Newsletter - 2026-01-31

Saturday, 24th January 2026

Now our first clue card was a man born in that month - and  not actually a set issued in February, simply because the only three football sets I know to have been issued in that month are already shown, these being 

• Amalgamated Press "English League (Div.1) Footer Internationals" (1926), 
• Daily Sketch "World Cup Souvenir Cards" (1970)
• Topps "F.C. Barcelona 125th Anniversary" (2025)

but if you know others, especially from boy`s magazines, which are usually dated, just tell us. 

So here we have James "Jimmy" Peter Greaves was born on the 20th of February 1940 at Manor Park in Essex, and grew up in the same county, but relocated to Hainault. Nowhere seems to mention where he played football as a child, or a youth, but we know that somewhere he was spotted by Jimmy Thompson, who was working as a talent scout for Chelsea, and in 1955 he was signed by that team, as an apprentice. Unlike many new recruits, he seems to have spent very little time on the bench, and managed to score fifty one goals in his first season. 

He turned professional in the summer of 1957, and not long after that made his first appearance on a card, number 17 of Barratt`s "Famous Footballers" (A6), issued in 1958. Already he is known as Jimmy Greaves, and the text on this card describes him as "Chelsea`s young inside-forward". It then says he "was born in London" which we know is incorrect. However it does tell us that he made "...his first League appearance at the beginning of the 1957-58 season, he was immediately chosen for the Young England team v. Bulgaria, September, 1957, and later against Roumania and Scotland. Also played for London v. Lausanne, October 1957, in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup match."

We get a bit more information from his next appearance, on card 36 of Cadet Sweets` 1958 set of "Footballers", and a foretaste of the future, for that tells us "If any player ever seemed certain of many International Caps it is young Jimmy Greaves of Chelsea. He was considered too young last season to play for England, but his play certainly merited the highest honours."

His third cartophilic appearance came later that year, and fills in several blanks - it was card number 10 of  D.C. Thompson`s "World Cup Footballers",  issued with "The Wizard" comic, which he shares with Peter Brabrook, for there are two portraits on each card. In fact the portrait is the same one that is used for the Cadet Sweets set, only trimmed down to a square (and Cadet uses it again, full size, for their next sets of footballer cards, issued in 1959 and 1960.) His section of the text on the Wizard card, which is also split,  describes him as : "Inside forward from Manor Park. Turned senior with Chelsea. Before that played for Lakeside Manor Boys Club and Dagenham, Essex, and London Schools. Honours include London F.A. Youth International and England Under 23". 

Jimmy Greaves remained with Chelsea until April 1961, when AC Milan of Italy bought him. He appears as being at "Milan" for the first time on Barratt`s "Famous Footballers" (A.9), where it reveals that "The Italian club paid £100,000 to sign goal-grabber Greaves from Chelsea." However he did not enjoy living in Italy, and almost immediately started approaching British clubs with an eye to coming back.

This led to an offer from Tottenham Hotspur, and he returned home, to them,  in December 1961. The first set where he is identified as being with them is card 34 of Barratt`s "Famous Footballers" (A.10), the text of which reads "Spurs were happy to pay Milan nearly £100,000 for goal-snatching Jimmy in November, 1961, after he had spent only a few, unhappy months in Italy after his transfer from Chelsea..." 

Strangely, these transfer figures are disputed by A. & B. C. Gum, on card 28 of their 1969-70 "Footballers", where they state that he was "...transferred to the Italian club Milan for £80,000 in April 1961 [and] Tottenham paid £99,999  for him in November of the same year."

In 1970 he was traded to West Ham United, and retired the following year. But retirement did not suit him, he was frequently bored, and so he went back to football with the non-league teams of Brentwood, Chelmsford, Barnet, and Woodford, but then decided enough was enough and left the pitch forever, at least as a player, for he had an intriguing offer to commentate in games, which led to several appearances on television, including in his own show, "Saint and Greavsie", with fellow ex-footballer Ian St, John, which ran for six years on ITV. 

In our original British Trade Index part two, where it appears as : 

KELLOGG Company of Great Britain Ltd.
Cereals. Cards issued 1952-67. 

