Newsletter - 2025-12-20

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LOUIT-Freres [trade : chocolate : O/S - France] "Cherubins musicaux" / musical cherubs (1900) Un/??

Our first diary date celebrates Christmas in song, and raises up our voices together for a spot of carolling. For today is actually #GoCarollingDay. 

Now a carol does not have to be old, or even religious, or even connected with Christmas - for the root of the word means simply "to sing with joy. What we have to be joyful about is not even laid down in any rule-book. And in actual fact it also covers dancing, not just singing. 

We have no proof but we think the tradition of short poems and rhymes started with the pagans, as a way to celebrate the Winter Solstice. This idea was then taken over, and made more religious, by the early Christians, some say in the hope that the pagans would join them and become part of their faith, though as the Christian songs were sung in Latin and seldom joyful it is very doubtful many pagans came aboard.

The return to a freer, more joyful song was down to St. Francis of Assisi, who converted the religious songs into more modern, and local, language and used them in nativity plays. These spread from Italy right across Europe, and eventually to Britain, where a booklet, written by John Awdlay, in 1426, lists twenty-five "caroles of Christemas. 

The heyday of the carol was the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when many of our favourites were born. As the years went by the carols changed, becoming more diverse, and also covering more modern subjects. At the same time they seem to have returned to the original form, of songs for joy, making them ever more accessible to the people of today - and also helping them to continue to grow, not just be seen as something out of date and boring. 

This card is definitely not boring, there is that cute little cherubim, climbing over a line of musical notes. I wonder if there are other cards in the series, and what form they take? Does the music alter, or are more or different cherubs added? Most of all I wonder whether that music is playable, or if it is a well known tune? If you know this, do please tell. The email, as always, is webmaster@card-world.co.uk

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W. & F. FAULKNER [tobacco : UK - London] "Our Colonial Troops" (1900) 52/90 - F150-250.B : F14-11.B

Today in 1883 saw the founding of the Cavalry School Corps, in Quebec City, Canada.  This was the first full time, professional, and trained cavalry unit in the whole of Canada.

We know that its first commander was Captain J. F. Turnbull of the Queen`s Own Canadian Hussars, and that he recruited British officers to assist him, including George Baxter, who was the Regimental Sergeant Major, and came to Canada from Aldershot.

The unit saw service first in 1885, against Native Americans, during what has become known as the North West Rebellion. The newly renamed Canadian Dragoons were then sent to South Africa, for the Second Boer War, during which they were given a new name, of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. This is when they started appearing on cards, because all the cards I know of have that "Royal" in their regimental title. These are : 

• * Charlesworth & Austin "Colonial Troops" (1900)
•    Goodbody "Types of Soldiers" unnumbered
• * Harvey & Davy "British Colonial Troops" (1900) card 24
•    Murray "War Series K" unnumbered
•    Godfrey Phillips "Types of British Soldiers" card 673
• * Roberts "Colonial Troops"
   
• * Jas. Bigg "Colonial Troops" (1901)
• * Brankston "Colonial Troops" (1901)

Under that name, they fought in both World Wars; in fact, they still took their horses into battle right until 1940, when they converted to using armoured cars.

And today, now part of N.A.T.O., they are in Ukraine. 

This set, and its sibling, for there are two versions, is first described in our original, and first ever Cartophilic reference book RB.1, published in 1942, as : 

• 1900.  90. OUR COLONIAL TROOPS (titled series). Size 2 3/8" x 1 1/2". Numbered 1 - 90 on fronts. Fronts, lithographed in full colours; no margins. "Our Colonial Troops" and title above subject. "Grenadier Cigarettes", "W. & F. Faulkner Ltd., London, S.E" at base in brown. Backs, plain. 
   
•            90. OUR COLONIAL TROOPS (titled series). As above but with "Union Jack Cigarettes" "W. & F. Faulkner Ltd., London, S.E" at base. Backs, plain. Printer unknown.

