Newsletter - 2025-08-02

Image

Skybox [trade/commercial : cards : O/S - USA] "101 Dalmatians" (1996)  89/111

Let us start with what some of us regard as child`s play, but others know is a useful tool for mindfulness - for today, and every August the second, is #NationalColouringBookDay. This was started in 2015 by Dover Publications, who are a long standing firm, founded back in 1941, and responsible for many amazing works, but it was not until 1970 that they published their first adult colouring book, "Antique Automobiles".

The important word there is "their first", as colouring books go back centuries, and were originally for adults, the children`s versions coming later. Indeed some collectors state that the first book with outline art, and the suggestion that they might be coloured, to please the reader, was "Poly-Olbion", a poem,  published in 1612. And they were very much a diversion for ladies and gentlemen, with time on their hands, rather than the general public - and they were priced accordingly.

Another early notion which has endured to this day is the thick black lines around the sections - this was originally done to contain the watercolour, and make it harder to go over the edge, or to make it less visible if you did, anyway.

As far as colouring books for children, they are much more recent, not until towards the end of the 19th century. Some collectors cite "The Little Folks Painting Book", of 1879, as being the first, but it was just the first in America - the first ones almost certainly being printed in Germany. 

One curious fact is several companies issued colouring books to encourage purchase of their products, and these are technically cartophilic.

This idea transferred to cigarette cards,, check out Godfrey Phillips "Bird Painting" (1938), and one of the cards we featured this week, Carreras` "Wild Flower Art" (1923).

And also, our card today is designed to show the completed picture on one side and allow you to copy the colours into the outline on the other side. Nothing is new, as they rightly say. 

This image shows a puppy, full of gravy bones, asleep on the box. There is not much colour to it, only the green of the background, but it is a very cute picture, and I am sure he will be forgiven when his crime is found out. After all they are dog biscuits - leaving teeth marks in the cheesecake, in the fridge, is slightly less acceptable, but nipper still gets forgiven every time. He loves cheesecake. 

The set comprises different sorts of cards - twenty-seven "Story Cards", five "Animal Pranks", five "The Great Escape", five "Villains", four "Puppy Love", twelve "Character Cards", six "Build a Doghouse", six "Stick-Ums", fourteen "Pop-Outs", ten "Colour-In-Cards", five "Puppy-Pin-Ons", two "Foil-N-Fur" cards, four "Magnetic Frame Cards", four "Mini-Mags", and two checklists at cards 47 and 48. 

The packets cost $1.99 in America and $1.79 in Canada, and contained eleven assorted cards and a mini-magazine. I think this must be different to the "Mini-Mags" mentioned above, as there were only four of those in the set, so maybe the ones mentioned above were cards speaking of them. Do let us know if you do....

Image

"Happy Home" [trade : magazine : UK] "Women on War Work" (1915) Un/12 - HAP-110 : HAT-5 

A slight segue here but today in 1811 saw the birth of Elisha Graves Otis.

Now it is popularly said that he invented the lift - but he did not. We know of admittedly primitive lifts and hoists, powered by water, then animals or people, dating to around 300 B.C., and, by the looks of it, they were just developments of earlier ones. And as for the first counter-weighted elevator designed to only transport humans to another level of a building, that was built in 1743, for none other than King Louis XV of France.

What he invented, in 1853, was a safety device that prevents lifts from falling if the cable fails. In fact he had earlier invented a railway safety brake, using a similar principle. It is said that how he came to apply this to lifts came about when he was working at a bed factory in New York; they needed to lift heavy equipment up to the top floor by hoist and he suggested using his invention. This sounds rather odd, and I wonder if there was not some kind of accident, covered up, that led to them needing a safer way.

Anyway he was very impressed by the way his device worked, and so were they - and by 1853 he had not only left their employ but set up manufacturing safety lifts. Somehow he suddenly realised that the new fangled elevators were controlled by a cable as well, and so he designed a way to retrofit his device to those. And, in 1857, the first "safety elevator", not the first lift, was installed, at  E.V. Haughwout & Co., in New York City.