• INTERNATIONAL SOCCER STARS. Sm. Nd. (12) ... KEO-3

This is slightly altered in our updated version, which reads : 

• KELLOGG Co. of Great Britain Ltd.
  Cereals. Cards issued 1949-71 

• INTERNATIONAL SOCCER STARS. 1961. 67 x 37. Sm. Nd. (12). Free folder issued ... KEL-290

The twelve men in the set are : 

1. J. Armfield Blackpool
2. J. Baker Hibernian
3. R. Charlton Manchester United 
4. B. Douglas Blackburn Rovers
5. R. Flowers Wolverhampton Wanderers
6. J. Greaves Chelsea
7. J. Haynes Fulham
8. M. McNeil Middlesbrough
9. R. Robson West Bromwich Albion
10. R. Smith Tottenham Hotspur
11. R. Springett Sheffield Wednesday
12. P. Swan Sheffield Wednesday

Sunday, 25th January 2026

Our second clue card, was indeed a February set, and it seems to be a very little known one indeed, though the subjects are really interesting - and not all buildings, for there are trains, cars, and ships. The set is a short one though, just twenty-five cards, which seems odd, as there were surely at least twenty-five more to make it a fifty.

As to why we chose this card, it is because this is the Singer building, and, although not mentioned on the card, this was the Singer who made the sewing machines, and issued those lovely large format cards that many of us collect. It was built in New York in 1896 by architect Ernest Flagg, as the headquarters of that Singer Sewing Machine Corporation, and, thanks to an extension, a decade later, once the tallest building in America - at 630 feet - with only the Eiffel Tower being higher on a worldwide scale (984 feet). And it remained America`s tallest building from 1908 to 1909, when the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower was topped out at 699 feet.

In fact our structure was two buildings in one, as you can see on our card - a bottom section, called the Singer Building, and the Singer Tower, with a lantern and flagpole on top, mainly to add to the height .

The tower was opened to the public on May the 1st, 1908. However, in 1921, the entire building was put up for sale. It was sold, in 1926, to a shadowy figure, said to be acting for the Utilities Power and Light Corporation, but this sale seems to never have gone through, and in 1961, when it was sold, to Webb and Knapp, a real estate firm, it was sold by Singer.

These new owners started people worrying, that the building would be radically altered, changing the skyline for ever, and petitions and campaigns began. These got it classified as an important building, but for some reason it was never registered on the list of New York City landmarks. In any event, Webb and Knapp, despite their business, made no attempt at developing the site, only stating that they hoped to interest the New York Stock Exchange to move there. But when this did not work out, by 1964 they sold the building, to United States Steel, which, quite wrongly, stopped the protests - for, in 1967, United Steel had it demolished, along with the City Investing Building, and replaced with an office block, known today as One Liberty Plaza.

This set first appears in our original reference book to the issues of Ogden`s Ltd, RB.15, published in 1949, as : 

• 145, 25. RECORDS OF THE WORLD. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in blue with descriptive text. Home issue, 1908. 

Its next entry is in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, where the description is altered, and slightly shortened, to : 

• RECORDS OF THE WORLD. Sm. Nd. (25) ... O/2-112 

And this is identically listed in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, as :

• RECORDS OF THE WORLD. Sm. Nd. (25) ... O100-450 

Monday, 26th January 2026

This is one of the sets that I am not fond of, but this scene of the huntsman with his hounds could be innocent enough, and I will just hope that every fox they hurtled after that day managed to get away and laugh from the safety of their lair. And I was also able to write it up to tell the story of the painting, which I found very interesting, and I hope you will too.

But I still say this is a very dated set to have been issued as late as 1938, unless it was as a lament for the country ways in general, which were already dying out, and were set to disappear entirely with the coming of yet another war.

There is something very unusual about this card, for the image is much lightened up from the original, which you can see as part of the government`s art collection. Actually, as it tells us on the back of the card, it was "One of four plates of the "Hunter`s Annual, No.1", drawn on stone by J. W. Giles after the painting by Richard Barrett Davis : published in 1836 by A. H. Baily, 83, Cornhill, London (Reproduced by courtesy of the British Museum)". 

