. 80 x 53. Grimsby Town Footballers. Black, inscribed "By Courtesy of Gy. Evening Telegraph". Nd. (19?) ... ZJ9-18
The Grimsby link only arrives in our updated British Trade Index, where the set is plucked from its oblivion and listed under them in the main body, as :
GRIMSBY EVENING TELEGRAPH
Newspaper. Issued in the 1952-53 season
TOWN STARS. 80 x 53. Grimsby Town Footballers. B & W. Anonymous. Given with programmes during the season ... GRI-050
Sunday, 16th March 2025
You may not have immediately seen the connection here, but if you look at the picture you will see that the small boy has extracted of the springs from beneath the seat of the best sofa and is having of a wonderful time.
He was lucky though, for not all springs are of this coil shape, some are simply long, and others are the sort with a hook at each end like you get on a sun bed.
This small boy is Henry, a hairless child, mute, and sometimes even mouthless, who was the creation of the American Carl Anderson, and immortalised on five sets, each of fifty large sized cards, by J Wix, plus on postcards, using selected images from the first and second series.
They first appear in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, as :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See Ha.625. Special albums issued... W72-3
- "A Series of ..." Numbered
A. Large. Back "A Series of 50", adhesive
B. Extra-large. Back "A Series of 25"- "2nd Series of..." - Numbered.
A. Large. Back "2nd Series of 50", adhesive, inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large. Back "A 2nd Series of 25".- 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. No full stop after "Copyright Reserved"
- 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved"
- 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after "Copyright Reserved"
This is slightly altered in our modern World Tobacco Issues Index, to :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 (special albums issued) and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See H.625. ... W805-060
- "A Series of ..." Numbered
A. Large. Back "A Series of 50", adhesive
B. Extra-large. Back "A Series of 25"- "2nd Series of..." - Numbered.
A. Large. Back "2nd Series of 50", adhesive, inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large. Back "A 2nd Series of 25".- 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. Nothing after "Copyright Reserved"
- 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved" (except 1 card)
- 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after "Copyright Reserved"
In our modern British Tobacco Issues Handbook, they are listed as :
H.625. HENRY (titled series). Fronts in colour.
Post 1920 - J. Wix - Home issues. Five series, as follows :-
- 1st Series - Numbered.
A. Large size, inscribed "A Series of 50". Adhesive back.
B. Extra-large size. inscribed "A Series of 25". Non adhesive back.- 2nd Series - Numbered.
A. Large size, inscribed "2nd Series of 50". Adhesive back.
inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large size. inscribed "2nd Series of 25". Non adhesive back.
Last line of text (a) "...throat" (b) "...your throat"- 3rd Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. No full stop after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-1
- 4th Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front, except No.32, which has nothing. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-2
- 5th Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. With dash after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-3
Overseas :
American Tobacco Co. Medium size, Burdick T.78. Inscribed "Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes" without issuer`s name. U.S.A. 20th Century issue. 79 subjects are known, of which 25 are similar to Wix 1st, 9 to Wix 2nd, 17 to Wix 3rd, and 28 to Wix 4th. Unnumbered
A. Back inscribed "Tareyton`s finer quality ...
B. Back inscribed "A Cork tip" followed by
(a) "doesn`t get soggy"
(b) "doesn`t stick to the lips"
(c) "is always firm"
(d) prevents loose ends"
(e) "resists lipstick"Trade :
Just Henry International Boys Wear. British trade issue, post 1940. Large size. Numbered. Inscribed "Reproduced with the permission of J. Wix & Sons Ltd."
1. Inscribed "A series of 20 - 2nd edition". As Wix 1st Series Nos. 1-20 with sequence altered.
Monday, 17th March 2025
This card is another one which may have puzzled you, but this fine creature is a spring-bok, or a spring-buck, and they are renowned for springing in the air, with their backs arched and their feet held together, to a height of about ten feet, straight up in the air.
They also run pretty fast too, about fifty five miles an hour.
In our original reference book to the issues under the British American Tobacco Company this set is listed under Section XV "Other Issues in South Africa" as ;
394. OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Front in colour, Back in brown, in English and Afrikaans, with announcement that special album by the Warden of the Kruger National Park can be obtained; printers credit "C.T. Ltd." at base. Numbered series of 100. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back. Two sizes of card ;-
A. Small cards, size 68 x 43 m/m
B. Large cards, size 76 x 57 m/m. There were two printings of this size, with album announcement ending (1) "...from your tobacconist." (2) "...from your tobacconist, providing stocks are available."
