TENTH BIRTHDAY SPECIAL GUEST ARTICLE: SWEET CIGARETTE CARD COLLECTING BY ANDY B

Hi Readers

Over the years, I have always enjoyed reading the blog, and it is sometimes the most colourful thing helping start an otherwise uneventful work day. So as a small gesture of my appreciation to Woodsy and the contributors past and present, here are a few recollections which I hope may be of interest… 

Reflections of collecting sweet cigarette (space) cards in the mid 1960s 

The two things that really inspired me to draw as a child were comics (especially TV21) and sweet cigarette cards. My golden age of cigarette card collecting probably only lasted from about 1963-1968, but when you are small, a great deal can happen in five years. My parents were always keen for me to take an interest in the cards that came in the family's tea- Brooke Bond, which had wildlife, plants, birds and the like. While they were beautifully illustrated (by artists such as Tunicliffe, who I now appreciate rather more), they could not match the appeal of outer space, or the various television series I watched. 

Incidentally, I grew up in a Cambridgeshire village which had three main shops selling sweets. The most important was the one which I walked past on the way home from school, armed with an occasional 3d. The shops at the other end of the village were almost the stuff of myth, and capable of producing unheard-of novelties. I have used the terms "child" and "kid" here, but as a book by the Opies (writers on playground and children's games) reminded me, we used to call ourselves "people", so that you might hear "There's some people over there swapping cards". 

The first space series I remember was given away with Lyons' Maid ZOOM iced lollies (1963). The cards mostly showed figures associated with the space race and the hardware; the disappointment was that unlike the marketing of the lolly, the cards were not associated with Fireball XL5. Apparently there were cigarette cards produced at the time showing XL5, but I never saw them as a youngster. The Lyons' Maid printing was a bit lurid with strong outlines, something that became even more apparent with their next series showing aircraft. 

The most memorable cards from my childhood appeared in 1964 (I researched the dates, my memory isn't that good!), "Dr. Who and the Daleks". 50 cards were produced by Cadet Sweets, who according to one Internet source, were actually a chemical company. I wonder if they used some chemical by-product in the cigarettes, which had a slightly odd taste. There were two stories in the set, the first 25 were about Dr Who discovering the daleks on an alien planet, where they have discovered a mushroom which will increase their brainpower (very 1960s,, in retrospect…). This was drawn by Richard Jennings, a former Eagle artist who started off the Daleks strip in TV21. The second story was about the daleks asking for help when a machine they had created threatened to destroy their planet, drawn by another artist. The second story really didn't wash for me, as it had Dr Who HELPING the daleks. 

I am sure the cards were reissued by Cadet, perhaps in 1965-6, as I recall re-starting my collection. The main disadvantage was that (at least in my village), Cadet put the same card in every packet in a display box- I got sick of buying packets with Card no. 5 in, and the practice must have put many kids off buying them. The series was later re-issued by Primrose Sweets, possibly around 1970. 

Cadet Sweets produced "Stingray" cards in 1965, a well-illustrated set, although I didn't know anyone at the time who managed to collect them all. The cigarettes still had the same funny taste… 

It was a surprise when the next Gerry Anderson series of cigarette cards, "Thunderbirds" was produced by Barratts' Confectionery, -apparently in the same year. They produced three sets, the first having paintings of the vehicles and characters (it looks to me like two or three artists may have been involved), followed by two other series using colour photos. Call me a traditionalist (if you like), but I much prefer my cards to have paintings. One of the best things about the Barratt's cards was the variety of boxes, which included both Thunderbirds and Fab 1 

The first set had a strong impact, but the next sets were not as well received in the playground.. One reason for this was probably that it was just "more of the same" even if the cards were photos. The other, thing, which apparently happened in 1966, was the release of packs of larger Thunderbirds cards by Somportex, all with large black and white photos. These cards quickly became the set to have, so that Barratt's cards held little interest. I recall the strip of bubble gum that came with the cards had a strange, almost "disinfectant" taste. Disappointingly, the reverse of the Somportex cards had no information on the person/vehicle illustrated, but formed part of a large image advertising a TV21 Thunderbirds record –now there's aggressive marketing for you! 

This was not the first time large cards had made their mark on the playground. There had been several popular Topps series, including Batman cards, but I see the Thunderbirds episode as marking the beginning of the end for the smaller sweet cigarette card. 

There were still some small space cards to come, however. Walls produced "Sky Ray" with an excellent series of space cards (some shown on this blog over the years), and after my interest had waned, Brooke Bond finally produced set of space cards! 

As an adult, I have been grateful to the internet for providing images of the cards I used to collect (and subsequently lost). Inspired by sets of framed old cards that were marketed a few years ago, I printed out and framed a set of the first 25 Dr Who cards, which now decorates my workroom wall, and brings back memories every time I look (even that damned card no 5…). 

Andy B

UK