John West Giles specialised in painting sporting and animal subjects, but very often, as in this case, they were copies of contemporary works. We think he was related to, perhaps even the brother of, James William Giles; both lived together in Aberdeen, in  the late 1820s, early 1830s and the similarity of the initials is also often a clue. However our man was in London by the end of the 1830s, and though we know he did return, he never again used an Aberdeen address. We also know that he knew Richard Barrett Davies, the artist of the original work, quite well, as the two collaborated on "The Hunter`s Annual, No.1". 

Richard Barrett Davis was born in Watford, which was, at that time, very rural. His father was a huntsman with George III`s pack of hunting harriers, and that is probably how George III saw some of our man`s art and placed him with a succession of art tutors, ending up at the Royal Academy, where he first had a painting exhibited in 1802. Then, in 1831, he was appointed Animal painter to the Royal Household, originally for King William IV, and later for Queen Victoria. Our painting was drawn for, and perhaps commissioned by Lord Forester, and more about him later.

The other name mentioned above is "A. H. Baily, 83, Cornhill, London". They were printers and publishers, and are best known today for their publication of "Baily`s Monthly Magazine - Sports and Pastimes" which began in 1860.             

The only person who is rather sketchy is the subject T. "Thomas" Goosey. All it says on this card comes from a book called "Hunting Reminiscences" by `Nimrod` (pseudonym of C.J. Apperley, who was born in 1779 and died in 1843). The quotation is "...Goosey, once huntsman to the Duke of Rutland, and afterwards to Lord Forester. As a horseman, he claims a first place, being just what a man should be to assist hounds in a flying country like his. He had an eye like a hawk - very quick to his points, and was a more than commonly sportsmanlike-looking person on his horse."

From the front we know he was attached to the Belvoir Hunt. This was in Leicestershire, and was run under the control of the Dukes of Rutland. Thomas Goosey joined the Belvoir in 1817, and stayed until 1841, and he was succeeded by Will Goodall, who took over in the following year, staying until 1859. The only time, right up until 1896, that a Duke of Rutland was not in direct control was between 1829 and 1859, when a nephew, Lord Forester, was appointed - and it is for that Lord Forester that this painting was done.                

This set, or rather this pair of sets, first appears in our original John Player reference book, RB.17, as : 

• 140. 25 "OLD HUNTING PRINTS" . Large cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey, with details of print and quotations in view. Issued February 1938. 
  
  A. Home issue, with I.T.C. Clause
  
  B. Channel Islands issue, without  I.T.C. Clause

By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, in 1955, these two were no longer together.

The home issue is recorded under section 2 of the Player listings, for "Issues with I.T.C. Clause" and sub section B, for "Issues 1922-29, excluding cards with adhesive backs". And its entry reads : 

• "OLD HUNTING PRINTS" . Lg. Nd. (25). See RB.17/140 ... P72-117

The Channel Islands issue is recorded under section 3 of the Player listings, for "Export Issues without I.T.C. Clause" and sub section C, for "Issues 1935-39. Chiefly in Channel Islands and Malta. Small size 67-68 x 35-36, large 79 x 82 m/m". And its entry reads : 

• "OLD HUNTING PRINTS" . Lg. Nd. (25). See RB.17/140 ... P72-225

The above remains the same in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, with the two issues remaining apart, but the reference to RB.17 being omitted in both cases, and the card codes having changed, to P644-242 on our home issued set and P644-682 on the Channel Islands version. There is also one more alteration, as after 1965 John Player again began to issue cards, and they were listed before the export issues, hence the Channel Islands version is now listed under section 4, and sub-section C

Tuesday, 27th January 2026

I am delighted to be able to feature this card of someone we mentioned before, and give him a face instead of just a name. For this is Bernard DIllon, the third husband of Marie Lloyd, the music hall star. However he was also a very famous jockey in his own right, having won the Derby in 1910, on a horse called Lemberg.

He was born on the 7th of September 1888, on a farm in Tralee, County Kerry, in the south west of Ireland, and started his racing career in 1901 when he joined his older brother Joe as an apprentice jockey at Druids Lodge, near Amesbury, in Wiltshire, England, run by Lord Cunliffe. His first major win came in 1904, on top of Uninsured, for Druids Lodge; and at that time he had the advantage of being very light weight, just over five stone. However we know that by 1905 he had filled out, as Taddy`s "Famous Jockeys", issued in that year, tells us that he weighed eight stone nine pounds, and was riding for Gilpin`s and Lewes stables. He was shown in the pink and black silks of Mr. Forester. 

