Good evening, dear readers, and welcome to another newsletter. This week I have found it quite hard to concentrate on anything, but by the end of the week I rallied and managed to pull the threads together.
I mentioned, in a previous newsletter, that I was having to rest, after surgery, and not being allowed to do anything strenuous, so sitting and tapping away at the newsletter fit the bill rather well. The surgery was for cancer, on the skin of my back, but I have good news, as this week I was told that the operation had removed it all, and there was no need for treatment. I never knew that it was possible to go into a sense of suspended animation for a happiness related shock, but I have definitely found it hard to get back into the swing of things. All I wanted to do for the first couple of days was cuddle nipper, now that we would not be parted.
I am still not allowed to do too much, I have a long scar and the surgery must heal. But I look forward, very much, to coming along to the Card Convention, and catching up with you all. So do please nip over if you see me tapping away, and say hello.
Ogden`s Ltd [tobacco : UK - Liverpool] "Animals - cut outs" (1913) O100-850.A : O/2-231.A : RB.21/200-37.D : O/17.B [RB.15/17.B]
Today is World Hamster Day, and I am glad of it, for this date has proved most troublesome, many dates I grasped at gladly being not to be correctly recorded, and others of which I found that cards were non existent.
Hamsters, however, come in many different forms, twenty four separate species, and all manner of sizes, up to nearly fourteen inches long. Their name comes from the German word "hamstern", which means to hoard away, like they do, in their cheeks, with their food. The ones we know best are the small ones which are kept as pets, or, sadly, used in laboratories, as they share many characteristics of rats.
As to why this day was chosen, today in 1930 saw the start of an expedition to look for them, led by a zoologist called Israel Aharoni. He wanted them for medical purposes too, to research a type of ulcer which was spread by parasites. Hamsters were already known, and used, but those came from China, and they were difficult to successfully breed. Mr. Aharoni, as a zoologist, knew that in the nineteenth century there had been some living wild in Syria, and so off he went, and he did find a small group, which he captured. Only four of those survived, but luckily they were a mixed litter and they proved keen to breed.
We do not really know how they became pets, some say that a few made a break from a laboratory and were found by someone who thought they were cute and would make good companions, but others say that there was a sudden glut of pups and they were sold to a pet shop for ready cash.
As this set was issued in 1913 the hamster here may not be a Syrian hamster, it is possibly a Chinese one. That means that the only two cards I know of which feature the Syrian, or Golden hamster are card 16 of Horniman Tea`s "Pets" (1960), and card 36 of Harden Bros & Lindsay`s "National Pets" (1961)
We have featured this set before, and it has several permutations. The home page is our Card of the Day for the 19th of September, 2022, which is actually the very scarce Millbank branded, Canadian issue; anyway if you click that link you will find the complete listing of all the issuers and also, one day, of all the animals which appear on all the cards, with their differences.
I will admit that I have much enhanced the back, as these cards can be fiendishly light. But it will help all the better in your identification. When I did make it darker and greener I was rather delighted to see that there is a mouthpiece, tucked in between the cardboard of the box and the protective wrapping of the cigarettes, just in the corner above the "O" of Ogdens.
This set is described in our original reference book to Ogdens Issues (RB.15, issued in 1949) as :
17. ANIMALS - "cut-outs" (adopted title). Size 66 x 35 m/m. Unnumbered. Fronts per Fig.18, printed by letterpress in colour, subjects cut and perforated to stand out, no frame lines. Issued in the East, between 1905-1910.
- A. Backs in purple-brown, with illustration of "Ruler" packet.
- B. Backs in green with illustration of "Tabs" packet. This printing is found (a) with captions (b) without captions.
- Plain backs (anonymous issue)
A series of 60 : -
- Armadillo
- Australian Bear (Fig,18)
- Australian Cat
- Ass
- Badger
- Beaver
- Borzoi
- Brown Bear
- Camel
- Cheetah
- Common Hamster
- Dachshund
- Dingo
- Dromedary
- European Mink
- Flying Fox
- Fox
- French Poodle
- Gemsbok Antelope
- Giraffe
- Gorilla
- Great Ant Eater
- Great Dane
- Guinea Pig
- Hare
- Hedgehog
- Hippopotamus
- Hyaena
- Indian Elephant
- Kangaroo
- Leopard
- Lion
- Moose
- Mule
- Mountain Zebra
- Opossum
- Orang-Utang
- Otter
- Polar Bear
- Porcupine
- Prairie Dog
- Rabbit Bandicoot
- Racehorse
- Red Deer
- Retriever
- Rhinoceros
- Roe Deer
- Seal
- Shetland Pony
- Squirrel
- Tasmanian Devil
- Tasmanian Wolf
- Tiger - crouching
- Tiger - roaring
- Wallaby
- Walrus
- White Rabbit
- Wild Cat
- Wolf
- Wombat
Similar series issued by Wills (Australia) and B.A.T. - in both these issues the captions vary in some cases from those listed above.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, the description is much reduced. They now appear under Ogden`s section 5, for "Export issues without I.T.C. Clause. Issued through B.A.T." and sub-section E, which is headed : "TABS Cigarette Packet Issues. Backs in green, with illustration of "Tabs" packing. Issued in India and Malaya, about 1911-13". The description is :
ANIMALS (A). Sm. 66 x 34. Cut-outs. Unnd. (60).. See RB.15/17.B and RB.21/200-37.D ... O/2-231
- A. Front with caption.