Its next appearance is in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, fourteen years later, and in those years there has been a discovery relating to the "Grenadier" version, for here it appears as : 

• "OUR COLONIAL TROOPS". Nd. (90) ... F14-11
  
  A. "Grenadier Cigarettes" - (a) with - (b) without word "Copyright"
  
  B. "Union Jack Cigarettes" . Without word "Copyright"

This means that the initial issue has to have been the non-copyrighted "Grenadier Cigarettes" one, after which someone seems to have attempted to reuse the images and Faulkner applied for to set up copyright. 

There has been another discovery by the time our World Indexes were updated and combined into just two volumes and a handbook, and that is even more intriguing, for it reads : 

• "OUR COLONIAL TROOPS". Nd. (90) ... F150-250
  
  A. "Grenadier Cigarettes" - (a) with (1/30) - (b) without word "Copyright" (1/90)
  
  B. "Union Jack Cigarettes" . Without word "Copyright" (31/90)

More research needed, methinks.....

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Liebig [trade ; meat extract : O/S - South America] "Serenades de Carnaval" (1898) S.549

If you had been around, in London, in the year 1716, on this day, I wonder if you would have been interested in nipping along to Lincoln's Inn Theatre, and watching what is sometimes said to be the first pantomime ?

Actually it was not the first pantomime, something made obvious by the fact that the word is Latin, formed of the word for all (panto), and the word for dance (mimos). It did not mean lots of people dancing though - when this form of entertainment began, in ancient Rome, it was one man playing all the parts, with the help of masks, and costume changes. 

It is said that this spread to England with the Romans, and was copied by local people. However, these local performances are not known until the middle ages, some time after the Romans had left. Also the early tales were morality tales, like St. George and the Dragon, not the fun, music,  and dance we connect with panto today.

We do know that back in Italy, the home of the Romans, the use of masks and costumes developed into a kind of musical theatre, and that this formed an offshoot called commedia dell'arte. Almost immediately this paid its actors, making it awhilst  profession, as well as an entertainment. It was humour, but also had strict rules and defined characters - a rich, older man, his servant, a pair of lovers, and a braggart. The rich old man would come to be called Pantalone, or Pantaloon - and he had one servant who provided the laughter, whose name was Clown, a name which would come to be connected with all funny characters, plus a more sensible servant called Arlecchino,or Harlequin. At first the lovers were separate characters, often married in real life, but slowly they stepped back and a new character, called Columbine, came along. She was the daughter of Pantaloon, and the love interest of Harlequin, though she was also allowing herself to be courted by a sad faced clown in white called Pierrot, heedless of the fact that he had a girlfriend, called Pierette, who was so in love with him that she mirrored his costume. 

Our card shows all four of these people and all manner of tales could be told as to the outcome. 

The set is one of the most beautiful of all the Liebigs, and has retained its colour. The cards are available in French (as ),  German (as "Carnevals Serenaden"), and Italian (as "Serenate di Carnevale") names 

• (G) An den Mond - Kapitan Fracassa, Harlekin, Polichinell u Pierrot 
  ( I ) A La Luna -  Capitan Fracassa, Arlechinno, Pulcinella e Pierrot,
• (G) An Pierette - Polichinell, Pierette u Pierrot 
  ( I ) A Pierette  - Pulcinella, Pierrette e Pierrot 
• (G) Auf den Dachern - Pierrot a Pierette
  ( I ) Sui Tetti - Pierrot e Pierrette
• (F) Aux Etoiles - Pierrot, Arlequin, Capitaine Fracasse et Polichinelle
  (G) An Du Sterne - Pierrot, Harlekin, Kapitan Fracassa u Polichinell
  ( I ) Alle Sterre - Pierrot, Arlechinno, Capitan Fracassa e Pulcinella
• (G) Im Schnee - Harlekin, Kapitan Fracassa u Columbine
  ( I ) Nella Neve - Arlecchino, Capitan Fracassa, e Colombine
• (G) In Der Gondel - Columbine, Pierrette, Harlekin, u Pierrot
  ( I ) In Gondola - Colombine, Pierette, Arlecchino, e Pierrot

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MURRAY Sons & Co. Ltd [tobacco : UK - Belfast, Ireland] "Dancers" (1929) 18/26 - M970-635 : M164-45

Today in 1773 the Moscow State Academy of Choreography was founded, and became the school of dancing for the Bolshoi - which at that time was not a ballet company at all, it was an orphanage, founded by order of Catherine the Second ten years before. 