The following year, Cohen Weenen`s "Owners Jockeys Footballers Cricketers" series two, gives a bit more back story, and describes him as "B. DILLON, winner of many big Handicaps, including the Lincoln with "Uninsured" and the Kempton Park Jubilee Stakes, two years in succession, with "Ypsilant". He is first jockey to Major Loder." And the silks he is wearing on this card are indeed those of Major Loder. 

Our set appeared the same year and he is in it four times - our card, number 20, which describes him as "Bernard Dillon in Major E. Loder`s colours" -  card 25 as "Bernard Dillon in Mr C. Hibbert`s colours" - number 33 as  "Bernard Dillon in Mr. W. B. Purefoy`s colours" -  and card 38 as  "Bernard Dillon in Mr. E. A. Wigan`s colours" 

He met Marie Lloyd in 1910, apparently at a racecourse, whilst her current husband, Alec Hurley, was off placing bets. She was eighteen years his senior, and seems to have moved herself in with him not long after.

In 1913 it was discovered that he was entangled with gambling, placing bets using inside information, and, so rumours go, on himself to lose. The Jockey Club want as far as taking him to court, so we know it was not innocent gaming. His punishment was to have his racing licence revoked, on which he resigned from the Jockey Club. By this time he was openly living with Marie Lloyd, and she took him to America where she had bookings for work. This caused more trouble, for they went there using the (false) names of Mr. & Mrs. Dillon. In fact when the truth broke they were charged with crime of moral turpitude, and briefly detained at Ellis Island, until they could pay for their release.

They were not actually married until 1914, two months after Alec Hurley`s death, of pneumonia, just two months before, at a public house, Jack Straw`s Castle, in Hampstead, London, though it is not as quite as bad as that sounds, for he was also living there. The marriage, his first, her third, took place in Oregon, America, but it was doomed from the start; Bernard Dillon already being abusive, depressed, and jealous of his wife`s success. 

Around this time, also in 1914, Bernard Dillon appears on the anonymous and untitled set known as  "Jockeys & Owners Colours" with a playing card inset on each one. It was actually issued overseas through British American Tobacco. The horse is unidentified, but he is shown in white silks with orange sleeves, and the caption top right is "Jockey : Bernard Dillon / Colours : Mr. Fairie" Mr. Fairie was a pseudonym for Alfred William Cox, a racehorse owner and breeder of Scottish descent, who was born in Liverpool, and one of his horses was that Derby winner Lemberg.

He also went off to war, but apparently most of his service was in England, at the Machine Gun Corps training depot at Belton Park. His service was marred by his often getting into trouble, going absent, and not helped at all by his wife frequently turning up, which generally ended in rows. However when he returned to her home things got much worse, and she was forced to take him to court for continued abuse. In June 1917 he was sent to prison for assaulting her whilst under the influence of alcohol, blackening her eye. When he was released, she took him straight back, and they remained together, until 1920, when they separated, briefly, but she fell into a great depression and took him back. They were still in a state of back and forth when she died on the 7th of October, 1922,, three days after collapsing on stage at the alhambra Theatre in London.

In 1923 he appears as card 16 of Godfrey Phillips "Derby Winners and Jockeys", in a bit of a retrospective, for the text reads : "Has retired from the saddle for some years. Was first jockey for Clarehaven Lodge stable, succeeding Willie Lane, was associated with the peerless Pretty Polly in several of the victories scored by the late Major Loder`s wonderful filly. Won the One Thousand Guineas on Flair, owned by the late Sir Daniel Cooper, in 1906, the Derby on Lemberg, in 1910, for Mr. Fairie. Bernard Dillon rode the winner of many of the biggest handicaps, one of his most powerful finishes being on Hammerkop in the Cesarewitch of 1905." 