- B. Front without caption.
Now there has been a bit of a discovery in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, and the text now reads :
ANIMALS (A). Sm. 66 x 34. Cut-outs. Unnd. See RB.15/17.B and RB.21/200-37.D ... O100-850
- A. Front with caption (60).
- B. Front without caption (50).
Nestle [trade : chocolate : O/S - South America] "Fotografias de Artistas de Cine" / "Photographs of Stars of the Cinema" (19) 6/50
By contrast, today`s day started and ended with this, the centenary of the 1925 film of The Wizard of Oz, directed by Larry Semon, who also played the scarecrow, and co starring Oliver Hardy as the tin man, Curtis McHenry as the lion, and Dorothy Dwan, showing here, as Dorothy. You can read all about the film at Wikipedia/1925-oz, and it is a really well researched piece, congratulations to those who wrote it.
Our actress was not born Dorothy Dwan, she was born Dorothy Belle Ilgenfritz, on April the 26th, 1906, in Missouri. When she was nine, her mother and father split up, and she was legally adopted by her new father. They then relocated to Philadelphia, where she went to school. She immediately showed great promise at what we today call the dramatic arts, and someone suggested that she should try out for the movies.
She was a member of the crowd for some time before she was spotted and moved closer to the front of the screen. It looks like the first appearance of her name on a poster was the 1922 Western, "The SIlent Vow" , a Vitagraph film.
The most important of her films was "Her Boy Friend", released in 1924; a prophetic name, for she was soon involved with the director, Lawrence Semon. He also starred in the film, using his stage name of Larry Semon, but it is chiefly remembered today for one of the other stars, who was billed as Oliver N. Hardy. The N stood for Norvell, and was soon dropped.
Later in 1924 Larry Semon, Dorothy Dwan, and Oliver Hardy teamed up again, in a comedy called "Kid Speed", again Larry Semon directed, and played the title character. And a year later the three were again together in "The Perfect Clown", described by many film historians as being the film where Oliver Hardy first thought of doing slapstick comedy, all he needed was a partner. In fact, he already had an idea of who he would like that to be, a slim man with whom he had worked on a film called "The Lucky Dog", by the name of Stanley Laurel.
That same year, 1925, Dorothy Dwan and Larry Semon became partners in real life, as they got married. They also started work on another comedy film with Oliver Hardy, "Stop Look and Listen". That was his last film with our duo, as he started to partner Stan Laurel full time in 1927. And in 1928 Larry Semon died, after which Dorothy Dwan gave up film acting, choosing instead to appear on the stage.
She did remarry, in 1930, and had a son, Paul. We know almost nothing of her second husband, only his name, Paul Northcutt Boggs Junior. The marriage only lasted five years, and then they divorced.
She died, of lung cancer, in 1981.
As far as I can find out, this is her only cartophilic appearance. Larry Semon does a little better with eight cards, whilst Oliver Hardy tops them both with seventy-seven
This is a very different Nestle set than the ones we usually show, for one thing it comes from another continent entirely, from South America. I had a quick fossick online and it seems that there were several different sets, so we will return to this when we have time. I will note what I know so far, which is
- Set A - (50) - no wording in the top border, film stars
- Set A1 - (50) - no wording in top border, "A1 to A50" on back, film stars - presumably second series?
- Set D - (50) - "Uruguay" and "D" in top border, film stars
- Set E - (50) - "Uruguay" and "E" in top border, film scenes
Jacques [trade : chocolate : O/S - Belgium] "Les Nouveaux Visages de L`Europe" / "The New Faces of Europe" - album 2 (1970) 130/
Not quite a centenary, but today in 1927 the first Volvo motor car was built, the OV4. It was an open tourer with a four cylinder engine. Our card does not show the car but it does show the factory, and I hunted for a car card and failed.
We know that the car was built at the very first factory in Gothenburg, and the company had been founded by Gustaf Larsson, a mechanical engineer, and Assar Thorvald Nathanael Gabrielsson, who is often reported to be a top salesman who would have a go at everything, from eggs to bricks to ball bearings. This is not completely true - it was his father that sold the eggs, at his dairy, and also his father who managed a brickworks. As for the ball bearings, this refers to a company called AB SKF, a huge enterprise which made all kinds of bearings, lubricants, and seals, and for whom our man did have a connection, for he worked as one of their head sales managers.
This card is actually not of the original Gothenburg works either, it is at Olofstrom, which they acquired in 1969, right at the time this series was being produced. The area had previously been a mill, right since 1735, starting out producing iron and steel - and you may imagine that seems very apt when you hear that Volvo currently use that factory to make car bodies. But wait, because the production of heavy industrial iron was soon replaced by the manufacture of metal pots, pans, and other equipment for cooking. It was only in the 1920s that it became a steel mill again, and was contacted to make the body panels for a new car, the OV4, for Volvo.