The identity of "C.T. Ltd" is not known, though it is sometimes suggested that it stands for Cape Town. I think there is a clue on another set though, the United Tobacco Companies (South) issue of "Pastel Plates", which were published by Cape Times Ltd, a newspaper first published in 1876, as the first daily paper in Southern Africa, and which soon became the main paper there. I am not saying this set was issued with the paper, but perhaps it was produced by their printers.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists several similar sets at the back of the book, under "Anonymous issues, with letterpress on the back, without reference to tobacco", and also filing them under sub-section 3, for "Bi-lingual issues, English and Afrikaans". Out of the ten named issues, six cite the three names as appearing on the albums. The section starts by telling us that the cards were "Issued in S. Africa, through B.A.T., 1935-42", and catalogues our set as :
OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Nd. (100). See RB.21/394. Special album issued, inscribed with U.T.C., Westminster and Policansky Bros. names ... ZC1-6
A. Small, 68 x 43
B. Large, 76 x 57. Two printings, last words of album text (a) "...price from your tobacconist" (b) "from your tobacconist provided stocks are available. Possibly multi-backed.
In our updated version the listing is slightly different, namely :
OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Nd. (100). See RB.21/394. Special album issued, inscribed with U.T.C., Westminster and Policansky Bros. names ... ZC01-550
A. Sm. 68 x 43
B. Lg. 76 x 57. Two printings, last words of album text
(a) "...price 3d. from your tobacconist" (
(b) "from your tobacconist provided stocks are available"
The removal of the wording "Possibly multi-backed" seems to suggest that a complete set could be collected with each of the two different album text wordings
Tuesday, 18th March 2025
Especially nowadays, the lambing season runs for much longer, between November and May, however, it is still the case that most lambs are born in spring.
These are Kent, or Romney Marsh ewe lambs, and they won the first prize and championship at the Royal Agricultural Show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
They were shown there by J. Egerton Quested, who wrote a book in 1932 called "The Place and Management of Sheep in Modern Farming", in which he quotes "I have been farming and grazing in the south east corner of the County of Kent for forty years, and my flock consists of about 2500 pedigree Romney Marsh ewes. These ewes are all individually numbered and pedigrees have been kept since 1985, so that I can carry the pedigree of any sheep that I have bred since that date through thirty-six years..."
He died in 1943. And he is also famous for something else, as his son was John Bowley Quested, of the Royal Flying Corps, and Royal Air Force, who won the Military Cross and Croix de Guerre during the First World War, but sadly only survived his father for five years.
This set is first described in our original reference book to Gallaher issues, RB.4, published in 1944, as :
1924. 25. CHAMPION ANIMALS & BIRDS OF 1923 (titled series). Size 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" approx. Numbered 1-25. Fronts, printed in full colours with coloured borders, "Gallaher`s Cigarettes" and subject titles. Backs, printed in black, with descriptions and "Issued by Gallaher Ltd., Belfast & London". Printed by Norbury, Natzio & Co, Ltd., Manchester.
Varieties : cards exist with wrongly placed backs of "British Champions"
On which subject, cards of "British Champions [of 1923]" are also found with backs for "Champion Animals and Birds of 1923". Both sets were produced by the same printers, and this error seems to prove that both sets were produced at the same time.
This error is not carried forward to our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which just describes our set as :
CHAMPION ANIMALS & BIRDS OF 1923. Sm. Nd. (25) ... G12-46
And this text is repeated in our updated version, the only difference being a new card code, of G075-360
Wednesday, 19th March 2025
Here we have a hyacinth, one of the most fragrant of all flowers, and also available in many shades, mostly on the red spectrum, plus blue, and white. You may think of them as a Christmas flower, but their actual time to flower is about now, in spring; the Christmas ones having been grown under artificial conditions, making them believe that it is time to flower when it is not, a strange business involving keeping them in the dark and cold, mimicking the winter.