In fact card 15 of this set shows Lemberg, who is immortalised as : "Lemberg, owned by the late Mr. Fairie, made his first appearance as a two-year-old when winning the New Stakes as Ascot in 1909. His great rival as a three-year-old was Neil Gow, owned by Lord Rosebery. Few will forget the great finish for the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket in 1910, when Lemberg lost to Neil Gow by a head. His revenge came in the Derby which he won easily with B. Dillon up. Neil Gow (D. Maher) being unplaced. Lemberg failed in the St. Leger, being beaten by Lord Derby`s Swynford. Has been a great success at stud."

Bernard Dillon faded from the headlines and the high life. He died on the 6th of May, 1941, whilst at work, as a night porter at South Africa House in London, aged just fifty-two.

He was buried at West Norwood cemetery, far away from home. 

Bernard Dillon is on the following cards

• Taddy "Famous Jockeys" Blue Letterpress - unnumbered (1905)
• Cohen Weenen "Owners Jockeys Footballers Cricketers" series 2 - unnumbered (1906)
• Ogden "Owners, Racing Colours & Jockeys" - number 30 in yellow and blue silks (February 1906)
• Ogden "Owners, Racing Colours & Jockeys" - number 38 in white silks (February 1906)
• Smiith "Derby Winners" - number 48 (1913) 
• Anonymous / British American Tobacco "Jockeys & Owners Colours" - untitled - the nine of clubs (1914)
• Godfrey Phillips "Derby Winners and Jockeys"  - number 16 (1923)
• John Player "Derby and "Grand National Winners"  cards - number three (1933)
• John Player "Derby and "Grand National Winners"  transfers - number three (1933)

His brother also appears, as part of Cohen Weenen`s "Owners Jockeys Footballers Cricketers" series 3 -issued in 1907, where he is described as "J. Dillon (brother of the well known flat race jockey Bernard Dillon) is one of the many able Jockeys that Ireland have given us. He is as clever over the sticks as his brother is on the flat"

As to our card, there turns out to be two sets with this same name, and both are described together in our original reference book to the issues of Ogden`s Ltd, RB.15, published in 1949, as : 

75.  OWNERS, RACING COLOURS & JOCKEYS. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs without descriptive text. Home issues. 

• 129. "A Series of 50".  Jockeys in colours on fronts, blue backs with Jockey and Owner`s names. Issued 1906
   
• 130. "A Series of 25".  Jockeys in colour and Owners on fronts. Green backs. Issued 1914.

By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, in 1955, the two are still together, but entered as : 

• OWNERS RACING COLOURS & JOCKEYS. Sm. Nd. (50). Back in blue ... O/2-108
   
• OWNERS, RACING COLOURS & JOCKEYS. Sm. Nd. (25). Back in green ... O/2-109

And these two listings remain both identical, and together, in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, save for having new card codes - our blue back issue now being O100-440, and the green back version being O100-442

Wednesday, 28th January 2026

Out of all these cards, I went for the tinker. But what, you may ask, is a tinker? Well, originally it was someone who travelled around mending household utensils, using tin, primarily, but also other metals, and it seems to have been associated with travelling folk, as a way to make some pin money. We do not know when the name "tinker" was associated with mischievous children, but the trade would never have been something done by children, the working of the metal, and the ferocity of the heat, to say nothing of the skill involved to mend the items and know which metal to use.  

This set was first described in our original Cartophilic Reference Book No.3, devoted to the issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills (or RB.3), published in 1942, as : 

• 78.  "MERRIE ENGLAND" STUDIES .Size 69 x 42 m/m. Unnumbered. Fronts printed from line blocks, in colour, after original drawings by John Hassall, R.I. There are TWO series, both General Overseas issues, between 1905-15. 
  
  A. MALE studies (titled "Merrie England" Studies). Series of 40. Fronts per Fig. 49. Backs in green, no descriptive text. Similar series issued by Westminster. 
   