There were three series of these cards, all known by their album number. All of them have the main title of Nouveaux Visages de l'Europe - or New Faces of Europe.
Album one was subtitled "Les Hommes Dominent la Nature" or man controlling nature, and it was issued in 1970. It had a special album which was available in either a rather garish red or a calming white. The cards for this were in three sizes, seventy-five small sized cards of 80 x 50 m/m, twenty medium sized cards all of the numbers of which were prefixed by the letter "M" and which measured 120 x 80 m/m, and ten large sized cards which were prefixed by the letter "G" and measured 170 x 120 m/m. That makes 105 cards in all.
Album two was "Les Hommes Transforment la Matière", or man transforming matter. Again this was issued in 1970. This set only had the red album, and several collectors think that when it was issued the first series was again made available, but with the red cover to match. They think the original issue was just the white album. The cards were again in three sizes, and followed the same system, twenty "M" and ten "G". By the way "G" stands for Grand, which is French for large. And the numbering started from number 1 again, but the final card was number 150.
Album three was "Les Hommes Diminuent les Distances" or man makes distance smaller. This was also issued in 1970, and this is the set our card comes from. Again there was only a red album. The cards were again in three sizes, and followed the same system, twenty "M" and ten "G", however the numbering started from number 151 again, and the final card was number 225.
Lastly, album four was subtitled "Les Hommes Organisent leur Existence", or man organises his life. That was issued in 1971, with just a red album, and follows exactly the same size and number of each card, the only difference is that they are numbered 226 to 300.
KOSMOS [tobacco : O/S - Germany] "Die Welt im Bunten Flaggenbild" / "The World in Coloured Flag Pictures" - first series (1951) 40/250 - K38-13.A :
Today in 1942 it is often said that the Island of Malta was collectively awarded the George Cross, and you can see it on this flag, in the blue square at the top right of the white half.
This is not strictly true, but first let us speak of the George Cross, which is the civilian equivalent of the military Victoria Cross, and is given for bravery either to the general public or to military personnel when they are not actually under enemy fire. It was designed by and named after King George VI, and it is worded "For Gallantry" rather than "For Valour".
It was given not to the island of Malta, but to its people, all of them, for undergoing the Siege of Malta, which saw them endure bombing raids and siege conditions in the first few years of the Second World War.
The medal was added to the flag in 1943, and remains there to this day.
This set is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index under Kosmos section 2, for "Issues 1950-52. Cards inscribed "Kosmos-Sammelwerk" or "Kosmos-Zigarettenbilder", with address in Memmingen". This is a difference from section 1, which show the address as Dresden. Our set is catalogued as :
DIE WELT IM BUNTEN FLAGGENBILD (The World in Coloured Flag Pictures). Sm. 61 x 46. Two series of five "Gruppe" A/E, each Nd. 1-50 ... K38-13
- "Erster Teil". (250) - [or first series]
- "Zweiter Teil" (250) - [or second series]
For some reason it has been relocated in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, and now appears right at the end of the listing for Kosmos, instead of in third place between "Bunte Vogel" and "Fussball". However the text is exactly the same, apart from a new card code, of K737-950
Louit-Freres [trade : chocolate : O/S - France] "Artists" ? (1889)
Going a fair way back in time now, because today in 1755 saw the birth of Louise Elisabeth Vigee. She is shown on this card doing what she did best, which was painting, and this is a famous work of hers, which is entitled "Portrait de L`Artiste par elle meme" (or a self portrait). It was painted in 1790 and though you cannot see what is on the easel we know it was one of her many portraits of Marie Antoinette, Today this work is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
In all she created almost a thousand works, and was given the chance to paint almost everyone famous, including Kings and Queens, from right across Europe
Her mother was a hairdresser, and her father an artist, who encouraged her talent, giving her lessons and showing her the works of great masters, which she was told to copy. Unfortunately she saw little of him, she was sent to a convent aged just five and stayed there for six years, and the year after he died. Her mother remarried, a jeweller, but he seems to have treated her and little Elisabeth quite badly.
Not much is known of her after that until, in 1776 she was married, to a painter called Jean Baptiste Pierre Le Brun, who had become her agent. She was twenty one and he was twenty eight, and he had also been married before, not just that but there seems to have been considerable doubt as to whether the first marriage was ever annulled. He was what we would call a man about town, who gambled and wooed a succession of women, but for whatever reason she agreed to marry him, and they had a daughter, in 1780. She is the small girl who appears in one of her most famous works, painted six years later.
It was not an entirely successful marriage, she had several affairs, and he seems to have given her only ever a pittance of what he sold her works for in his gallery. However they stayed together and only really broke up over the French Revolution, he being a big supporter of it, whilst she, possibly because many of her friends were on the other side, was not so keen. She left France in 1789, and they were divorced five years later. He stayed on, and would eventually become heavily involved with the museum of art that we now know as The Louvre, eventually becoming its curator. Whilst she travelled extensively within Europe, and even visited Great Britain.