However this was not the oldest ballet school in Russia, that honour goes to the Imperial Ballet School at St. Petersburg, founded in 1738 by Empress Anna. 

The first dancing master at our school was the Italian Filippo Beccari, a shadowy figure. We do not know when he was born, or how he got to Russia, only that he came to our school from the Imperial Ballet School at St. Petersburg, along with his wife, a ballerina. They were there from 1773 until 1778 and then he was replaced by a French teacher called Leonard Paradise - and I have found nothing about him at all. 

Our lady, Tamara Platonovna Karsavina, was born on the ninth of March 1885 in St. Petersburg, and was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet. From 1910 she was part of the famed Ballet Russes, run by Sergei Diaghilev (whose name is spelt wrong on this card, and others - as Diagheleff - rather a strange error for a set devoted to dancers).

In 1904 the choreographer and dancer Mikhail Fokine asked her to marry him. Her mother said it was not a good idea, and Ms. Karsavina reluctantly agreed. However it led to much ill feeling between the two, which even affected her career. Her mother then got involved again and told her to marry someone else, a civil servant, which she did, but they were not happy, and divorced in 1917. Then she ignored her mother, and married the British Diplomat Henry Bruce. They had one son, Nikita, who was born in 1916. 

The new family moved to England, setting up home in Hampstead, quite close to Anna Pavlova, who had been a fellow student, and quite a rival, at both the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballet Russes. Both also knew Mikhail Fokine. It is not certain if this rivalry was ever settled. 

We do know that our lady continued to be involved with ballet, and that later in life helped to set up the Royal Ballet  and the Royal Academy of Dance. And this is not her only appearance in the set for she can be found as number 24 as well.

Sadly we know much less about our set, and I have not even managed a full list yet...

1.  
2.  Greta Fayse
3.  Elisia Alanova
4.  Violet Dunn
5.  Enid Stamp Taylor
6.  Vera Bryer
7.  Greta Fayse
8.  
9.  Violet Dunn
10.  Billee Maye
11.  
12.  
13.  
14.  Elisia Alanova
15.  Enid Stamp Taylor
16.  Violet Dunn
17.  Billee Maye
18.  Tamara Karsavina
19.  Joan Pickering
20.  Greta Fayse
21.  Anton Dolin and Partner
22.  Billee Maye
23.  Zoe Palmer
24.  Tamara Karsavina
25.  
26.  

All we have is the very scant description in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which is : 

• DANCERS. Sm. 63 x 40. Black and white photos. Nd. (26) ... M164-44

And this exact text appears in our updated version, save a new card code of  M970-635

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Themans Ltd. [tobacco : UK - Manchester] "Film Stars" - B6 (1914) 28/??

Tonight, in 1818, the Christmas song "Stille Nacht" (or Silent Night) was first performed, at the parish church of Oberndorf in Austria. 

This is a tale of twists and circumstances, for the words had been written two years earlier, by Joseph Mohr, who had arrived in the town just a year before. The words may have sat in his desk forever, and never been set to music, but for the fact there had been a flood, which had damaged the church and rendered the organ unplayable. It would not be Christmas Eve without music, so the priest and the organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, got together and tried to think of entertainments. Then the priest wondered if his words might not be set to music, so that a variety of instruments could be used. And the result was the tune we celebrate tonight.  

