Newsletter - 2026-05-30

Saturday, 23rd May 2026

Our first clue was of Patrice Evra, who is allergic to eggs, but never knew it until he signed for the Italian side, Juventus, in 2014. Before that, whilst playing at Manchester United, he had lived with frequent nausea, but egg allergy had never been suspected or tested for. 

Eggs are one of the most common allergies, and it is from the protein found in both the whites and the yolks. In addition, it is often present from birth, or young childhood, and it can cause many symptoms, from rashes and nausea, right up to anaphylaxis, which s when it affects breathing and the throat, which is often accompanied by a quick drop in blood pressure, giving dizziness or fainting fits 

Patrice Latyr Evra, and he was born on May the 15th 1981 in Dakar, Senegal, where his father was a diplomat. However, when our man was a year old, the family moved back to France 

We are not sure when he started with them, but his first team was Club Omnisports des Ulis of Paris. He was then signed by Paris St, Germain, on the understanding that he changed position, and became a winger. However he seems not to have suited that role and was released from the contract .He was then spotted at a local five a side tournament by an Italian talent scout, who got him a spot on the youth team at Torino F.C in Turin, and this led to another offer from the Assocazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Marsala 1912, in Sicily. They gave him his first professional contract, aged seventeen, but he was only at the club one season before being transferred to Associazione Calcio Monza.

A year after that saw him back in France, at the Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice, on the understanding that he again shifted position, and became a full back. It is generally regarded that during this time his  "rookie" card was issued, though it is a Panini Sticker, number 444 of the series of "Foot 2002", only issued in France in 2001-2. and he is one of four men on a quartered card, namely Serge Ayeli, Patrice Evra, Christophe Meslin and Janick Tamazout, all of whom played for OGCN.

However, whilst the set was still being circulated, in 2002, he left and joined the Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, but once more had to move position, and play as a left-back. However, in that place he really seemed to make his mark, and was even selected to be in the squad for the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final. And he appeared on card 135 of Panini`s "Derby Total 2004-2005"

All that brought him to the attention of Manchester United, who signed him in January 2006. He liked the idea of playing for them straight off, though he had other offers, but he admitted that he found the English game very different to the European one, and there was also a lot more competition for a spot on the team, so he was frequently benched, or substituted mid-game. The turning point there came after he scored his first goal, in November 2006, after which he seemed to get more playing time. And it is in this period that the bulk of his cards and stickers were issued 

In July 2014, and rather surprisingly, he returned to Italy, and joined Juventus, where he stayed for just over two years. It appears his first card there was card 146 of Panini`s "Adrenalyn XL UEFA Champions League, issued in 2014-15.

Then he joined Marseille, on a free transfer,  but that did not work out too well and in February 2018 he signed for West Ham United, but only played in five games before he announced his retirement in July 2019. 

After that he retrained as a coach, and did have a placement at Manchester United, but that seemed to peter out. He commentated on a few football matches, and was considering having a go at Mixed Martial Arts. And that seems a familiar story, for after being a top footballer, when the time comes to stop, there is not really a viable alternative. You are just abandoned, to your fate.

The first "Match Attax" trading card game cards appeared in 2006. Through the years little extras crept in, and by the time of our set you could expect to also collect a promotional "Master" card, plus four insert sets ("Club Badges", "Golden Moments", "Limited Edition", and "Limited Edition Autographs"), and single cards for "Regional Heats" and, "Regional Finals", which could only be marked up by official Match Attax Referees, presumably at a grand tournament, and a "Regional Champion" card, presumably only given to the outright winner. 

Sunday, 24th May 2026

Our second card may have been a bit of a red herring, because it related to hay-fever. However if it had not been for hay fever we may never have had a vaccine for any food allergy. That first so called "desensitisation injection", of pollen, beneath the skin, happened in 1911, by two British doctors, John Freeman and Leonard Noon, and it led to several allergies being treated by the same method, but introducing a small sample of the suspected food instead of pollen.

However, in 1986, this treatment was banned in the UK and doctors moved to administering any drugs beneath the tongue, or with quick-dissolving pills.  

Cadum is a brand of French soap which was first created in 1907 by an American, Michael Winburn, as a result of buying a balm which was sold to him with the possibility of relieving a severe outbreak of eczema. And it worked, so much so that he contacted a pharmacist, Louis Nathan, perhaps even the pharmacist who sold him the ointment, that fact is not known, and they went into partnership.