This card primarily advertises "Tapioca", as in pudding. Paul Louit founded his company in 1825 to make chocolates, and he was a real person, not a brand, and he had been in the army before he started the company. However his father did have a retail background. He died in 1836, and his wife took over the company; though she probably did not have much choice as she had several small children. She actually changed the name of the company, and called it "Veuve Louit et Fils", which means the widow Louit and her sons.
Then, in 1846, the oldest of these sons, Emile, took over the business. At that point he called it "Louit Freres", which means the Louit brothers. The mustard started to be produced at this time, starting in 1857, and was an immediate success.
The company grew steadily, but suffered in both wars. And after the Second World War it took a long time to recover, which is almost certainly which contributed to its closure in 1957.
The mustard, however, was thrown a lifeline by a rival group called Pucci, and they still make it to this day.
Whitbread [trade : drink : UK] "Inn Sign Stamps" - Gloucester (1980) Un/
Now here is something that may come as a surprise to you, for it is #NationalAuctioneersDay. And it gives me a chance to show you something that I was sent by a reader, when I spoke of Whitbread Inn Signs last week; it was pure coincidence that it shows the instrument of decision used by auctioneers, the tiny hammer which is known as a gavel.
I tried to track down this sign, and found that there was a Bell & Gavel in Gloucester, but it was closed in the 1980s and refurbished to open as a night club called Stockyards, because at one time the area had been a thriving cattle market. I think that this shows us the true origins of the bell and the gavel, the bell to call the next lot of cattle forward, and the gavel to strike when they were sold. The night club did not last very long and by the mid 1980s the pub was again the Bell & Gavel, but not with this sign. And it closed in 2001, being flattened just a few years after that to be rebuilt as the Priory Inn, which was also shortly replaced by a Harvester restaurant, and, not so long after that, by a Brewers Fayre restaurant.
This means that the stamp, if, of course, it was the real sign, must have been issued in the early 1980s
These stamps do not appear in our reference books, perhaps because they are not cards, and to some minds, not cartophilic. Some time we will feature one as a Card of the Day, but until then some of the cards from the set pertaining to Gloucester are :
- The Bear Inn
- Bell & Gavel
- Carpenters Arms
- Double Gloucester
- Falcon Hotel
- Fountain
- Gloucester Flying Machine
- Plough
- Prince Albert
- Railway
- Royal Gloucestershire Hussar
- White Horse
And if anyone knows any others, please tell us, because rumour has it that it is a set of twenty.
Suchard [trade : chocolate : O/S - Switzerland] "Cirque" / "Circus" (19??) S.138
To close proceedings, at least as far as the diary dates are concerned, we have #InternationalJugglersDay.
Juggling can be as simple as throwing one ball from one hand and catching it in the other, or it can involve axes and chainsaws. At its most basic level, anyone can learn to do it, and it is a great relieving exercise if you suffer with repetitive strain injury, or if you type for a long time, because you have to clench the fingers to the ball to throw it, and open and stretch the fingers to catch it, so by throwing from hand to hand for just a few minutes you can gain relief.
This is the tenth Suchard set we have featured, and every back so far has been different. Maybe every set was? But it seems a very costly exercise.
This set features a child performing balancing tricks, often using Suchard products, but it is not actually titled. It is sometimes known as "Cirque", or circus, but that does not seem to fit well. The cards are numbered though, and they are :
- holding a cylinder in each hand
- holding one cylinder in one hand, the other in the air
- kneeling with a cylinder on one finger of each hand)
- juggling five cylindrical packets)
- balancing a tray of items on one hand
- balancing a tray of items on each hand and one on her nose
- juggling two cylindrical packets, and one bag
- juggling three bars of chocolate, and one cylndrical packet
- standing by a window preparing a plate to spin
- spinning plate on bar in one hand
- throwing plate in the air off long stick
- seated on the floor after having had the plate hit her head
The same child features on the back of each card.
This week's Cards of the Day...
... follow on in many ways from last week`s #WorldAquaticDay, but speaks of mechanical fish, or submarines. This is because on April the 11th it is #NationalSubmarineDay, because on that day, in 1900, the United States Navy first commissioned a submarine, the Holland VI. This was named after its inventor, John Phillip Holland, who designed it in 1896, and launched it on May the 17th 1897. However he did not, as many people think, invent the submarine, as you will find out this week.
Saturday, 5th April 2025
our first card was chosen because Mr. Ferdinand is listed as a "Defender", and that position on the field has a connotation to the fact that submarines are the defenders of the sea. I could also have had a striker, but that seemed to suggest it fired first and asked questions later, whereas a defender is more of a motherly, protective role.
This set is entirely devoted to Manchester United, and its full title is "Manchester United 2011-2012 Adrenalyn XL™ Official Trading Card Game".
There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice as to how many are in a complete set, ranging from 80 to 131. The problem is in the numbering, as the foil cards are mixed in between the base cards, so if you only collect the base cards you will have numbers missing. The first sixty are base cards, then you get "Special Foil" cards that are numbered 61 to 90. Card 91 returns to a base card again, and these continue until card 110, after which cards 111 to 126 are "Ultimate Foil" cards. After that there are five "Limited Edition" cards, numbered LE1 to LE5 inclusive.