Sadly he died, of diphtheria, just a few years later, on the 8th of April, 1861, aged just forty-nine. 

Now our card is not a card, it is a silk, and it was issued with a magazine, called "The Happy Home", which I have not been able to track down. The set is untitled, but has been decided to show women replacing men who were off to war. In fact, if you look at the reverse it appears the title was going to be "A War Souvenir" - though it also appears that the war changed the direction of the set, as some of the cards, namely "The Baker", "The Lamplighter", "The Lift Girl", "Red Cross Nurse", and "The Ticket Collector" do not mention the war at all in the verse. And though "The [Tram] Car Conductor" also has no reference to the war within the verse, it was only in wartime that this became a job suitable, or even permissible, for a women. And the first one was Mrs. G. Duncan, who started in 1915. This set me off on a tangent to find the first women who did the other things  - 

• The first licensed female taxi driver in London was Shirley Preston, but not until 1967. However in 1917 a Miss Susan Dudley Ryder actually became  London's first female taxi driver, having passed all the driving tests, but, unlike Ms. Preston, not gaining the current "Knowledge". 

• The first known female firefighter in the United States was Molly Williams, a former slave, who joined a volunteer fire company, in New York City, in 1815. The first record of women fire fighters in England were students at Girton College, Cambridge, in 1879. And we know that there were women fire fighters in the First World War, but not much about them. 

It is first catalogued in our original British Trade Index as : 

The "Happy Home"
Periodical. All paper-backed silks, issued about 1910-1915.

• WOMEN ON WAR WORK (A). Sm. 68 x 51. See No.9 under D.21. Unnd. (12) ... HAT-5

Now after this there is a list of the silks, but I have done this a different way, as each one has a little verse on the back that seems to be completely unrecorded. 

• The Baker [The Baker] - 
  Kneading and baking the bread we eat, / Clad in an overall spotlessly clean, / Never was vision half so sweet, / As you, my dainty bakehouse queen.
• The Car Conductor [Tramcar Conductor] - 
  Queen of the tramcar ! So trim and so neat ; / Radiant your smile every day as we meet. / "Fare !" is your welcome, in tones sweet and low, / And we repeat "Fair ? Yes, decidedly so!"
• The Fire Woman [The Firewoman] - 
  They said it wasn`t women`s work / They said the danger you would shirk, / What empty words they spoke ! / For when the warning bell rang out / You showed your worth beyond all doubt, / And, warning fire and smoke, / You did your duty like the best - / You faltered not -  you stood the test. 
• The Lamplighter [The Lamp-Lighter] - 
  At dusk you light me on my way / Lest my unwary feet should falter, / Perhaps - Who knows ? - some other day / I`ll lead you, blushing, to the altar. 
• The Lift Girl [To the Lady of the Lift] - 
  Your life is full of ups and downs, /  You often stop, but seldom tarry : / Your face is never marred by frowns - / I wonder will you stop to marry ? 
• The Munition Worker [Munition Worker] - 
  Maiden fair in cap and apron / Making shells by day and night / Yours is an heroic labour / In the cause of truth and right. 
• The Ploughwoman
  True Lady Bountiful art thou, / Winning the war behind the plough : / Wresting from Nature Britain`s food, / "Doing your bit" as a Briton should. / O, may your harvest be rich and grand, / And success attend on the work of your hand !
• The Postwoman [Postwoman] -
  Bearer of tidings of sadness or joy, / Anxious are they that list for thy tread. / What do you bring me ? News of my Boy ? / Or is your message one that I dread ? / Good news to-day ! Oh, thank you for that, / Pass along, Postwoman - rat-tat-tat.
• Red Cross Nurse [Nurse] - 
  O woman ! in our hours of ease, / Uncertain, coy and hard to please / When pain and anguish wring the brow, / A ministering angel thou. 
• The Taxi Driver [The Taxi-Driver] - 
  You will meet her everywhere in London town, / And in every busy city up and down ; / She keeps pur business moving with her dimple and her curl, / And we couldn`t do without her now - the courteous taxi-girl !
• The Ticket Collector [The Ticket Collector] - 
  "Why do you do it, miss ?" said I, / As I passed through the turnstile. / "That a man may fight !" was her reply, / Given with a winning smile. / "Maid, will you marry me?" quoth I, to tease, / All that she answered was "Ticket. please !" 
• The Window Cleaner [Window Cleaner] - 
  In your little blouse of khaki and your dainty trouserettes, / You`re the nicest bit of fluff I`ve ever seen, / Though you`ve donned our nether garments, / you`re not blooming suffragettes, / And we love you `cause you keep our windows clean. 