Their first factory was set up in Courbevoie, on Rue de Sabliere making the balm, an ointment, and a toothpaste. They branded the products as "Cadum", because they all contained an extract of a plant called the Cade Juniper. The soap appeared in 1912, and by 1930 it had added shampoo, cold cream, shaving cream, and talcum powder. And after the Second World War they launched a brand of laundry detergent called `PEC`. That was about the time they issued these cards, which are now quite hard to find. In fact most of them today are much shorter, because they have been trimmed, removing the Mickey Mouse stamp which appears on the right hand side of our card, but on the left hand side of some others - and which, when removed and submitted, entitled you to a free copy of "Mickey`s Journal" magazine. Now cards 1 - 12, which we think comprised the first series, did not have this offer, they just say that in each pack of Cadum Soap there is a design by Walt Disney. But they also say it is a series of twenty four cards, so perhaps there were twenty four in the first series and ours is only card 12 of the second series. So some time I`ll start making a list... 

We know that Walt Disney`s "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" had its French Premiere in Paris on May the 6th. 1938.  This run was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and it only started to be shown again at the end of 1944. But is was also re-released several times, most famously in 1951 and 1962. We suspect that these cards were issued in 1951, because in 1952 Cadum was involved in a merger and became part of Palmolive, during which it changed its name to Cadum Palmolive - and in 1964 the name Cadum disappeared, albeit temporarily, because as of today you can again get Cadum products, which are ethically clean and have been praised by Greenpeace - though, since 2012, the brand has been owned by L`Oreal.

Monday, 25th May 2026

The first allergy causing food to be treated with the same "desensitation" technique that had been done with grass pollen for hayfever was milk.

However, the fact that milk had an adverse effect on the body and its functions had been known for many centuries, for ti was one of three foods listed by Moises Maimonides (1135–1204), the personal physician of the Sultan of Egypt, in his “Treatise on Asthma”, written in 1190 A.D.. 

Milk allergy is much the same as that to eggs, it is a reaction to the protein in the milk. And therefore it also causes the same responses, from a rash to anaphylaxis. And again, it often begins in childhood,usually within the first year of life - indeed it is the most common food allergy in all childr

This card is unusual, because the address is 73 Warren Street, New York - which makes it American, and indeed you can find a very similar card to this, but with a white border, which lists their factories as "Christiana, Norway - Edlitz, Austria - Tutbury, England - Fulton, New York"

Now we know that Fulton factory opened in 1907, and that it was part of a globalisation incentive that saw the Swiss company expand into Africa, America, Asia, and Australia. These were vital during the First World War, when blockades saw supplies dwindle and Nestle had signed contacts to supply the forces with condensed milk. At that time several milk producing factories were bought up in all those countries, and they supplied the forces overseas.

The Fulton factory closed in 2003, but there were, and continue to be, Nestle sites in America - seventy nine manufacturing facilities, and an American HQ, based at Arlington since 2017.

As far as 73 Warren Street goes, though, that is more of a mystery. We know it was first owned by the parish of St. George`s Episcopal Church, and that they sold it, to a married couple, in 1890, who, almost immediately, tore down the building and replaced it with a brick and cast iron one, six storeys high. Then they sold it on, to a lawyer, and part owner of a rubber goods company, who we know sublet the rooms, because, lets face it, there were six storeys, to many different retailers of all manner of goods. So it is not inconcievable that in one of these rooms was someone representing the Nestle Company, or maybe someone who just popped over from the factory in Fulton once a week to collect the mail, so that it looked like they had a head office at another address. 

There is something else interesting about this card, and that is the milkmaid, which, I am sure you will agree, was not something New Yorkers were accustomed to encountering. However, it is a link to Nestle`s first ever milk brand, which was "Milkmaid", and which was first sold in 1866 

Tuesday, 26th May 2026

Now the other two foods that Moses Maimonides advised asthma patients to avoid were nuts - and poultry. But he never seemed to make the connection that other discomforts and diseases might also be caused by people eating those products.

The most curious thing is that nut allergy and peanut allergy are two different things, though they often have the same devastating effects. But in actuality nuts grow on trees, and peanuts are legumes, not nuts at all. And it is known that people with peanut allergy are often susceptible to reactions from other legumes, including soy beans, as well as the true tree-nut.

