Newsletter - 2025-08-23

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Godfrey Phillips [tobacco : UK - London] "Beauties - PLUMS"  (A) (1900s) Un/? -  RB.113/16 : P521-020.B.a : P50-2.B.a :  H.186 : Ph/16.B [RB.13/16.B]

Today is #NationalPlumDay, referring to the fruit, though I am not sure why I stuck to that as at the moment I am suffering from a surfeit of plums, intent on eating the ones on the tree with gusto, and heedless of the fact that fruit gives me gripe. Or maybe it was with that in mind that I decided not to look at another, and opted for Godfrey Phillips` "Plums" instead. 

The fun thing about these "Plums", just like the actual fruit, is that you can get them coloured green and a kind of mauve-y red, so this card is actually plum in colour and in name, all the more fitting of the subject.

And if you want to check up on my words, just have a look at card 20 of Lambert & Butler`s "British Trees and Their Uses", issued in 1927, where you will see both colours of the fruitly plum. The text on the back of that card also tells us that the plum is "A native of W. Asia... has long been naturalized in Europe, where botanists distinguish three principal species; P. domestica, the Wild Plum, a small tree 5-10 ft high; P. institia, the Damson or Bullace; and P. spinosa, the Blackthorn or Sloe, usually more of a shrub than a tree."

Gallaher`s "Woodland Trees Series" No.15 also shows a plum, but for the first time I notice that on the front of these cards they simply say "Woodland Series", and not a mention of the word "Trees", until you get to the reverse. This text credits the Romans with introducing it to Europe.

Finally, for now, it is also featured in Allen & Ginter`s "Fruits", though there is no descriptive text, and the emphasis s far as the picture, is on the young lady rather than the fruit, which are but blobs, above her head, and almost in her hands. 

Our set today comes from the very first group of cards ever issued by Godfrey Phillips, between 1896 and 1899, and all are headed "London - 1895", with reference to seven gold medals.

The group consists of just three sets, none of which have titles, and all of which were entitled by early collectors. One set is just an assortment of miscellaneous subjects in colour, and was dubbed to be "General Interest". The other two of the sets are "Beauties", for the ladies shown upon them have no names - if they had, they would have been entitled "Actresses". One of these is known, rather strangely, as "Beauties - HUMPS".

The set is first catalogued, rather lengthily, in our original Godfrey Phillips reference book RB.13, issued in 1949. It is really too lengthy for a newsletter, but as soon as I feature what I work out to be the first set that will be a Card of the Day and all of this will be removed and relocated there, only leaving that which specifically applies to our plum coloured background set.

The entry in our original Godfrey Phillips reference book reads : 

• 16. ?100  BEAUTIES - "Plums" (adopted title). Small cards, size 63 x 36 m/m. Unumbered. Fronts printed by letterpress. Backs per Fig,9 in brown. Pre 1908 issue. 
  
  This series is known to have been used by : - 
  
  PHILLIPS - "Plums" ; fronts as follows :- 
       A. Black and white
       B. Figure, etc. in black and white, superimposed plum coloured background
       C. Figure, etc. in black and white, superimposed green coloured background
  
  GLOAG - 
      D. "The Challenge Flat" front - fronts in black and white. 
      E. "The Challenge Flat" front - fronts in brown
      F. "Citamora" front - fronts in black and white. 
  
  MURAI BROS & Co. in the Far East.
  
      G. Coloured fronts
  
  62 cards seen in A-F are illustrated in plates 6 and 7. 45 cards in G have been seen, of which 7 are similar to the subjects illustrated under Nos. 5, 7, 8, 10,  11, 14 and 15. The balance of 38 cards in G, together with the 62 cards illustrated make up a total of 100 different subjects, but it appears probable that each manufacturer made use only of a selection of subjects. 
  
  Of the Phillips issues. it is thought that the first printing was A, of which cards under Nos. 6, 12, 16, 31, and 49-53 have been seen. Some of the cards in this printing bear a comma after the words "Godfrey" on fronts (Nos. 50-53 seen). On other cards the comma has been deleted, in some cases leaving a trace. 
  
  Series B and C, with superimposed coloured backgrounds, were probably prepared together; cards 1-48 have not been seen in one or the other printing, or both. Cards 49-53 have not yet been seen with a coloured background. Cards 50-53 are inscribed "By permission of Byng Inglis, Bristol" and the Gloag card under No,62 also bears this wording. No cards with a coloured background have been seen with a comma after "Godfrey" on fronts. 
  
  One card in the Murai issue is similar in design to No.18 of plate 8. 