Joseph Mohr was born in Salzburg on the eleventh of December 1792. His mother did sewing and embroidery, and his father had been a soldier, but had deserted, and was on the run. He ran from the child too, and left before he was born. 

Sadly some of his father`s inability to settle rubbed off on to our man, and he left Obersdorf in 1819. We know that he served as priest at many churches, and travelled light. And that any salary he was given was either handed to a charity, or used to start one - for abandoned children, to send poor children to school, and for the elderly who had fallen on hard times. And on the fourth of December, 1848 he died, of respiratory disease. 

I have gone off on a bit of a tangent here and gone for a silent film star. This is John Bunny and he ought to be better known than he is, if only because he was the first actor to play Charles Dickens` eponymous Mr. Pickwick on the big screen.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September the twenty-first, 1863 and started out working in a general store. For a bit of much needed fun he joined a minstrel show, and he liked that, a lot more than the general store, so he went on the stage.

Then in 1910 he joined the Vitagraph Film Studios, and would go on to make over a hundred and fifty films, many of them with a lady called Flora Finch, who film-goers believed was his wife, but was not - his wife was called Clara Scanlan, but she chose to stay out of the limelight, and the papers, and raise their two children at home. 

The Pickwick Papers was released in 1913, in three parts, each a separate part of the book - "The Adventure of the Honourable Event", "The Adventure at the Westgate Seminary", and "The Adventure of the Shooting Party". Sadly the last section no longer exists. It was billed as an authentic recreation of the novel, and was filmed on location in Kent, something that it appears Mr. Bunny had suggested.  

The filming was not without incident and huge crowds gathered to watch. This was quite unusual for the time, and Mr. Bunny became quite the fan favourite, with filming frequently being stopped so that he could sign autographs.

However when the film was released in America it was not a great success, mainly because it was more serious than his former knockabout comedies. Sadly, not too long after this Mr Bunny started suffering from kidney trouble, and he died, of Bright`s Disease, on April the twenty-sixth, 1915 .

Themans issued two sets of silk film stars, but neither appear with their listing in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, there is only a note in the header to say "For Anonymous Silks probably issued by the firm see ZP3-1". And actually they are not there either, though the wording which appears, under "Anonymous Issues (4) - Silks"  and sub section "1.B - Plain Backed Silks" does explain our numbering - and is as follows. 

1. B  PLAIN BACKINGS. This grouping covers silks which were actually issued with plain backing. Many silks are found with plain backings of various kinds added by collectors. 
   
   (a) SILKS WITH BLUE BORDER. Thick board backins. Specimens seen are mostly remainders. Believed to have been issued by Themans about 1912-1917, reported as existing also with firm`s name rubber stamped on backing. 
   
        MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS (A). See Ha.500. Numbered in series ... ZP3-1
   
            1. Series B.1.  Flags. Md. 96 x 50 (?  8)
            2. Series B.3   Regimental Badges. Md. 66 x 50. (? 12)
   
                  [ our series, B.6 would fit in here ]
   
            3. Series C.1.  Flags. Lg. 65 x 55. (? 2) 
            4. Series C.2.  Flags. Lg. 70 x 65  (? 1)
            5. Series C.3   Regimental Badges. Lg.. 77 x 64. (? 4)
            6. Series C.4   Crests of Warships   Lg.. 77 x 64. (? 2)
            7. Series D.1   Royal Standard. Extra Lg. 138 x 89 (? 1)
            8. Series D.2   Shield of Flags.  Extra Lg. 138 x 89 (? 1)
            9. Series D.3   Regimental Badges. Extra Lg.. 138 x 89. (? 1)

These all appear in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but have now been relocated to Themans, beneath a header which reads "Silk Issues. Plain paper backed silks with Firm`s name rubber stamped. See H.500. Numbered in series. Series seen indicated with * ". These series are B.1, C.1, C.2, D.1, and D.2 . Our set is still not amongst the list. It then directs you to the back of the book again, where a table appears of all the sets, again not ours, though this does prove that there have been some discoveries of new cards, and even sets, for it reads : 

• (a) SILKS WITH BLUE BORDER. Thick board backings. Specimens seen are mostly remainders. Believed to have been issued by Themans about 1912-1917, reported as existing also with firm`s name rubber stamped on backing. 
  