It seems odd then that children in what we call "developing countries" seem to suffer less from this than children from other nations, possibly because their mothers often feed them peanuts in their younger days. And we think that may be a clue as to how to tackle the growing problem in those other nations, because feeding their children with peanuts in the vital ages of four to eleven months old did seem to reduce the chance of that child going on the become allergic to them, by up to 70%.  

Yet, sadly, there is not yet any complete cure for peanut allergy, except for avoiding the product, and by rigorously checking menus, hoping that the lack of peanuts listed is the honest truth. 

As for "The Torrid Zone", it does exist, but today we call it the Tropics. It covers the Equator and extends both ways, in a northernly direction to the Tropic of Cancer, and a southernly direction to the Tropic of Capricorn. 

There are still a few cards in this set for me to find, so any help is welcomed - but so far we know of  : 

1.   L`Anona Muricata - soursop
2.  
3.  Le Gingembre - ginger
4.  La Bigarada - seville orange
5.  L`Ananas - pineapple
6.  Le Cafeier - coffee
7.  Le Laurier Avocat - avocado
8.  Le Tamariner - tamarind
9.  L`Indigofera Anil - indigo
10.  
11.  La Figue -  fig
12.  La Banane -  banana
13.  Le Papaya Sativa - papaya, or cannabis? 
14.  La Grenadille Quadrangulaire - granadilla
15.  Le Cajou - cashew nut
16.  Le Cacao - cocoa
17.  Le Pain de Singe - monkey bread
18.  La Garcenia - the Malabar tamarind
19.  L`Arachide - peanut
20.  Le Pachira - saba nuts
21.  Le Manguier - mango
22.  Le Jatropha - physic nut
23.  L`Ipomea Batatas - sweet potato
24.  L`Akeesia - ackee
25.  

Wednesday, 27th May 2026

I have to say that these do look rather tasty strawberries, but eating them, even just one, gives me a stomach ache. 

However today we have the tale of a King, Richard III, who on June the thirteenth, 1483, ordered a bowl of strawberries at a council meeting in the Tower of London, only to develop large red bumps and a rash on his forearms, which he described as being intolerably itchy. This was later reported by Sir Thomas More in his "History of King Richard III", begun in 1513, which he sadly never finished.  

The important thing about this is that it is one of the earliest cases to be documented as proof that food affected the body. However there is a problem, because King Richard III did not sit at the table and suddenly show his arms, he left the table, and perhaps the building, for about an hour, and came back with the markings in place. And he also used them to claim that a certain Lord Hastings had made them appear, which led to that man being beheaded that very afternoon, even though, or maybe because, he was one of the most powerful men in the whole country, and would definitely have prevented Richard III becoming King. 

The first Verkade album was issued in 1903, and it was simply billed as a picture album.  There were actually three of them, the other two being issued in 1903 and 1905, and all three were on the subject of fairy tales.

They would go on to issue thirty albums, of which ours is number 26. Now I thought that this set was all plants, but on translation it turns out to be the farm, and there are 144 cards like this, plus a large plate which fits opposite the title page. I am unsure about this plate as I can`t think how it was distributed, it seems more likely that it came with the album, or maybe that it was already stuck there.

Thursday, 28th May 2026

Today we move on to another food which often provokes strong reactions, and that is fish and shellfish.

The first note of this in medical history came in a groundbreaking book called “Treatise on Dermatology”, by a man called Robert Willan, who became known as the father of dermatology, introducing many terms to the language that we still use today. He was born in Sedbergh, Yorkshire, on the 12th of November 1757, and he published the treatise between the years 1798 and 1808, dying, not too long after, aged just fifty-four, on the 7th of April 1812, whilst in Madeira. However, in this book he connected shellfish with the appearance of sudden rashes, and also in cases of unexplained deaths. And still, to this day the simple shrimp causes most of the shellfish allergies, worldwide. It can be mild, swellings to the mouth, face, and eyes,  or rashes, but it can also cause discomfort to the stomach, and anaphylaxis, which can cause death. There is no cure or even a therapy, but lesser symptoms can be alleviated by a small device containing anti-histamines, which is called an epi-pen, and is injected into the sufferer. And worst of all is the fact that if a restaurant, etc, cooks shellfish in the same area as other food, the steam can come across the other pans, and contaminate the food in those, quite unwittingly, and sometimes unknowingly. 