The packets contained six cards and retailed for 60p. However to get you off to a flying start you could get a "starter pack" for £4.99, which included a binder in which to keep your cards, and eighteen assorted cards. It also included a playing surface and the rules of the game, about which I know nothing, so if anyone has any memories of this do please send them along. .
Sunday, 6th April 2025
This card gave us a "Diver", and that is probably the first word we think of when we think of submarines, as "Dive!" seems to be all these craft do in movies and on television. And yet for the most part a real submarine floats along just beneath the surface, it only dives to elude a pursuer or a torpedo.
We do not appear to have featured part one of this set either, so we will mention both here - then we can make this the home page for the entire group, as there is a third link in the chain, use part one in a newsletter some time and link back to here.
They first appear in our original Ogden`s reference book, RB.15, first published in 1949, as :
100 BRITISH BIRDS (1905-1908). Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in green, with descriptive text. Home issue.
- 47. "50 in Series". Numbered 1-50 on fronts, numbers arranged to correspond with subjects in item 34. Two grades of board (a) white, semi-glossy (b) off white, matt backs. Issued 1905-06. Similar series issued by Imperial Tobacco Co.
- 48. "Second Series". Numbered 51-100 on fronts. Backs off-white, matt. Issued 1908.
Several threads to tie here. You can see the Imperial Tobacco version as our Card of the Day for the 26th of March, 2023. And, in case you are wondering what "Item 34" is, check out our Card of the Day for the 10th of April, 2022. And, lastly, the two different boards mentioned for the first set also occur in the set of "Birds Eggs" which makes me wonder if when these birds were issued the set of eggs were reissued.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, the two Ogden`s sets are still together, under section 4 of the Ogdens listings, for sets described as being "Issues with I.T.C. Clause. All issued in U.K. Small size 67 x 36 m/m, unless stated." - and sub-section 4.A, for "cards issued between 1903 and 1917" . They are described as :
BRITISH BIRDS. Sm. Nd. See H.229 ... O/2-95
- "50 in Series". Nd 1-50
- "Second Series". Nd 51-100
In our updated version of the World Tobacco Issues Index, our sets remain in section 4.A, and the description reads :
BRITISH BIRDS. Sm. Nd. See H.229 ... O100-414
- "50 in Series". Nd 1-50
- "Second Series". Nd 51-100 (50)
Now in 1923, just to confuse things, the first of these sets was re-issued. That is described in our original Ogdens reference book as :
49. 50. BRITISH BIRDS (1923). Numbers arranged to correspond with the subjects in item 35. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Subjects cut and perforated to stand out. Variations in the length of the rouletted line on which the cut-out rests are known for Nos 25, 29 and 30 - other similar variations probably exist. Backs in green, with descriptive text. Home issue, 1923. Similar series issued by Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada.
As for Item 35, you will find that in the same place as item 34, our Card of the Day for the 10th of April, 2022.
The reprinted set appears in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, still under section 4 of the Ogdens listings, but under sub-section B, for "Issues 1922-1939." In there, the description of our set reads :
BRITISH BIRDS. Sm. Cut-outs. Nd. (50) See RB.15/49... O/2-131
And in our updated version of the World Tobacco Issues Index, the description reads :
BRITISH BIRDS. Sm.Cut-outs (uncut cards are known). Nd. (50). See RB.115/49 ... O100-482
Monday, 7th April 2025
This card shows Alexander the Great, and he was the first to use a form of submarine, or so says Aristotle, who speaks of Alexander descending beneath the ocean in a barrel of white glass during the siege of Tyre in 322 BC.
We would call his craft a "diving bell", from its shape, or a "bathysphere", which has a Greek root, the "bathy" meaning deep and the "sphere" meaning a circle. Alexandra the Great`s is therefore presumed to be round, and perhaps even blown glass, but this would have been a huge undertaking, when you compare the blowing of a bottle for wine to the blowing of a circular craft large enough to fit a man.
As to why Alexandra the Great descended beneath the ocean, that was to spy on the opposing side. We do not think that the other side, as is often said, actually had submarines, but he could have easily seen the hulls of any ships as they approached.
Now Alexander the Great was not the first person to go beneath the water, for we know that prehistoric man often cut hollow reeds and used them like a cross between a periscope and a snorkel to enable him to breathe the air above the water. There are also pictures carved into Ancient Egyptian tombs that show this happening during duck hunting.
The "diving bell" idea had first appeared in the fourteenth century, often using barrels. As usual, it was not long before a pleasure craft was spotted and the idea of how to use it against another nation in war came to mind, but this was not actually written down until the sixteenth century, though the way it is written proves that such had been long debated and improved upon.
This card actually celebrates Alexander the Great`s horse, and not the man, but he is seen riding him. The set is quite scarce, but so far it comprises :
- Le Bouef Apis
- Bucephale dompte par Alexandre le Grand
- Les Oies du Capitole
- L`Aspic de Cleopatre
- Le Cheval de Mazeppa
- Les Pigeons des Venise
- Les Chiens du St.Bernard
I have to say that I was rather surprised when I was trying to find the rest of the set, that my search engine gave me the following AI overview suggestion -
"The phrase "Sochard Animaux Celebres" translates to "Suchard Famous Animals." It refers to a series of chocolate wrappers featuring famous animals, which was likely a marketing campaign or collectible item from the Swiss chocolate company Suchard. The phrase appeared as a clue in a Cardworld theme of the week solution, specifically mentioning the "Animaux Celebres" series 144."