This picture may look a little blurry, but there is a reason, for it is not a card, it is a silk. The idea of these silks was for the recipient, usually a lady, to use them in their needlework, and sew them on to a cushion or other soft item. The back suggests "...Tea Cosies, Table Centres, Chair Backs, and a great variety of similar articles." This was accomplished by first removing the paper backing - and throwing it away, which is why so many silks have no backs.
Most of these silks show the floral beauty on a plain white background, but three, oddly, are coloured. Two of these are on a plain coloured square background which leaves white borders on each side, "Dorothy Rose" backed by blue and "Marguerite" by grey. However the third card, "Lily" is entirely different, having a background of lilies, almost obscuring a green background, and also having black marginal lines between the picture and the borders.
Now, in case you were wondering, yes this is the same "My Weekly" which is still going strong. though it was first published as a magazine in April 1910, and, before that, as a newspaper. However, this card says that it is "The Girl`s Favourite Paper", whereas today we know it as a woman`s magazine, which still retains an olde-world charm, and is nowhere near as sensational as many of the modern women`s magazines have become.
It was published by David Couper Thomson, who is better known by his initials, D.C. Thomson. However, our Trade Indexes file it under "M" for "My Weekly", and not under the publisher`s name. This is probably because only "My Weekly" appears on the silk - and maybe because few male collectors would have had a copy of that magazine to hand to look at and realise.
The set is first listed in our original British Trade Index with a numbered list, though the cards are not numbered. I have therefore replaced the numbers with a dot, but retained the same alphabetical order.
They are catalogued as :
FLORAL BEAUTIES. Sm. 70 x 46. See No.2 under D.21. Unnd. (12) MYW-1
- Carnation
- Dorothy Rose
- Geranium
- Hyacinth
- Iris
- Lilac
- Lily
- Marguerite
- Pansy
- Poppy
- Rose
- Violet
D.21 does not tell of another issuer, as you may suspect, it merely lists all the silk fronted issues, twenty-three of them, which were issued with a range of periodicals.
In our updated British Trade Index, the set appears only slightly differently, as :
FLORAL BEAUTIES. 1914. 70 x 46. Paper backed silks. Unnd. (12). See HM-82 ... MYW-020
HM-82 is the modern trade handbook and it lists the names of the silks, as above.
Thursday, 20th March 2025
Here we have one of the most awaited sights of all, and that is blossom, which first appears as buds, and bursts forth with the arrival of the spring. Cherry blossom is actually supposed to come out in April, but it is getting ever earlier as the climate changes. It is seen in private gardens, but is mainly used in parks and in residential streets, and each single bud makes half a dozen flowers, which then flutter to the floor and leave what will develop into the fruits, beginning in June or July.
This card is usually catalogued as "Cherry Blossom Soap". However that is a brand, and not a maker - though you would never know it from the card, for there is no other identification.
The maker was actually John Gosnell & Co. Ltd, and they have an amazingly complex story, which starts in 1688 with a man called John Price, at Three King Court in London. Now in 1790 it becomes John Price and Sons, but this is too long for it to be the same John Price, he would be a hundred and two by then if he started the company on the day that he was born, so we presume that the "John Price" is his son, or grandson, and the "sons" are his grandsons, or maybe great grandsons. Whomsoever they are, they are now trading, as perfumers, out of Leadenhall Street, still in London, and a few years later, in 1805/6 they move down the road, by quite some way, and change the name to T. Price & Co.
Then it gets a bit confusing as they take on some partners, but seem to be trading out of where they started, Three King Court, Lombard Street. However, this may be simply extracted from their advertising, which could well have cited that original address. The partners were Messrs. Tom Butts, William Patey, and William Froggatt, and they were joined, seven years later, by another man, John Gosnell. He seems not to have got along with Messrs. Butts and Froggatt, because in less than five years the company is listed as Patey, Price, and Gosnell, the Price, presumably, being one of the original founder`s descendants.
In 1818, Mr. Patey disappears, and that leave Messrs, Price and Gosnell, who seem to have gained quite a reputation for fine perfume, and also a Royal client, the Prince Regent, who would become George IV in 1820. Unfortunately the Royal Patronage only lasted ten years, as the King died in 1830. Two years after that, Mr. Gosnell died, and we are not sure what happened to Mr. Price, but the business was split up amongst the Gosnell family, so Mr.. Price must have already been departed, in one sense or another.