The story of shrimp is a long one, starting with the North American Indians, who made traps from branches, and soon discovered using a branch with lots of foliage and smaller branches caught more prey. Eventually this evolved into proper woven nets.  In 1376, the British King Edward II was entreated to ban ships dragging nets across the sea bed because the practise resulted in the depletion of sea life - one of the first eco-friendly acts to be recorded. The practise was also banned in Holland, but not until 1583 

Of course it was the infernal combustion engine that made matters worse, in every way. They led to larger ships, and smaller crews, throwing many former fishermen out of work. And as time brought us ever more advances, so fishing became motorised, computerised, and even more destructive. 

Today, shrimp are mainly farmed, not caught in the wild. We can thank the fact that there have been many legal battles fought to preserve our seas, but the truth is that farming is easier and cheaper than going to sea, especially in countries that pay low wages and have no worker protection. 

When I look at this card I do wonder at the fate of the people on it.  The set was issued in 1939, and a great many shrimping and fishing vessels were drafted into military use, along with their crews.  About three thousand boats were used to form what was known as The Auxiliary Patrol, sailing endlessly up and down the coastline looking for invaders, sometimes other ships, but often harder things to spot until it was too late, like torpedoes or periscopes. Others were used as minesweepers, which were basically small boats sent ahead of larger, more important ones so they found the sea-mines first, by running into them. And some became "Q-Ships", gunned up, and sometimes camouflaged with superficial panelling and false structures, so they looked like other, larger, craft, before being sent out as decoys in the hope they would encourage submarines to surface or big ships to attack.

Many good boats, and fine men, were lost. And its a story seldom told.

This set is listed in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as : 

• COASTWISE. See Ha.564.2 ... P18-65
  
        A. Small (28)
  
        B. Medium (48) "Senior Service" brand issue. Two printings. 

This is only slightly different in our updated version, which reads 

• COASTWISE. See Ha.564.2. 
  
       A. Small (28)  B. Medium (48) "Senior Service" brand issue. Two printings.... P246-685

Ha.564.2 leads us to the original handbook, which was published by the London Cigarette Card Company. It tells us that this set has other issuers too, the text in full reading : 

GALLAHER GROUP. Four Photographic Series. Fronts glossy photographs in black and white. Four numbered series as follows :-

•    564.1 - Beautiful Scotland
•    564.2 - Coastwise
•    564.3 - Flying
•    564.4 - Our Countryside

Each series issued as follows : 

• Gallaher - Medium Size, series of 48
• Illingworth - Medium Size, series of 48
• Peter Jackson - 
  A. Small size, series of 28
  B. Medium Size, series of 48
• Pattrieouex - 
   A. Small size, series of 28
  B. Medium Size, series of 48, inscribed "SENIOR SERVICE CIGARETTES" without firm`s name. Captions in front in large or small letters

Friday, 29th May 2026

Remember that list of allergic foods? Well its growing, all the time, and two of the latest foodstuffs which are being considered for inclusion are pine nuts and goats milk. Now I have featured a pine marten  or three before, and there did not seem to be any cards that also showed any nuts, so here you have a goat, and even better it is dispensing of goat`s milk. 

Now I always thought that when I was younger if you were intolerant to cow`s milk (which I am, but I`m more intolerant of the dairy industry,, and some of its crueller practises), you could drink goat`s milk instead. Turns out I was either wrong or things have changed, as the proteins in goat milk are akin to cow’s milk, so they are a no no for children who have cow milk allergy, unless it is very slight, or the child is unable, for whatever reason, to have human milk for the early stages of its life. And apparently sheep`s milk is also the same.

This card may well be named as Alcool de Menthe Piperita, but that is more usually known as Ricqles. So this card must predate the fame of that brand.  Ricqlès is made from rather a strange sounding trio, of peppermint essential oil, water, and alcohol., a mix which, unsurprisingly, cools you down and perks you up - all at the same time.

As for "Piperita", it is Latin for peppermint, that strange hybrid, half way between watermint and spearmint. 

It seems unlikely that E. Sauze, whose name is on this card, did more than retail Ricqles because we know that he and his brother were perfumers, in Paris, with a perfume manufactory in Colombes. And they were also the first French perfumers to discover the art of poster advertising.

It turns out I am right, for Ricqles was invented in 1838 by a Dutchman who was actually called Heyman de Ricqles, who was primarily a silk merchant  with an interest in botany. And I can`t tell you how it is made because it is a closely guarded secret, to this day,...