Tuesday, 8th April 2025
Here we have Monsieur Goubet and his submarine. The image looks very little like his submarine so I presume it is just a submarine, and they could not find a picture of his. His submarine was a strange device, it took two people, and it was reputedly powered by electricity - though it was actually a battery to provide the power and an electric motor to drive the propellor and also keep a light on inside the craft. It was about sixteen and a half feet long, and the people sat back to back, looking out of a glass which was a bit like a short periscope
Despite all these marvels, when it was tested, in the River Seine, it was not a success, but only because it was not able to maintain a constant depth, and occasionally veered off course, which was actually not the craft`s fault, for the men did the steering, and their vision was limited, as they could only see one way at a time, so when they were looking to one side they could not see the other. Anyway, the machine was scrapped.
We can see what it looked like thanks to Murray`s "The Story of Ships", card 45/50, the text of which tells us that it was "...built by M. Goubet in Paris, was driven by current stored in batteries; but there was no means on board of recharging the batteries. The main body of the boat was a single bronze casting, with a glass and metal dome at the top. A universal joint on the propeller shaft enabled the screw to be set at an angle to the line of motion, thus dispensing with a rudder. Submersion was effected by admitting water ballast. The crew of two sat back to back with their heads in the dome. Abaft the dome was a "torpedo", it was to be released under a vessel, and rising attach itself by spikes, unreeling a wire behind it. The submarine would retire to a distance, and explode the torpedo through the wire"
This set is easy to spot but I know very little about it, not even the title. At first I thought it was "Inventeurs" (or Inventors) but as I saw more cards I realised they were all manner of people connected to the sea. Since starting this, and asking about, I have been told that the set is called "Ships", and the people are incidental, which is why they are in a smaller section than the ship. There is also a card of a primitive tribal chief, so they are not even all famous people. And then I got this list, supplied by Mr. Pryce. for which many thanks.
- Ade Suffren de St. Tropez - Fregate du XVIIIeme Siecle [frigate of the 18th century]
- Agrippa - Unireme Romaine Vent Arriere [Roman unireme with rear ventilation]
- Amiral Aube - Torpilleur de Haute Mer : [torpedo boat]
- Amiral Courbet - Cuirasse Escadre : [warship]
- Amiral Dumont d`Urville - Trois Mats Moderne (France) : [modern three master]
- Amiral Makarov, inventeur - Navire Brise-Glace : [icebreaker]
- Andrea Doria - Galere du XVIe Siecle [galleon of the sixteenth century]
- Bab Aroudj - Corsaire Mauresque : [Moorish corsair]
- Chef de Tribu - Embarcations des Primitifs : [primitive sailors]
- Christophe Columb - Caravelle Espagnole : [Spanish Caravelle]
- Commandant Deloncle - Paquebot [mail boat]
- Connetable Burkard - Chelande du IXeme Siecle {Byzantine super galley of the 9th century]
- Denis Papin - Premier Bateau a Vapeur : [first steam boat]
- Dracke - Vaisseau de Guerre Anglaise a trois Mats : [Francis Drake - English warship with three masts]
- Jean Bart - Vaisseau a Trois Ponts (XVIIe Siecle) : [three masted vessel 17th century)
- L`Ingenieur Goubet - Sous Marin : [submarine]
- Mandarin Amiral - Gondole de Mandarin Chinois [Mandarin Chinese gondola]
- Nansen - Bateaux Norvegien Au Pole Nord : [Norwegian boat at the North Pole]
- Navigateur Indou - Bateau de Transport sur le Gange [Boat on the Ganges]
- Pharaon - Barque Egyptienne sur le Nil [Egyptian barque on the Nile]
- Rolf le Genereux - Drakkar Normand [Norman Viking ship]
- Saint Louis - Selandre du XIIIeme Siecle [French East Indiaman of the thirteenth century
- Surcouf - Lougre Corsair [privateer lugger]
- Themistocle - Triere Athenienne [Athenian trireme]
- Vasco de Gama - Caraque Portugaise [Portuguese Carrack]
Wednesday, 9th April 2025
Here we have a set which is very similar to "L`Electricitie", issued in 1906. And there is also a sister which we have not yet featured, called "La Navigation Aerienne", which deals with aerial navigation, or aeroplanes.
Our submarine is named as "La Pluviose", which you will often read means "rainy", but it also used to be the name of a month, the fifth in the calendar used by the Republic during the French Revolution, and it ran from the end of January to the end of February. What we do not know is why she was so named, as she was first ordered in August 1905, launched in June 1907, and put into service in October 1908.