I have to say that some of these verses are a bit patronising. Though the reference to Suffragettes is rather exciting, seeing that ot was only the way that women took up the mantle of the men as they were called up that led to women, or certain woman, anyway, getting their way, and getting the vote. But it was fun seeing all the cards - and I also found out by doing so that the names on the back are slightly different, so they are recorded above too.  

By the time of our updated British Trade Index, the list of silks has been moved to the accompanying handbook, and the main entry simply reads : 

The "Happy Home"
Periodical. Paper-backed silks, issued 1910-1915.

• WOMEN ON WAR WORK (A). 68 x 51. Unnd. (12) See HH-9 ... HAP-110

Image

General Mills [trade : cereal : O/S - Minneapolis, USA] "License Plates - Canada" (1953) Un/12

British Columbia Day is celebrated on the first Monday of August every year, and it celebrates all the different people who have come to make it what it is, wherever they have come from, whatever their beliefs.

At first it was colonised by Native Americans, for millions of years, pretty much until the Europeans came calling with an idea to make it their land, rich as it was with natural resources.

And it was the British, who went to war with America over where the boundary of the State of Oregon ought to lie, that first started the steps to create the State of British Columbia. Once this crisis was sorted out to mutual approval, in 1846, two colonies were constructed, these being Vancouver Island, and British Columbia - though there was still the odd shaurie due to the fact the Vancouver Island was stated to be a colony in 1849, but British Columbia did not become one for almost another decade. 

Shortly after that, it was decided to merge the two anyway, and that happened in 1866. And British Columbia joined Canada on the 10th of July 1871, which would seem to have been a more fitting day that today for the celebrations. In fact I have been unable to find anything about why they celebrate today. 

I wanted British Columbia Day but could not find a card right until Friday - but then a reader sent me this, which is great, for many reasons.

The first interesting fact is that, despite what you may have thought when you first scrolled down and hit the picture, this is not a Topps card, it was issued with "Wheaties - The Breakfast of Champions", a cereal produced by General Mills. 

The second thing is that some sites will tell you that Wheaties copied Topps, whilst others say that Topps borrowed the idea from Wheaties.

The truth is that neither of these companies issued the first license plate card - that honour goes to Goudey Gum, years earlier, between 1936 and 1939. Next up came Topps, but not until 1949-50. Then there was a gap, filled by a company called Merley`s Candy, who issued their version in 1952. This was followed, the very next year, by Topps, again, and by "Wheaties" - and also "Cracker Jack", who used some of the same plate numbers as were on the "Wheaties" cards. As did "Leader Candy", slightly later, in 1955. 

Now there were four series of the "Wheaties" miniature licence plates, some on metal and some on card.  They were issued in with the cereal, just in the box, but you could also get any set sent to you if you sent General Mills twenty-five cents, and a box-top from off the packet to prove you had bought their product. And they came in different groups, namely : 

• "Continental United States" - four sets of twelve, forty-eight plates in all. The sets were "Eastern US", "Midwest US", "Southern US" and "Western US"
   
• "Territories and Possessions" - one set of ten plates - to include Alaska, Canal Zone (actually Panama), The District of Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Guam, Hawaii, Italy-Military, Maharajah, the Philippines, and the Virgin Islands. At this point we ought to point out that this set predates the statehood of Alaska and Hawaii, which is why the sets above are only of forty-eight cards  
   
• "Canada" - one set of twelve plates - to include Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon Territory,
   
• "Old World & Europe" - one set of ten plates - Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Iran, Portugal, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Image

The Welsh Language Board [trade/commercial : promotional items : UK - Wales] "Welsh Rugby Squad" (1995) Un/30 

Now this card did not come out so good, so if anyone has a better front, of anyone in any of the series, so long as its shows the fact that it is in both English and Welsh, I would be grateful of a scan. 