The only thing I can add to this is an explanation of "Byng Inglis, Bristol",  for he was the photographer, Frederick Byng Inglis, born in 1862, in Dalston, Hackney, London and dying in Chelsea in 1927. In between those two dates he had studios in at 85 Whiteladies Road, Bristol (between 1891 and 1896) and then at 293 Kings Road, Chelsea, London (from 1896 to 1925). 

By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index the listing for this set is much reduced, and simply reads  :

• BEAUTIES - "PLUMS" (A). Sm. 63 x 36. Inscribed "Plums" at base of front. Unnd. See H.186. ... P50-2
  
  A. Black and white. 10 known
  
  B. Black and white with coloured background in (a) plum (b) green (50)

H.186 is the original handbook, published by the London Cigarette Card Company, and I thought at first the entry in there has very few words, however they continue after the illustrations, so the entire listing reads

• H.186. Beauties - "Plums" (adopted title). Unnumbered series, 64 subjects, illustrated in Figs 186.A, B, and C."  
  
  Pre 1919 
  
     S. Cavander - "S. Cavander & Co., London & Portsea" front. Back headed "Specialities" with 8 brands listed - No.28 seen. 
  
     Phillips - "Plum" front. 
       A. Front in black and white. Nos. 6, 12, 16, 31, 49-53 and 64 seen.
       B. Plum-coloured background. Series of 50 - Nos. 1/49 and 61.
       C. Green coloured background. Series of 50 - Nos. 1/49 and 61.
  
     Gloag - 
      A. "The Challenge Flat" front
            (a) Front in black and white. Back on cream rough board, illustrated in C.N.N., Vol.15, page 65. Two lengths of words, "Challenge Flat" on back (i) 9 cms. (ii) 11 cms. 16 cards seen - Nos. 14, 16, 18, 19, 27, 32, 35, 37, 38, 44, 45, 55, 58, 60, 61, and 63.
            (b) Front in brown. Back on white glossy board, illustrated in C.N.N., Vol.15, page 108. 2cards seen - Nos. 50, and 62.
      B. "Citamora" front in black and white. Back on cream rough board, illustrated in C.N.N., Vol.15, page 97. Back advertises "Citamora and Challenge Flat Brilliantes". 7 cards seen - Nos. 54-60
  
  Overseas - 
  
     Murai - Coloured, with "Murai Bros. & Co...." on front. 
         A. Plain back
         B. Yellow-brown printed back
         49 different subjects seen - Nos. 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 25 and 41.

Regarding the plates which appear in the handbook, they are exactly the same as appear in our Godfrey Phillips books, and which are shown above - Fig.186-A being plate 6, and Fig.186-B being plate 7. I have no idea of what Fig.186-C shows but here it is...

Our knowledge had expanded quite a bit in the fifty years between the issue of the original World Tobacco Issues Index and the updated one, and so that entry is :

• BEAUTIES - "PLUMS" (A). Sm. 63 x 36. Inscribed "Plums" at base of front. Unnd. ... P521-020

1. "Plums" at base in black. See H.186 and RB.113/16.
   
    A. Black and white. 14 known
   
    B. Black and white with coloured background in (a) plum (b) green (50)
    
2.  "Plums" at base in brown. Subjects as "Beauties - "HUMPS". See H.222. (2 known)

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W.C. DOUGLASS Ltd. [trade : flour etc : O/S - Sydney and Newcastle, Australia] "Fountain of Merit Series" (19) 35/108 - DO6-13

I suppose you could say that a rugby ball is much like a plum, or like one which has splatted to the floor and elongated oddly. Which is a neat link to this centenary card, of Duncan Hall Senior, who was born today, at Home Hill, in Queensland, in 1925. 

This was one of the diary dates I wrote down with the feeling that I may not be able to find a card, for his heyday was the 1940s and 1950s, However my rugby loving contact sent me this, which is great. And, he says, one of the few cards that featured him whilst he was still playing, as many of the other ones are retrospectives, though he was still alive until January 2011.

He toured England and France in the late 1940s, and played both for his county, Queensland, and his country, Australia. He was also selected for the 1954 Australian Rugby League World Cup squad, which ought to have led to many more years of what was shaping up to be a glittering career, but he injured his knee and retired in 1956. However he was still held in high esteem, especially for his ethics, and to this day there is a medal, named after him, which is given to the best, but also the fairest player during the Queensland Cup. 

His son, Duncan Hall Junior, was also a rugby player, but rugby union, and a member of the Wallabies. 

This issuer only appears in our original Australian and New Zealand Index, and there is little information about them there, so I will see what I can unearth. From that we know that their first card issues came in the mid 1920s, with a set of 30 motor cars in black and white, and a topical issue of 16 cards showing members of the Middlesex County Cricket team`s tour of Australia in 1928.