She was the submarine equivalent of the flagship, and the class was named after her. Her siblings all had double hulls and carried a pair of officers, up to twenty-three enlisted men, and eight torpedoes. Originally she, and several of those siblings, had the torpedo tube inside her bow, but there was what is referred to as "an accident" with one of those other ships, and the ones who had been set up in that way, including our submarine, were all brought back in to be refitted with external launchers. I have not been able to find out about the accident, which suggests a bit of a cover up.
Our boat also had another accident, in May 1910, when she was hit by the liner Pas de Calais as she resurfaced. This was whilst her and two siblings were on what is reported as "a diving exercise", just outside their home base in Calais. She was ripped completely open and plunged to the bottom of the sea, with all hands. Oddly, it is reported that either twenty seven or thirty men were killed, reports vary - but we know her complement was only twenty five, so were there other men on board, observing, which added to her weight and made her less manoueverable, or were the other men on the liner, and just added in to the total ?
Anyway, the submarine was raised, and brought back to Calais Our card shows her after this, because it mentions this event, "Coule en 1910 a Calais puis repare" - which means "sank in 1910 in Calais then repaired". It also calls her "Marin du Guerre", which means war ship, so this dates the set as after 1910 but before 1918. (Another card, no.35, gives us the date of 1913, so narrowing the date still further.)
In fact she was damaged again in 1919, and then there is another mystery, for she was sent to undergo "compression testing". This sounds like a test before she was returned to service, but sadly it seems more likely that she was subjected to repeated crushings, in the name of research for other submarines of the future, because in 1925 she was sold, for scrap.
This is a set of eighty-four subjects, so we have a list, or the beginnings of one. I have also included the most recent of any dates printed on these cards as I go along so we may get closer to the date of issue. And if anyone can add any new names, please let us know via webmaster@card-world.co.uk
- Marine de Guerre, Trireme Carthaginoise, 11e Siecle
- Marine de Guerre, Pirogue Afrique
- Marine de Guerre, Le Protecteur, 1790
- Marine de Guerre, Le Borda, 1908
- Marine du Guerre, Baleiniere
- Marine de Guerre, Grand canot
- Marine de Guerre, L`Edgar-Quinet, 1908
- Marine de Guerre, Pluviose, 1910
- Marine de Guerre, Le Gustave Zede, 1913
- Marine Marchande, Galion XVe Siecle
- Marine Marchande, Bac a corde XVIe Siecle
- Maine Marchande, Bateau marchand marseillais
- Marine Marchande, Le Coche d`eau, XVIIIe Siecle
- Marine Marchande, Cange du Nil
- Marine Marchanda - Bateau da Commerce Hollandaise XVIIIe Siecle
- Marine Marchande, Trois Mats XVIII Siecle
- Marine Marchande, La Savannah, 1819
- Marine Marchande, Vapeur a roues du Rhone
- Marine Marchande, Barque Sardiniere, XIXe Siecle
- Marine Marchande 1867
- Marine Marchande, La Germania, 1870
- Marine Marchande, Le Canada, 1874
- Marine Marchande, Bateau de commerce Hollandais XVIIIe Siecle
Thursday, 10th April 2025
Here we have a nuclear submarine. There is often some confusion as to what this means, so it does mean that it is powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily that it has nuclear weapons on board.
They were first thought of by a physicist working for the American Naval Research Laboratory, way back in 1939, but for some reason, maybe because of plans falling into enemy hands if America was invaded, they were not worked on right until 1946, and no construction began for another five years.
This craft was named Nautilus, with a nod to Jules Verne, whose own submarine by that name was first written of in 1870, and which also had a revolutionary (and not yet possible) fuel system. for it was powered by electricity - the first submarine to actually be powered in that way being the Peral, belonging to the Spanish Navy, who was not launched until 1888.
The submarine on this card is HMS Dreadnought, which was the first nuclear submarine to be used by Great Britain. This is not proof that the British set came first, just that Canada did not, and continues to not, have any nuclear submarines. HMS Dreadnought was built as a kind of co-production between America and Britain, the Americans supplying the reactor and some of the designs.
This set is recorded in our original British Trade Index part two under Brooke Bond, where the header states : "2. Issues with rounded corners. Issued in North America by Brooke Bond Canada Ltd. and Brooke Bond Tea Co., Inc. Small size 68 x 37 m/m." They are described as :
SERIES 10. TRANSPORTATION THROUGH THE AGES. Sm. Nd. (48). CU.10. Back with Montreal address, top line in (a) red (b) black. The two printings are not identical, e.g. No.29 shows a different picture ... BRM-35
Mr. John Levitt has contacted us to say that in the latest Brooke Bond Tea Cards Reference Book, which was completely revised in 2021, there has been several changes. The text there reads :
Transportation through the Ages
Size 69 x 37mm with rounded corners. Coloured numbered series of 48 inscribed "Series No. 10" with bilingual text in English and French. Backs printed in black & red text, issued in Canada.
There are two printings of this set with the Montreal address black & red text on back
- (A) back with top line of text in red ... CU10.1-A
- (B) back with top line of text in black ... CU10.1-B
There are also two printings of card number 29 with top line of text in black
- (A) Building on right at border of the card 1 set of three windows plus 1 tree
(B) Building on right at border of the card 3 sets of three windows plus 1 treeSpecial album issued (no insert issued).