Despite this, the business did continue, as John Gosnell & Co. (Successors to Price and Gosnell), and they were still listed as perfumers and distillers, though the last word does not mean alcohol, it means fragrance, which was extracted from flowers. In the 1840s, they are again listed at Three King Court, as "Perfumers to the Queen". This is actually Queen Victoria, who took the throne in 1837 - King George IV and William IV both having died within ten years.
In the 1850s, the company had moved more into the beauty industry - they sold perfumes, soaps, hair brushes and combs - and they also had premises in Liverpool. And in the next decade they expanded overseas, with a shop in Paris. However in 1885 we know that the expansion must have had hit some kind of a problem, for the brush business was sold to another historic company, Kent`s, founded in I777.
The nun image seems to have begun in the 1880s as well, at first being used in newspaper and magazine advertising, then moving on to these little calendar book marks. The first nun book mark calendar that we know of, in black and white, has a calendar for 1889/1890, and the first one in colour comes along in 1894. There is another image they use during this time too, but it is not immediately apparent what it is - however it is a hot air balloon in the shape of a bottle of "Cherry Blossom" perfume, and these balloons were actually flown above the skies of Paris, as advertising. In fact several collectors think that these calendars were taken up to the skies in the balloon and then dropped out over the side of the basket for the crowds below to catch and keep as a souvenir.
We can date some of their cards because if they say the word, or abbreviation for "Limited", they have to be after that status was granted them in 1898. Also by now they were in Upper Thames Street, London, and they moved to Blackfriars Road at about the start of the First World War.
By 1933 the world had changed substantially, and the company was sold. Just at the start of the Second World War, we find this new scion moving down to Sussex where the company still remains.
As for "Cherry Blossom Soap", we know it was still going in the 1950s, but since then it seems to have disappeared - though if you look online you will see the name is used by other companies.
Friday, 21st March 2025
This card shows the heron, but is here because that particular bird, and many others, like the robin, dunnock, blue tit, and blackbird, all lay their eggs in spring. And here we have the eggs and the heron.
If you look at the top of the front, there is a curious pink strip - and this is there for one reason only, to take a name, some of the companies which issued this set reputedly preferring to have their name to the front and not to the rear. I think it may also have been sold to them a cheaper, as several of the cards which do have the name in that place are completely blank to the back, so they would only have paid to add that overprinted to the front, and not paid for another run through the printing machine to add text on the reverse.
The issuers we have found so far are :
- Arlatte & Co., Cambrai (coffee)
- Chocolat Lacroix, Torcoing (Chocolate)
- Tisane Cisbey, Paris (teas and medicaments)
- Hugon Freres et Cie, Paris (Chocolat Debauve & Gallais)
- Publications Alcide Picard, Paris (magazines)
As far as our product, Cisbey was the company name, and possibly the owners. Their laboratory was at 12, Boulevard Saint Martin, in Paris.
They issued quite a few cards, but mostly with just text on the back, ours is much more decorative. They seem to have specialised in medications for "La Constipation" (which means the same in all languages), and for "Maux de Reins et d`Estomac, Migraines, Boutons, Rougeurs, et tous Vices du Sang" (which translates as kidney and stomach pain, migraines, swellings, rashes, and blood disorders). La Tisane Cisbey was a tea, made of plants, and laxatives, stated to be refreshing and good for the blood, as well as, of course, to relieve constipation.
Now I would have thought this set quite distinctive, with the main card split into two sides and the large semi circle which contains the eggs - and yet I can only find one other - so if you have any do let us know, and I can make a list.
- Cygne Blanc, Cygne Noir - Canard Sauvage
- Heron - Outard
- Plongeur Dore ou Pingouin - Cormoran
And so another week is over, another page of the diary closed, and I must say my temporary adieux, to sleep, perchance to dream - words which were actually spoken by Hamlet, but authored by William Shakespeare.
I have to say that I much enjoy writing, but never know how to end. You may have noticed that. I am not sure if I do not know when to quit, or if I just do not like the thought of anything finishing. But everything ends, or there would be no wonderful new beginnings, and no chance to come back and rewrite the path down which you are rocketing.
And so, for this week, this is the end. I shall return, to start anew, with another newsletter, next week - and thank you, all of you, for tuning in and reading......
Time for bed, for us all.