Douglass then had a little break from printing cards, and only returned in the first years of the Second World War with some patriotic issues - a set of 48 "Famous British Planes and Pilots" which seems to have had a long run and been reprinted several times to keep the ball rolling - "Planes of Other Nations", a set of 50, which also seems to have been reprinted at least twice, as there are two different grades of board -  "Ships of the Royal Navy", a set of 50, which had a change mid way through to the wording, so you can find it being called either "cards of ships of the Royal Navy", or "cards of the Latest British Warships" - and  "Fighting Ships of Other Nations", a set of 50. I tend to think that when this last set was issued the Royal Navy set was re-issued as British Warships, then the two titles would gel together better. 

It took until 1948 for things to get back to normal, and from then until 1955 they issued three more sets, two of these were nature, "Australian Butterflies" and "Australian Furred Animals", each complete in 45 cards. The other one was our set, described in our original Australian and New Zealand Index as : 

• Fountain of Merit Series 58 x 43. Black. Nd. (108). Album issued. ... DO6-13
  
  Nos 1/12   - Cricket
       13/24   - Golf
       25/36   - Rugby League
       37/48   - Rugby Union
       49/60   - Swimming
       61/72   - Athletics
       73/84   - Jockeys
       85/96   - Boxing
       97/108 - Yachting

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W.D. & H.O. Wills [tobacco : UK - Bristol] "Seaside Resorts" - `Westward Ho` brand (1899) 19/50 - W675-062.F : W62-44.F : W/10 [RB.3/10]

This is the only day I had to ditch. I originally wrote down "1925 Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded", but finding a sleeping car at all let alone an American one that I had not used before, forget it. However if anyone would like to tell me any they know of I will tell you that story next year.

Instead of that I suddenly realised it was Bank Holiday, and discovered that the most popular Bank Holiday resort, according to a poll, was this place, Dawlish. 

Dawlish is all the way down in Devon, split equally twelve miles from both Exeter and Torquay. It`s getting very popular to live there too, with the census rising every time it is taken, though I do hope this is local people deciding to build themselves a house rather than second homers forcing them out of the market.

This would have come to a great shock to the original residents, who were mostly fishermen and salt makers. It was not until the nineteenth century that it changed from a fishing port into a seaside resort. Curiously the name Dawlish, comes from Welsh, and it means either a black, or darkened, river, or the water of the Devil, both of which I have to wonder why, especially as reportedly the Romans called it after the same thing in their language. It turns out that the stream that is today called Dawlish Water used to flood a lot, maybe even causing fatalities, which could account for its evilness being noted down. In fact it also caused the salt makers to decamp, en masse, to Teignmouth, where they did not lose so much of their hard work. And it may also be the reason why nobody actually lived where Dawlish is today, preferring to make their encampments on higher ground. 

The change from fish to tourism started at the end of the eighteenth century, and it was a case of copying the Royals, for George III suddenly decided he would like to move down to the sea in the summer, and he set up his second home in 1789, in Weymouth, also in Dorset. We know that lodging houses had already sprung up in sleepy Dawlish when the map-maker John Swete went there in 1795, and also that he complained that in the summer season the cost of the rooms was much higher than at other times of the year. It is quite astounding how all these things we think of as modern practises have their roots so firmly in the past.

The town was "improved", and the risk of flooding lessened, throughout the nineteenth century, the stream was also engineered to flow straighter, and quicker to the sea, rather than having curves which encouraged it to find its own way there across the land and through the houses. But there was still flooding, the largest, and most devastating, coming on the tenth of November 1810, which destroyed eight bridges and two new houses, and swept the grand lawns into the sea. After that, weirs were built along the stream, which seems to have lessened the effects, though Dawlish is still subject to flooding, and late on February the fourth, 2014, some eighty metres of sea wall was swept away overnight. 

What made Dawlish so popular was the coming of the railways. That began in 1830, with a rather strange train, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to run by vacuum and travel along a tube. The model worked fine but when enlarged it failed to, and though the railway did come to Dawlish, it arrived by a more conventional means of operation. However its arrival also meant that hundreds of workers flooded into town to build it, many of whom, being unable to afford lodgings in town, simply camped in the outskirts.

And, in a rather neat link, the first passenger to arrive in Dawlish by train set foot there on a Bank Holiday - the thirtieth of May 1846. 

This set which shows Dawlish some fifty-five years later, first appears in our original reference book to the cards of W.D. & H.O. Wills, published in 1942. You can read the full text of that on the home page for that set, which you will find with our Card of the Day for the 28th of August, 2024.

The listing for our brand in that book simply reads :

 "Westward Ho!" A fine cut full flavoured smoking mixture for the pipe.

Now if you look at the card this is exactly the phrase which appears in the central box.

We also know that `Westward Ho!` was available as both fine and coarse cut. 