1. Ye Angler
2. Ye Armourer
3. Ye Ballad Singer
4. Ye Blacksmith
5. Ye Carter
6. Ye Cellarman
7. Ye Cleric
8. Ye Clerke-at-Law
9. Ye Colporteur
10. Ye Falconer
11. Ye Friar
12. Ye Gaoler
13. Ye Haberdasher
14. Ye Headsman
15. Ye Highwayman
16. Ye Innkeeper
17. Ye Jester
18. Ye Landlord
19. Ye Leech
20. Ye Lord of Ye Manor
21. Ye Mendicant Pilgrim
22. Ye Night Watchman
23. Ye Page
24. Ye Parish Clerke
25. Ye Pedlar
26. Ye Piper
27. Ye Pirate
28. Ye School Master
29. Ye Sea Captain
30. Ye Spicer
31. Ye Squire`s Son
32. Ye Steward
33. Ye Tailor
34. Ye Tinker
35. Ye Town Crier
36. Ye Traveller
37. Ye Troubadour
38. Ye Turnkey
39. Ye Verderer
40. Ye Weaver
    
    
    B.FEMALE Studies (untitled). Fronts per Fig.50. Plain backs (anonymous issue). 30 subjects have been seen ;- 
    
      1. "Birch Brooms"
      2. "Burgundies"
      3. "Cockles & Mussels"
      4. "Feather Whisks"
      5. "Fresh Pastry"
      6. "Gingerbread"
      7. "Green Walnuts"
      8. "Hot Chestnuts"
      9. "Live Carp"
    10. "Milko"
    11. "Muffins"
    12. "My Lady`s Maid"
    13. New Laid Eggs"
    14. "Posies"
    15. "Prime Ducklings"
    16. "Shrimps"
    17.Spills and Dips"
    18. "Spring Water"
    19. "Sweet Lavender"
    20. "Sweet Oranges"
    21. "Sweet Violets"
    22. "Toys"
    23. "Wi` Rabbit"
    24. "Ye Housewife"
    25. "Ye Novice"
    26. "Ye Nurse"
    27. "Ye Pedlar"
    28. "Ye Seamstress"
    29. "Ye Sick Nurse"
    30. " Ye Spinster"

However we know that the male part of the Wills version of this set was printed in England and issued in Australia in February 1915. As for the females, we know nothing, which means it was printed in Australia and the date of issue was not recorded. 

In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, the following is listed under section 3 of the Wills entry, for "Australian Issues" - 

• "MERRIE ENGLAND" STUDIES .Sm. 69 x 41. Unnd. (40). Wills` "Three Castles" back, See W/79.A  ... W62-231 

This is repeated in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, save a new card code of W675-360

However both versions of the World Tobacco Issues Index only show a set of forty cards, and that is only the male studies. And if you look at the entry for the Westminster version, under W42-32, that is also only the males, for it reads : "MERRIE ENGLAND" STUDIES .Sm. 70 x 41. Unnd. (40). See W/79.A".

There is something else curious too, for the Westminster version of our set of male studies was issued first, in 1914 - and the backs of those cards are very similar to the Wills ones, with one exception, for the closing statement reads  "The pictures illustrate Old English Costumes and occupations and have been copyrighted by Westminster Tobacco Co, Ltd. Cape Town & London" - whilst our cards say "The pictures illustrate Old English Costumes and occupations and are now being presented to smokers of W.D. & H.O. Wills`s celebrated "Three Castles" Cigarettes"

As for the cards showing the females, we have to adjourn right to the back of the original World Tobacco Issues Index to find those, listed under section three of the Anonymous issues, because of their plain backs. Their entry reads : "MERRIE ENGLAND" STUDIES .(A). Sm. 68 x 41. Female studies, inscribed Hassall. Unnd. (30). See W/79.B. Issued in S. Africa, through B.A.T. ... ZJ3-51."  This entry is again repeated in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, but with the new card code of ZJ03-495.

Moreover, with that South African connection, it definitely seems that they were follow ups to the Westminster issue, not to the Wills.

As for our artist, John Hassall, he was born in Walmer, Kent on the 21st of May, 1868. His father had been a Naval man, and had served in the Crimea, but was paralysed in an accident and died aged just thirty eight.  John Hassall`s first published drawing was in the Graphic newspaper in 1890, and only then, aged twenty-two, did he study art, in Europe. In 1895 he started working for David Allen & Sons, the publisher, and it was during this time that he painted what is probably his most famous work, "The Jolly Fisherman", used as a railway poster, and better known with the title of that, which was "Skegness is So Bracing.." It can be found as card 20 of F. & J. Smith`s "Holiday Resorts". The "R.I." which follows his name is for The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, who admitted him to their ranks in 1901 - but he was also a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, and the London Sketch Club, which elected him President in 1903. He was married twice, and had two children, and he died on the 8th of March, 1948, aged seventy-nine.