        1. Series B.1.  Flags. Md. 96 x 50 (? 12)
        2. Series B.2   Flags. Md. 50 x 66 (? 12)
        3. Series B.3   Regimental Badges. Md. 66 x 50. (? 12)
        4. Series B.4  Ships Badges. Md. 66 x 50 (? 12)
  
                [ our series, B.6 would fit in here ]
  
        5. Series C.1.  Flags. Lg. 65 x 55. (? 12) 
        6. Series C.2.  Flags. Lg. 70 x 65  (? 4)
        7. Series C.3   Regimental Badges. Lg.. 77 x 64. (? 4)
        8. Series C.4   Crests of Warships   Lg.. 77 x 64. (? 4)
        9. Series D.1   Royal Standard. Extra Lg. 138 x 89 (? 2)
      10. Series D.2   Shield of Flags.  Extra Lg. 138 x 89 (? 1)
      11. Series D.3   Regimental Badges. Extra Lg.. 138 x 89. (? 1)

Our set is the smaller sized one and is called the "B" series, taken from the prefix to the numbers. The other is a larger, postcard sized set, called the "D" series, for the same reason. 

Our set contains these and possibly more  : 

• B6-2 Chrissie White
• B6-3 Alma Taylor
• B6-9 Pimple 
• B6-16 Cleo Madison
• B6-18 Nell Craig
• B6-21 Thomas Santschi
• B6-23 Baby Lilian Wade
• B6-25 Mabel Normand
• B6-26 Leo Delaney
• B6-27 Rose E. Tapley
• B6-28 John Bunny
• B6-34 Mabel Normand
• B6-35 Mabel Normand
• B6-37 Chaplin As He Really Is
• B6-39 Gertrude McCoy
• B6-40 Miriam Nesbitt
• B6-43 Charlie Chaplin
• B6-44 Charlie Chaplin And His Girl
• B6-45 Anna Little
• B6-46 Mary Pickford
• B6-48 Gaby Deslys

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AMERICAN Chicle Co [trade : "Kisme" chewing gum : O/S -  Louisville, Kentucky, USA] "Portraits of Civil War Confederate Generals" (1890) 110/141 

This is a very unusual Christmas tale, but today in 1868 President Johnson gave out a very special present, when he pardoned all Confederate veterans. 

Strangely, article two of the American Constitution does give the President the power to pardon anyone who commits an offense, even one against his country. The only exception is in the case of impeachment. And so President Johnson was able to pardon thousands of former Confederate troops in one sitting.

However the story is more interesting than that, because there had been lots of pardons since the end of the American Civil War in 1865 - and one even a few days before the surrender. There was a codicil though, that the former soldier had to promise never to go to War against the American nation again, and that they had to free any slaves that they owned. 

There was a list of exceptions to this though, and he would not pardon anyone who had been at military school, former governors and high ranking officials, or anyone with property valued at over twenty thousand dollars unless they filed a petition with the President himself. 

Many of these had gained their pardons, in a series of amnesties between 1864 and 1867, but there was still a core of those former governors and high ranking officials who were holding out, and who did not care if they were pardoned or not. In fact, in many cases, they got quite a bit of pleasure from knowing that they were still outlaws. And they also knew that it would be quite a show trial if they were tried for treason. In effect, they were getting away with it.

This much rankled the President. Then either he, or someone else brilliant, came up with a plan. And that was to pardon all surviving veterans at once, with the statement that he did "declare unconditionally and without reservation, to all and to every person who, directly or indirectly, participated in the late insurrection or rebellion a full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States or of adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of all rights, privileges, and immunities under the Constitution and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof".