Strangely `Westward Ho!` had nothing to do with the holiday resort, and I do not think that it even appears as one of those featured in this set - if you are lucky enough to track down one of the original advertising postcards for the brand you will see that the image was a pair of Native Americans, sitting outside a tepee.

There is also a much earlier advertisement online at hatads.com, dating from 1882, and this circular image was much used on packaging for the brand.. That has a quote from "Kingsley" - which, when investigated, leads back to an 1855 historical novel called "Westward Ho!", and written by Charles Kingsley.

Yu

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Joseph BARDOU et Fils / Societe JOB [tobacco : cigarette papers : UK - London) "Cinema Stars" - untitled (1926) Un/48 - B097-630 : J18-12.A

Now this set has been featured before, but the newsletter is ever changing and there will be adaptions if a card is found that actually shows a certain event. I just have to change the index. 

And that is what we have here, for, in another centenary, today, in 1925, saw the release of a Metro Goldwyn Mayer silent movie, "The Merry Widow", starring John Gilbert and Mae Murray - and yes, this is a still from that very film.

You may think it odd that an operetta became a silent movie, and it is stranger still when you see pictures of grand ballroom scenes - but remember there were pianists, in the cinema, who provided a soundtrack, at those times. And for more lavish productions, as much of an orchestra as possible would be installed in the space between the seating and the stage.

The operetta was actually quite recent, and had been penned in 1905 by Franz Lehar. It had also already been filmed, in Hungary, in 1918, under the direction of Michael Curtiz. This version was directed and written, or rather adapted, by Erich von Stroheim, and today it is chiefly remembered for the fact that if you watch really closely you will see both Clark Gable, dancing in the ballroom, and Joan Crawford. 

And you can indeed watch it, thanks to YouTube. The copy held by Film Restoration is longest, just five minutes short of two hours and twenty one minutes, which beats many films made today. And during the production it was decided, by Erich von Stroheim, that it needed to be, shall I say, spiced up, a lot - which led to him being removed as the director, much to the delight of Mae Murray, who did not like him at all, and John Gilbert, who had only got the nod for the role over the head of Erich Von Stroheim, who at first had wanted to play the part himself. He also wanted to play another role, when thwarted, but there was a reason to this, as he knew he could not be removed from the set if he was appearing in the film, whilst he could be replaced as director, which they did, but only temporarily - though he came back under several changes and restrictions. 

The basic story is that a prince meets a dancer, and is smitten almost instantly, but she fails to get the same response from his parents, and the couple are parted. She goes off and marries a very rich man, some years older, but he dies. This makes her rich, and suddenly she becomes more acceptable as a prospective royal, but only for her beloved`s cousin. A fight ensues, but in the end all is well, and the couple reunited. There`s a bit more to it than that, but time is getting short! 

The original story, which was not by Franz Lehar, was slightly different. This was a play, written in 1861, by the French author, Henri Meilhac, as "L`Attache s`Ambassade", or the Embassy Attaché. It was still about a rich widow, but more about the struggle to keep her wealth within the local area, rather than allowing her to marry an outsider. 

This card was issued in two versions, one numbered and one unnumbered. The numbered cards are incredibly rare, I hunted and failed. 

Societe Job remains the chief known cigarette paper in France. To explain this, it is possible to buy tobacco, or whatever, and these little papers, and roll your own cigarettes. However they are now owned by Republic Tobacco of Perpignan, though still in France.  Societe Job was never the maker,  it was a man called Jean Bardou, who came up with the idea of making a booklet of rice paper leaves, held together at the top. Before this cigarettes were still rolled, but anything was used as a containing sleeve, with differing results. Monsieur Bardou used his initials on the packaging, but he made an error, and he inserted a diamond shape to break them up rather than a full stop, and also he enlarged it, to almost the same size as the lettering. When the papers became popular, people would ask for them by name, but, not realising the significance of the diamond, imagined it to be a strange form of the letter "O", hence the papers became JOB by default. And Monsieur Bardou did not object, or perhaps he realised that removing it would open the door to someone else patenting it and trading on his mistake. And so in the late 1840s he patented it himself, as "Papier JOB". 

He died in 1852. Then a very curious thing happened, as the brand was auctioned off, and bought, by Jean Bardou`s son, Pierre. Why it was not handed down I have no idea, and have not been able to discover, yet, unless it was a sale due to the father not having enough money to pay his funeral and debts, and perhaps the name was the only thing of value?

There is another oddity too, because there then turns out to be two sons, the other one was called Joseph Bardou, and a year after the auction he started a company, making cigarette papers, which he called "Le Nil". These were flavoured, which sounds rather awful, especially when you see a list of the flavours, for they included licorice, juniper, and aniseed, with, worst of all, the strongly medicated camphor. He tried to sell these to ladies as well, with what must have been varying results. The words "an acquired taste" definitely spring to mind. 