Thursday, 29th January 2026

The first thing that any non-golfing readers is wondering is what, in golf, is a bogey. Simply put, it is a score of one stroke over par on any individual hole on a course - in other words if the hole is a par 4, that means you ought to get the ball in the hole within four strokes, but if you take five you have played a bogey.

As to how you play with these cards, I have absolutely no idea. But I am sure that one of you will not only know, but be able to tell us, in simple terms. 

There is a question about this date of issue. We know that the set was originally issued in March 1933., without the overprint in red. This version arrived some time later, and was the exact same set, just with overprint across the top of the text, telling the smoker that they did not have long to complete their set. The debate is whether the overprint arrived in late January or early February, but I tend to feel February more likely. 

The two sets are catalogued in our original Churchman reference book (RB.10) issued in 1948, as : 

• 26. Mar.1933.  55. CAN YOU BEAT BOGEY AT ST ANDREWS ? (titled series). Size 2 11/16" x 1 7/16", or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-55. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in black, with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall. Note : FOUR joker cards can be collected, "Golfer with Halo" and "Bottle of Whiskey", each with (a) "Available at Bogey 3 Holes", and (b) "Only available...."
   
• 27. 1933.  55. CAN YOU BEAT BOGEY AT ST ANDREWS ? (titled series). Identical to item (26) but bearing inscription on back reading "Exchangeable until 28th February 1934"

This is slightly different in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, where the entry reads : 

• CAN YOU BEAT BOGEY AT ST ANDREWS ? Sm. Nd. (55) ... C82-36
  
  A. Set of 55 - alternatives at No.55, see RB.10/26
  
  B. Overprinted in red "Exchangeable until 28th February 1934"

And in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index it has reduced still more, to just  : 

• CAN YOU BEAT BOGEY AT ST ANDREWS ? Sm. Nd. (55) .Alternative subjects at No.55 ... C504-430
  
  A. Sm. (55)     B. Overprinted in red "Exchangeable until 28th February 1934"

Friday, 30th January 2026

Here we have a chair which at one time was very familiar, but these days seems to have faded from fashion, like most chairs with hard wooden seats, for today comfort is the watchword, and even with a cushion, it is hardly a place to lounge long-term, when you could sink into a sofa. 

There is a theory, and it is repeated on our card, that the "Windsor" part of the name either refers to them having been "made near Windsor, where elm trees flourished"  or that they were "ordered by George I, for use at Windsor Castle".  

In fact we know that this style of chair, with a solid wooden seat into which the back and legs are plunged, were around in Ancient Egypt.

We also know that most of the British ones  seem to have been made not in Windsor, but in Buckinghamshire, with High Wycombe cornering the market, long before George I was even born. However it seems to be true that many of the High Wycombe chairs were sent down to Windsor market to be sold, and this is how they got their name. 

There is something odd about this card, because I am not sure it is a Windsor chair at all. You see traditionally the back spindles of the Windsor chair start at the base and slant to the head bar, like a fan, and none at all are straight, whereas our chair only has straight spindles. Not just that, but the wide centre bar is also not a feature commonly seen on a Windsor chair. But after research I found that in the time of George I and George II that central spline was part of the design, and the spindles did indeed rise straight to the top bar. So I have learned something tonight ! 

This set, and its younger sibling, were first catalogued in our Wills reference book part IV, as 

OLD FURNITURE. Large cards, size 79 x 62 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in grey. With descriptive text. Home issues.

• 278. “1st Series of 25”. Issued 1923
   
• 279. “2nd Series of 25”. Issued 1924

Series one had rather a short run, being issued in October, with Series 2 arriving in February, just four months later.

Our original World Tobacco Issues Index describes the pair as : 

• OLD FURNITURE. Lg. Nd.  … W62-161
  
  1. “1st Series of 25”. 
  
  2. “2nd Series of 25”. 

It is further shortened in our updated version, which combines the two series on to a single line. And the code is changed, to W675-202