Wallchart issuedNote: The identical set was also issued in the USA.
The album was available at grocers for 25 cents, or by sending a coupon, plus a package or label from any Red Rose or Blue Ribbon product, to "Dept P.C. Brooke Bond Canada Limited, 5415 Cote de Liesse, Montreal 9, Quebec." You could send for more than one album at a time, but you had to send a package or label for each one. The album also has a code number printed on the front - this one is CU.10.
I find it intriguing that the main difference between the version issued in the United Kingdom and this Canadian one does not seem to be stressed anywhere - and that is the number in the set, our set being fifty cards and the Canadian being forty-eight. I asked if anyone knew which the missing two were, and I actually got sent a comparison list, from Mr. Whyte, which proves it is a lot more complicated than that - so I am delighted to be able to publish it here. Just to save you hunting, the two missing cards are the monorail (British no.30) and the oil tanker (British no.27) but there are also many other differences, including curious transpositions of numbers. I have straight pasted it in, so (B) is the British version and (C) the Canadian.
- (B)(C) Elephant
- (B)(C) Camel
- (B) Dog Sledge
- (B) Ox Wagon - (C) Chariot
- (B) Chariot - (C) Ox Wagon
- (B)(C) Stage Coach
- (B)(C) Horse Tram
- (B)(C) The Bicycle
- (B) Kayak - (C) Galley
- (B) Galley - (C) Kayak
- (B)(C) Horse Barge
- (B)(C) East Indiaman
- (B)(C) Tea Clipper
- (B)(C) Hot Air Balloon
- (B)(C) Gas Balloon
- (B)(C) Steam Coach
- (B) Steam Wagon - (C) Stephenson`s Rocket
- (B) Stephenson`s Rocket - (C) Steam Wagon
- (B)(C) Modern Steam Locomotive
- (B)(C) Diesel Locomotive
- (B)(C) Gas Turbine Locomotive
- (B)(C) The Comet
- (B)(C) Mississippi River Steamer
- (B)(C) The Great Eastern
- (B)(C) Turbinia
- (B)(C) Modern Ocean Liner
- (B) Oil Tanker - (C) Electric Tram
- (B) Electric Tram - (C) Electric Locomotive
- (B) Electric Locomotive - (C) London Bus
- (B) Monorail - (C) Early Motor Car
- (B) Early Motor Car - (C) Bluebird
- (B) Bluebird - (C) Motor Cycle
- (B) Motor Cycle - (C) Sno-Cat
- (B) Sno-Cat - (C) The Wright Brothers Aeroplane
- (B) The Wright Brothers Aeroplane - (C) Airship
- (B) Airship - (C) Early Airliner
- (B) Early Airliner - (C) Flying Boat
- (B) Flying Boat - (C) Supermarine Schneider Trophy Plane
- (B) Supermarine Schneider Trophy Plane - (C) Helicopter - but it is actually the Westland Whirlwind HCC Mk.12 off British card 41
- (B) Transport Aircraft - (C) First Turbojet Airliner
- (B) Westland Whirlwind HCC Mk.12 - (C) Boeing 727
- (B) First Turbojet Airliner - (C) Variable Wing Aircraft
- (B) Modern Jet Airliner - (C) The Mesoscaphe
- (B) Variable Wing Aircraft - (C) Hydrofoil
- (B) The Mesoscaphe - (C) Hovercraft
- (B) Hydrofoil - (C) Nuclear Ship
- (B) Hovercraft - (C) Nuclear Submarine
- (B) Nuclear Ship - (C) Apollo Space Rocket
- (B) Nuclear Submarine - (C) number not issued
- (B) Space Rocket - (C) number not issued
Friday, 11th April 2025
This was shown to me as a fun card, of a futuristic submarine, but it turns out to be much more interesting than that...
The title is "En L`An 2000", which translates to "In the Year 2000", and it is one of those things which think that in a hundred years the most fantastic things will have taken place, but then they do not. It is now 2025, and we are still not, unless we are millionaires, going off for the day beneath the sea in our illuminated submarine with huge glass windows that would surely burst.
The images, and we think there are a hundred, were originally grand artworks by famous painters and designers. They started to appear in the year 1899, and went on almost until the rumblings of the First World War. They seem to have been converted into cards from 1901 onwards, just as the century had passed.
And we know that they were also issued as postcards, for none other than Isaac Asimov speaks of owning "a set" in one of his biographical works. However, we do not know if his "postcards" were actually postcard sized trade cards, perhaps even these we show today...
Curiously, they were reprinted in 1999.
Creme Express was not the maker, that was the product, and it was some kind of instant cream drink, available in vanilla, chocolate, coffee, orange, lemon, and pistachio,. said to be be "superior to all similar products and the only true one".
The actual maker was Ch. Jux, at 74-76 Boulevard de Reuilly, in Paris. I have not found much about them yet, but I will continue to fill in the blanks whenever I can
And so I must adjourn, and you must rest your eyes. Bed beckons, perchance to dream, of things to do at the weekend.
See you all next week.....