By 1860, Pierre was living in a huge house in Perpignan, so large that it had previously been rented out as apartments. He split it into workshops and living quarters for himself and his workers, who were mostly women. He stayed there until 1879, adding ever more buildings, and even installing a printing machine for his wrappers and promotional material. 

Then there is a huge gap, before, in the 1950s. the company is bought out by another French company called "Zig-Zag". Now they also have a long history, right back to 1855, when they were founded by two brothers, Maurice and Jacques Braunstein. And they had revolutionised the cigarette paper industry by inventing interleaving, a system which allowed the papers to be sold in a booklet which dispensed them one paper at a time. 

Now in our original World Tobacco Issues Indes the set is very elusive. Looking under Societe Job reveals "SOCIETE Job - See JOB". If you do follow that link, then it tells you that "Societe JOB, London" was the "London branch of Paris firm of the same name. Ceased trading 1956. Some cards inscribed "Job Cigarettes" or "Cigarettes Job". Our set comes under section two of their listing, for "issues 1924-28" where it is catalogued as :

• CINEMA STARS (A). Sm. Brown. Unnd.  ... J18-12
  
  A. Size about 58 x 45. (48). See Ha.616. 
  B. Size about 58 x 36. 43 known. See C.N.N. Vol.21, pages 35-36

Ha.616 is a list of the cards, and I will scan that in.

In the updated World Tobacco Issues Index the listing is found after another re-direct but in reverse, so if you look at "SOCIETE J <> B" it says "See BARDOU". The listing there is :

• CINEMA STARS (A). Sizes very variable, plain back ... B097-630
  
  A. Sepia photos. Mostly H & S to half length. Unnd. (48). See H.616
      (a) Size 58 x 45
      (b) Size 58 x 36 (43 known). Similar to (a), with variations in captions and one subject different.
  
  B. Sepia photos. Numbers between 51/86 known. Size 56 x 45, or cut to narrower width (eliminating some numbers). Inscribed with CE monogram.
  
  C. Sepia photos
      1. Size 56 x 45. Nos between 110/192 known
      2. Size 51 x 38. No. 222 seen
  
  D. Reddish brown halftones. Size 57 x 45. (1 known - "Dolly Davis. 39")

The H.616 here links to our updated Handbook, and I will scan that in asap.

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UNIVERSAL Cigarette Card Company [trade : cigarette cards : UK - Twickenham, Middlesex]  "Bonus Card - B Series" (1960?)  UNI-390.6 : UNT-11.3.5

Today, in 1859, I read that the first successful oil well was topped, in Pennsylvania.

That needed a bit of explanation, so I looked it up.

The well was called Drake Well, after the man who drilled it, Edwin Drake, on the banks of a tributary of the Allegheny River which became known as Oil Creek - and, surprisingly, it was indeed the first commercial oil well in the United States of America. The important word there is "commercial", because it was not the first oil well in America, nor in the world, there were lots before, all over the world, and some were even able to raise a considerable amount of oil, albeit accidentally, from the ground. The reason why it was so successful was primarily that the drilling went so deep, almost seventy feet into the earth.

That brings me to the word "topped", which means gaining control of the gusher and harnessing the contents so they may be extracted on demand.

Curiously, it is known that Native Americans already knew it was there, and even stranger, had managed to extract it, though they just waited for it to come out of cracks and then collected and stored it. They used it as medicine, and in healing, and it was in such a way that it was also first used by European colonists, and later, as "mineral-oil" sold by chemists for a huge variety of purposes, mostly to do with lubricating joints, and by quacks for such as baldness and virility.  It seems to have only been discovered that you could burn it and get illumination in the late 1840s, and I am pretty sure it was discovered accidentally.  

The Drake Well is still there, in a little township called Cherrytree Township, which seems a bit sad, for unquestionably the nature, and the cherry trees, took a pounding from the added traffic, the need for workers` houses, and roads, and infrastructure. .

As for Edwin Drake, he was a man of humble beginnings and big dreams, who first appears in 1850 as a conductor for the New York & New Haven Railroad.

He did not stay there very long, on health grounds, but kept dreaming, and maybe even scheming, as in 1857 he came across the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, which was renting a bit of land near Titusville. This was a site which had been used to collect oil for medicinal purposes, and was picked up with an idea to dig deeper into the scrubby ground and then make money selling the oil for the now booming trade in oil lamps. They were looking for partners, and Edwin Drake liked the idea enough to sign up, giving them his entire life savings, which amounted to two hundred dollars. It seems this was a great deal of money to them, and made him part of the company rather than just a shareholder, in which guise he went down to look at the location - and later on, when they founded an offshoot, The Seneca Oil Company, he is listed as being in charge of producing petroleum.  He is also, suddenly, listed as a Colonel, though there is not a trace of where that came along from.