Why we have this is because today marks the centenary of the founding of Plaid Cymru, now known as The Party of Wales, but founded as Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru, which, in English, meant The National Party of Wales. Despite the word "National", they lean to the left, and to supporting the Welsh Nation to stay true to itself.

Despite this, their early campaigns were to preserve the Welsh language, and more than that, to make it the only language officially spoken in Wales, hence this card; they picked up their more political agenda, calling for Welsh Home Rule, later.

They first attempted to have a representative in the Houses of Parliament at the 1929 General Election, standing in the General Election as the Member for Caernarvonshire. But it took until 1966 until Gwynfor Evans won their first seat at Westminster, though as of today they hold four seats there, and have over two hundred representatives amongst the principal local authorities. 

As far as The Welsh Language Board, who issued this set, and several others, they were founded in 1993, but, in 2004, the First Minister of Wales decided to abolish it. There were lots of fights, but in the end they had to cede, and it failed to exist by the end of March 2012. However it was replaced, by a very similar organisation, called the Welsh Language Service. They are currently trying to encourage every business in Wales to have a Welsh option on their signing and their literature, and so far it is going well. 

Image

GALLAHER Ltd. [tobacco : UK - Belfast & London] "The Allies` Flags" (1914) 4/25 - G075-120 : G12-12

Now you may be wondering why I have this card today, as the first day of the First World War I is usually considered to be either June the 28th, 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated - or July the 28th, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

However today saw the same Austria-Hungary declare war on Russia, whose flag is shown on the above card. Now Russia was allied to Serbia, and had been so for some time; in fact, in 1907 a "Triple Entente" declaration had been set up which promised certain countries would support the other if a war ever broke out that involved another member of the alliance. These fell into small groups, Russia, Serbia and France - Britain, France and Belgium - France, Britain and Russia - and Britain and Japan. There was one more group, consisting of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary, but they had already complained bitterly about these alliances, none of which they were part of, and all of which they felt could start to take over their lands and way of life. And, if we think about that, not only were they right, but this may have been the very seeds of the First World War,.

The grand fact about Russia was her size. She had the largest population, three times as many people as Germany, and a much larger army, with what is estimated to have been over five million people on standby as reserves.  The problem was that these people were, for the most part, farmers and labourers, and Russia was not set up to make arms and armour. So a lot of those men, an awful lot, were killed, very early on, which led to bad feelings against those in charge, and ultimately, to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which saw the long term leaders overthrown and the communists come to power. 

This set is first described in our original Gallaher reference book, RB.4, published in 1944, amidst another World War. It is catalogued as : 

• 1914.  25.  ALLIES FLAGS, THE (titled series). Size 2 1/2" x 1 1/2". Numbered 1-25. Fronts printed in full colour by lithography. No backgrounds or margins. Subjects titled and "Gallaher`s Cigarettes" in various positions. Backs printed in green, no descriptions. "If you cannot obtain Gallaher`s Cigarette Card Albums," etc, and "Issued by Gallaher Ltd., Belfast & London. 
  
  This set exists on :- 
      A. Grey-white card    B. Creamy card.  

By the time of its next appearance, in our World Tobacco Issues Index, over a decade later, the description has shrunk, to just : 

• THE ALLIES FLAGS. Sm. Nd. (25). ... G12-12

And there is not a mention of the different colours of board. This must have been important to several collectors though as in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index the entry reads : 

• THE ALLIES FLAGS. Sm. Back on (a) cream (b) white. Nd. (25). ... G075-120

Image

F & J. SMITH [tobacco] "Races of Mankind" (1900) 38/50 - S84-14.E

Today is #NationalHandLoomDay, and nowhere in the world is the hand loom so much of the daily way of life as in India, where the day is primarily celebrated. 