This did mean that technically the hardcore rebels got away with it, but it made him look magnanimous, and, more importantly, their bragging rights as outlaws were no more. 

Our man, Basil Wilson Duke, was born on the twenty-eighth of May, 1838, in Georgetown, Kentucky, the son of a Naval Officer. Both his parents died before he was twelve, and he was sent to college, after which he started to practise law.

Three years later the American Civil War began. Almost immediately our man was involved, starting with drafting the plans for Missouri leaving the United States. He also founded The Minute Men and took on the leadership. He also attempted to take over the arsenal in St. Louis. And all the time he was picking fights, starting fires. He was charged with arson, treason, you name it, but escaped, and set up home in Kentucky. 

Even marriage did not settle him, but then his bride was sister to Confederate general John Hunt Morgan. And by 1861 the two were fighting together in the same unit, Morgan`s Raiders.

Our man was wounded, thought missing, presumed killed, captured by the Union, imprisoned, and every time returned to the war. After Morgan was killed in 1864, our man took full control. Then his luck ran out, and he surrendered on May the tenth, 1865.

After the war was over he went back to practising law. He also wrote many books on the American Civil War, including one on Morgan`s Cavalry - and it is due to him that the Shiloh and Corinth battlefields are now preserved as National Memorials . But he was always feisty, and there is strong support for him being involved in some way with the assassination of William Goebel in 1900.

When our man died, on September the sixteenth, 1916, (almost thirty years after this set was issued) he was one of the last Confederate officers still left alive. But his last few years were plagued with ill health, his blood circulation was poor, almost certainly why his right leg was amputated in stages, the last operation being just a few days before he died. 

These cards are quite small, just an inch by an inch and a quarter.They were designed to fit in a twelve page album measuring 10" high x 7.5" wide, which is actually titled "Confederate Portrait Album", which had squares in which to stick the cards, beneath which was the information on each card.

The portraits were issued with the gum, but if you could also send in a hundred wrappers and twenty-five cents in cash, and you would receive a complete set in exchange.

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TOPPS [trade/commercial : cards : O/S - USA] "Holiday" (22 October 2025) 41/200 

To close our celebrations, today is #NationalCandy Cane Day.

This toothsome treat is more an American tradition than it is in Great Britain, but for the uninitiated, a candy cane is a hard sweet, in the shape of a walking stick with a curved end. 

Or that is how it is now, for reportedly the first candy cane was just like a long thin stick of striped "seaside rock". That reputedly appeared in 1844, though it was later revealed that it was only the striping that had been added, the stick of hard candy had been around for some time.

And if you look outside America, you will discover that a similar long stick shaped hard boiled sweet was known in Germany and neighbouring countries as far back as the seventeenth century.

Despite that there is no mention of candy canes in books or magazines until 1866, and the Christmas connection only happened in 1874. 

Today the shape of the candy cane is reproduced as ornamentation - to hang on trees, much enlarged to push in the ground along the path to your house, and even illuminated ones.

They are not quite so popular yet as they are in America though, so we have chosen an American card for today. This is a really recent set, only issued in the last month, and it is cards from Topps 2025 Baseball set enhanced by the addition of festive frames, and even parts of the picture being given a Christmas twist.

Look at the bat on our card, and you will see it is candy-cane striped. His sleeve is also coloured in a blue festive design. And the frame is certainly Christmassy. But if you look even closer, he is playing on a field of snowflakes... 

Our man is Peter "Pete" Crow Armstrong, of the Chicago Cubs. And according to the Trading Card Database, he first appeared on a card in 2017, and now appears on over four thousand.... 

However he only started his Major League Baseball career in 2023 - the earlier cards are from the junior leagues, in which he started playing in 2014, with the Under-12s.

Another thing we must point out is that his first season in the minor leagues, with the New York Mets, saw him hit not a single ball on the field of play - the season being cancelled by covid,