He did have some knowledge though, as he worked out that to dig in horizontally was not going to do the trick, they needed to dig down, vertically, and for some considerable distance, hoping, above all else to hit a cavern in the rock where the oil had pooled, unable to climb up and reach the surface. And he also knew that you could not just drill in without supporting the sides internally, to hold the soil in place and also to prevent water rushing in, and so as he drilled he pushed down sections of cast iron pipe. 

Sadly, he only drilled two more wells. He also never patented his knowledge, so others came along, learned how he did it, and did the same. It seems he even lost his job with the company, and returned to New York, doing various menial tasks. Then, in 1870, he turns up back in Pennsylvania, where the state heard of his plight and awarded him a pension.But he seems to have died not long after, as in 1901 the Standard Oil Company paid for a tomb for him, and at that time he was re-interred from wherever he had been buried, which does indeed sound like an unmarked, pauper`s grave.

It was not until 1946 that the state commemorated his findings by erecting a replica of his well at the site, and, later, turning it into a museum.

This card also needed looking up, though I knew most of the story. However, many of our younger readers may not.

All is explained in our original British Trade Index part two, where, if you follow the wording on this card, you will find the entry reads : "COLLECTORS` SHOP, Twickenham - See UNIVERSAL CIGARETTE CARD CO. LTD". 

Once redirected you find this : 

The UNIVERSAL CIGARETTE CARD Co. Ltd. Twickenham
Includes cards inscribed "U.C.C." and "Collectors Shop, 35 London Road, Twickenham." Cards issued in 1950s and 1960s. 

These cards are split into three sections, which will one day be expanded into a proper home page - or maybe even a card blog about the company - but not yet. However if any reader wants to get in touch and tell me more I will file it away on the page, and maybe even start it over the weekend.

Basically these were as it says in the title, section one for cards with the firm`s name, section two inscribed U.C.C. and : 

3. CARDS INSCRIBED "COLLECTORS` SHOP" (35 London Road). 

BONUS CARDS (A) Sm. 68 x 37. No captions. Unnd. ... UNT-11

1. Bonus Card A, back in black, undated
   (1)  "Bandsmen of the British Army" (25. See D.218
   (2)  Bird on ground with two eggs
    
2. Bonus Card B, back in black, offer expiring 1st August 1959
   (1)  "Bandsmen of the British Army" (25. See D.218
   (2)  Bird with two eggs, second bird walking in water
    
3. Bonus Card C, back in black, competition closing 1st August 1959
         Bird and egg by covered nest
    
4. Bonus Card "A Series", back in blue, undated. Coloured man picking red beans
    
5. Bonus Card "B Series", back in blue, undated. Two oil rigs by pipeline
    
6. Bonus Card "C Series", back in blue, undated. Three coolies planting rice

By the time of our British Trade Index Four, more was known, namely : 

UNT-11  (BONUS CARDS) 

1. Bonus Card A, 
   (2)  Bird on ground with two eggs (Plover)
   (3) Bird on hollow tree trunk (Tree Creeper)
    
2. Bonus Card B
   (2)  Bird with two eggs, second bird walking in water (Avocet)
    
3. Bonus Card C, back in black, competition closing 1st August 1959
   (1)  Bird and egg by covered nest (Wren)
   (2)  Bird and two eggs on seashore (Tern)

In our updated British Trade Index to cards issued before 1970, all has changed and the cards are no longer in these sections. That puts the bonus cards first, listed as : 

BONUS CARDS (A) Inscribed a) "U.C.C." (b) "Collectors Shop" Cards also known with backs in a) green b) blue  ... UNI-390

1. Bonus Card A. Black back, undated
   1.  "Bandsmen of the British Army" No captions. Unnd. (25). See HX-62
   2.  Birds and Eggs Unnd. 2 known
         a) on ground with two eggs (Plover)    b) on hollow tree trunk (Tree Creeper)
    
2. Bonus Card B, Black back, offer expiring 1st August 1959
   1.  "Bandsmen of the British Army" No captions. (25). See HX-62
   2   Birds and Eggs Unnd 1 known. With two eggs, another walking in water (Avocet)
    
3. Bonus Card C, Black back, offer expiring August 1959. Birds and Eggs. Unnd. (2 known)  1. With egg by covered nest (Wren)   2. With two eggs on seashore (Tern)
    
4. 1961-1962. No caption. 
   1. 66 x 35. H & S portrait of Ward Bond. Intended as card No.25 for Barratt set "The Wild West" but withdrawn on his death. 
   2. 68 x 37. Green train on bridge, white "X" and red cross n front of locomotive, 
    
5. Bonus Card "A Series". Man picking red beans, blue undated back. 
    
6. Bonus Card "B Series". Two oil rigs by pipeline, blue undated back. 
    
7. Bonus Card "C Series", back in blue, undated. Three natives picking rices, blue undated back.

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Cereal Foods [trade : breakfast cereal : O/S : Australia] "Popular Film Stars" (1955) - C82-28.C

In yet another centenary, today, in 1925, saw the birth of Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor. And all these names, save the Ronald, appear on our card. However, for some reason they have his date of birth wrong, and give it as August 30th. 