At first, hand looms may appear to be a sign of repression, and female slavery, but actually the reverse is true. Most weavers are female, that is true, but their skill at the loom allows them to clothe and provide for their family, and also gives them status in the community.

As for the fact that the loom is operated by hand and not by machine, this too is a good thing, for it means that rural women can learn a trade and have means of employment even in areas where electricity is either intermittent, or non existent.

Something else you may not have considered is that the hand loom is much more eco-friendly than one which can only work by gobbling up electricity which is better used for medical and other purposes. 

This is quite a recent awareness day, and it dates back to 2015, though it also celebrates the Swadeshi Movement, a group of people who began to meet on the 7th of August, 1905 and were concerned that the older trades were being forgotten, when they could provide employment, especially for women, who may otherwise be reliant on marriage for their future. They also realised that there must be something done to safeguard the industry, and promote it, overseas - as less than a hundred years ago there had been, suddenly, a huge problem, with the sudden rise of the mechanical hand loom, especially in Britain and in America, which had led to a great loss in revenue for the industry in India, during which the only alternative for women had been to set down the loom and find alternate employment, or to starve along with their family. 

Our card was chosen because we have mentioned this set before but never shown it. And the lady featured is "A Hindoo", who have always been well renowned for their skill with the handloom, making elaborate sarees for themselves and also for sale. Just like the one on the card.

As we never had a Smith`s reference book, this set has quite a write up in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, namely : 

• RACES OF MANKIND. Sm. Nd. (40). Multi-backed, 15 wordings - see Ha.483 and X1/Ha.483 
  
      a) Series title on front
      b) Front without series title 
  
          A.  "Cup Tie" Cigarettes
          B.  Cut Golden Bar "Twilight" Brand
          C.  Cut Navy Tobacco}
          D.  "Evergreen" Cigarettes
          E.  Glasgow Mixture 
          F.  "Glory`s Reward"
          G. "Goodwill" Virginia
          H. "Harvest Moon" Cigarettes
           I.  Oriental Cigarettes
          J.  "Regimental" Cigarettes 
          K.  Special Straight Cut Cigarettes
          L. "Studio" Cigarettes
          M. Sun Cured Mixture 
          N.  "Trilby" Cigarettes
          O. "Wild Geranium" Cigarettes
   

This is virtually identical in our updated version except for back F, which has been altered to "Glory`s Reward Cigarettes" - that the handbook reference is now H.483 - and, of course, that there is a new card code, of S548-360.

Now as for X1/Ha.483, that is a list of the backs and it is rather confusing. Obviously not all the backs had been recorded with all the numbers, but some must have been, perhaps in a contemporary magazine. So I will have a think of how to work on that through the weekend.

Image

Lets end with a spot of fun, and generosity. For today is #SneakSomeZucchiniOnToYourNeighboursPorchDay 

The idea behind this is that if you grow zucchini, which we call courgettes, as do the French, or even similarly shaped vegetables like gherkins or cucumbers, you sneak out with a bagful and put them by the door of your next door neighbour, as a free gift. You never say, or that would spoil the surprise, though they only have to look over the fence to see your plants. 

Now I failed dismally to find a card of a zucchini or a courgette so here we have a cucumber.

This is one of twelve cards, the others being : 

1.  Asparagus - Asperge - Spargel
2.  Lycopersicum - Tomate 
3.  Bela Tellovif - Navels de Tellow - Tellower Rubchen
4.  
5.  Tuber - Truffe - Truffel
6.  
7.  
8.  Cucumis Sativus - Concombre - Gurke
9.  Cynara Cardunculus - Cardon - Cardone 
10.  Morchella - Morille - Morchel
11.  Cucumis melo - Melon - Melone 
12.  Cichorium - Chicoree - Endive

If anyone can provide the names on cards 4, 6 and 7, please do!