You name it, he did it, he was a dancer, a singer, and a straight actor too, and he was amazingly popular, even moving into television.

Yet it all started with something that this card mentions, but does not really explain, and that was "Francis".  This was actually a 1949 movie, in which he played a soldier befriended by a talking mule, the Francis of the title. Now Francis, of course, could not actually talk, but despite that the film was a huge hit, and they kept on making films together right until 1955. In addition, Donald O`Connor was contracted to the fact that the moment they started another film he would have to drop everything and start work, something which almost certainly impacted on his singing and film career - but all the while he was adamant that this was okay, and making the films was fun. 

Actually, that`s a great story, but honestly it did not start there, because his mum and dad were on the stage, touring with the vaudeville circuit, and as all children of that sort of life know, the moment you are born you are on, even before you can walk, and you learn the trade by osmosis. By the time he could walk he could also dance, sing, and make the audience laugh. He was of Irish heritage, on his father`s side, who was most frequently an acrobat, or the strong man, but strictly for laughs, whilst his mother was more likely seen to be gracefully cantering around the arena on a decorated, but un-saddled horse.

It sounds an idyllic childhood, and it probably was, but when he was two years old both him and his sister were struck by a car whilst heading back to the theatre. She was seven years old, and was killed instantly. Just a couple of weeks later his father died, on stage. mid tour. Some say that his mother, understandably was protective, for he was all that remained, but he did have an older brother, Jack, perhaps who had been away at school, and came back. Together they made an act, and kept the show going. It was mostly comedy, but no stunting, that was the rule, nothing remotely dangerous. She also stopped riding, which is very telling. 

His first movie was in 1937, and he was just eleven - in fact he appeared on screen as part of his family`s act. A Billy O`Connor also appears on the bill, but he does not seem to be part of the family. The film was not a great success, but it did get him another film, and also a contract, with Paramount Pictures. Most of his films were playing flashback scenes, where he was the leading man in their younger days, and it must be said that he seldom resembled them, in the slightest, but it was work, and made money. Then, in 1941, Universal chose him to play opposite Peggy Ryan in an attempt to make a box office rivalry with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. It never really worked, but it did again get him exposure to the general public, who found him charming. 

This ended in 1943, when he was drafted into the Army, and sent overseas. In fact he ended up in the U.S. Army Airforce, but nobody noticed as he filmed for all he was worth whilst he was waiting to leave, and the films were released slowly.  But that meant he was not around, and the studio changed hands without ever meeting him. When he came back they has no idea what he could do, so they just signed him up for a long line of musical comedies. That lasted until he was teamed with Francis, whom we already mentioned.

It was not until 1952 that he received the offer which would change his life, and that was to play a piano player. The film was "Singin  In The Rain", with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, and it won his a Golden Globe, for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical. However he had to cut short his celebration, and race back to make "Francis Goes to West Point". 

The rest of the 1950s saw him cast in several top musicals, and playing the boyfriend of Marilyn Monroe, in "There`s No Business Like Show Business", released in 1954. It also led to another part, opposite Bing Crosby in "White Christmas", but once again his work with Francis held him back - in a whole new way - for he caught an infection off the mule, and Danny Kaye got the "White Christmas" nod. That was more or less the end of the partnership, and after "Francis in the Navy", they parted company, rather oddly, by way of the contract not being renewed by the studio. They did give him a luncheon, at which he was even given a parting gift, of a camera and some reels of film. But it did release him just in time to star at last with Bing Crosby on "Anything Goes", in 1956, and to play one of his heroes, and fellow Vaudeville child, in "The Buster Keaton Story", in 1957

After that he moved ever more into television, becoming a frequent one time guest star on many popular and long running serials. He suffered a heart attack from which he recovered, then was hospitalised in an attempt to conquer his life long depression. He even owned a theatre for some time. In 1990 he had quadruple-bypass heart surgery.

His last film was "Out To Sea", in 1997, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and he was still touring and entertaining at regional theatres for some years after, but his heart was always weak, and it failed him for the last time on September the twenty-seventh, 2003. He was aged seventy-eight, and had been a resident of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital for some time. He left behind his second wife, whom he married in 1956, and four children, one of whom was from his first wife, a lady he married in 1944 and divorced after ten years. 

Cereal Foods was an amalgamation - of Cereal Foods, Kornie Food Co, and Purina Grain Foods, which is why you can find the set with three different fronts. Front A just advertises Crispies and Vita Brits, and you can see that, as well as (soon be able to) read the full listing from our original Australian and New Zealand Index, with our Card of the Day for the 21st of November, 2022. At the moment that still has the same trio of brands as this card, but it will soon be altered to the first, dual branded version, which comes first in the listing. Actually this card started out as that, but it makes more sense to have the first one as the home page, so I have already changed this one but not yet had time to do the other. 

Our card is listed as : 

• Popular Film Stars. 83 x 58. Nd. (30). Three front wordings. Issued 1955.  ... C82-28
  
  A. Crispies - Vita Brits
  B. Crispies - Vita Brits - Kornies
  C. Weeties - Vita Brits - Crispies

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REWE-Sentrale Deutscher Lebensmittel-Grosshandels-Genossenschaften <<G.m.B.h. [trade : grocery : O/S - Cologne, Germany]"Grosse Erfinder - Technik und Verkehr" / Great Inventors - Technology and Transport (19??) 5/10

And, lastly, after rather a lot of biographies, I find that today, in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler patented the motorcycle. And here he is, but sadly not with a motorcycle. Maybe there is a card of a Daimler motorcycle out there somewhere, but I cannot track one down. If I do, I can replace. 

The motorcycle was known as the Daimler Reitwagen, a cobbling together of "reit" meaning to ride and "wagen" or wagon. Unlike a car, you sat astride it, with one leg either side of a framework, and a wheel in front and behind you, mounted in a straight line. It was co-produced by Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885.

And yes, there had been other vehicles that were ridden in such a way, the difference was that this machine we speak of had an engine, which made it a "motor" cycle rather than a cycle. However, to this day, the fact that it was a motorcycle is disputed, because it had two smaller, outrigger wheels alongside the rider, and technically a "bi" cycle can only have two. Even if the reitwagen was allowed to be a cycle, it would have to be listed as a quadricycle. 

Gottlieb Daimler had been interested in engines for some time, almost twenty years, his interest being sparked by the first internal combustion engine, which was on display in Paris in 1861. It was almost certainly why he agreed to become a director at  N.A. Otto & Cie in 1872, who were the world's largest engine manufacturer, and also the creators of the first successful gaseous fuel engine, back in 1864.

In 1876, Daimler, and one of the engineers at the plant, a fellow engine enthusiast called Wilhelm Maybach managed to develop a compressed charge petrol engine, which was such a great invention that the entire company changed its name to Gasmotoren Fabrik Deutz.

Unfortunately there was then what I will call a difference of opinion, and Daimler left, along with Maybach, in order to not only fettle their engine but make it small enough and cheap enough for everyday people to afford. In 1884 his findings had resulted in our vehicle, an engine inserted into a frame which would transport people from place to place. This reitwagon was merely a  testing stage, and a lot of what he found there would be refined and used in his cars; and his intention was never to create a motorcycle, it was just that, at that time, the engine was not strong enough to propel more than a light framework.

Sadly, the original of this vehicle is no more, it was destroyed by a fire in 1903 which swept through the factory. However several replicas have been made and are in museums across the world. 

This card was issued by Rewe, which is the acronym for the Audit Association of Westkauf Co-Operatives, and they started in 1927 in Cologne, Germany. The idea was a good one, to promote independent merchants who separately could only attract limited attention and reach small segments of their local area, and also to buy larger quantities of raw materials at better prices than they could afford alone. Remember this is also pre-internet.

At first it was mostly food stores, and done for help only, but later on it became more organised, and led to standardisation across the group, especially in regards to the look of their shops. The "Rewe" logo was also introduced at this time. To some extent this was done to attract more attention, as the group was expanding quite dramatically, well outside the initial region.

Just before the Second World War, it reached its highest ever level, both in sales and in memberships. However the war years were tough, the shopkeepers were mostly of military age and the shops were often closed officially, or bombed out. Stock, too, was very difficult to come by, and in many areas it was only the purchasing power of the central Rewe group that managed to carry shops through to 1945. And the group, too was affected by the same problems, in fact their headquarters, which you remember were in Cologne, were forced to relocate twice because of allied bombing raids. 

After the war, rationing was still in force. This led to the first ever own label brands, for flour and margarine, which meant that the company could buy it, brand it, and deliver it to the stores far more easily than the stores could replace their former supplies.And as the years went by, more shops came into the group. In fact at one time there were talks between themselves and another similar chain, with the idea to merge, but this was not allowed, they would have controlled too much of the home market.