Postal Auction: Ending Saturday February 25th 2012

Early Period Series

Sets from the first few years of the 20th century are by definition now antiques more than a hundred years old, so it’s hardly surprising that they are scarce and relatively expensive. Sets such as Richmond Cavendish 20 Music Hall Artistes (lot 199, estimate £450) featuring the likes of Little “Could Do With a Bit” Titch and Marie “Salute my Bicycle” Lloyd and Taddy’s 25 Orders of Chivalry 1st Series (lot 19, £270) showing some remarkably ornate pre-World War I awards such as Austria’s Golden Fleece, Prussia’s Red Eagle and China’s Blue Button. Hignett’s 1905 set is just what the title suggests i.e. 50 Interesting Buildings (The White House, Louvre, Osborne and The Kremlin etc) at lot 110 (£290). From the same year (1905) we have Ogden’s 50 British Birds 1st Series (lot 290), which has to be a bargain at £95 also there is Hill’s set of 30 Statuary Set 2 at lot 364 (£230). Don’t overlook the set of My Weekly Silks M14 Soldiers of the King at lot 367 (£100) and the eight Cope’s Noted Footballers Everton players at lot 198 (£60).

The 1920s and 1930s

Staying with Everton, but 25 years on, we find W.R. ‘Dixie’ Dean, the Toffees’ top scorer, among the Carreras 48 Famous Footballers at lot 189 (£70), but in this auction it is golf rather than football which comes to the fore(!) as the dominant inter-war sport, with Player’s Channel Islands printing of L25 Golf 1939 (lot 17, £190), Churchman’s 36 Three Jovial Golfers in Search of the Perfect Course 1934 (lot 122, £125) and Player’s L25 Championship Golf Courses 1936 (lot 301, £200). A day’s play at Sandwich for 37p can’t be bad! We think the definition of “genius” depends on the era in which you live, but whilst Victor Hugo and Shelley would be doubtful candidates today, Mozart and Darwin, from a set of 25 Men of Genius (Millhoff set at lot 39, £100) probably would. Similarly Galileo and Homer might well each be considered a genius, but were they Leaders of Men (they are among the 49 Player’s cards at lot 292 £115) in the sense of George Washington, Julius Caesar and Walter Raleigh? Famous in their day, but now largely forgotten except by devotees of the silent screen, are the actors and actresses in Sandorides EL25 Cinema Stars ‘Big Gum’ at lot 282 (£65) and the B.A.T Cinema Artistes Set 2B at lot 397 (£95). There’s another B.A.T set at lot 380, 50 Views of Siam (Bangkok) estimate £200, dating from 1928, the same year as Pattrieouex 50 British Empire Exhibition Series at lot 202 (£100). Among the sights pictured there is the “Palace of Engineering” with “exhibits of transport by land, including the latest electric car”. Well there are no electric cars among Amalgamated Press 32 Makes of Motor Cars and Index Marks (lot 1909, £70) or electric motorbikes in Lambert & Butler’s 50 Motor Cycles (363, £175).

Post War to Present Day

Taking these in date order from the end of the war, we have, from 1946 Sanitarium (New Zealand) M40 Advance Anzac (lot 16, £38), 1949 25 Full Turf Tipped Famous Film Stars Slides (315, £75), 1950 16 Godfrey Phillips Footballers ‘Sports’ packages (78, £120), 1953 The Austin Motor Co’s L13 Famous Austin Cars (297, £145), 1957 Soccer Bubble Gum’s L48 Soccer Teams No. 1 Series (115, £120). Try spotting the star, there’s Jack Milburn (Newcastle front row), Danny Blanchflower (Spurs, back), Billy Wright (Wolves, back), Stanley Matthews (Blackpool, front), Nat Lofthouse (Bolton, front) etc., and two 1958 cricket sets, Master Vending L16 Cricketer Series New Zealand (8, £20) and National Spastics Soc. 24 Famous Cricketers (79, £50). Into the 1960s we have Lyons Maid 40 All Systems Go (28, £80) with some spectacular pictures (launching a Polaris missile, pilot ejecting etc.) and on to the 1970s with Whitbread M25 Inn Signs Kent (111, £150) plus three lots of football cards namely Thomson’s M36 our of 72 World Cup Footballers 1970 (212, £95), Bassett’s 50 Football Action 1977 (18, £225) and A & BC Gum’s L105 out of 135 Footballers Scottish green 1974 (181, £385). More recent football treats include Trade Cards Europe Arsenal 1999 with leather album (178, £50), the same firm’s LT9 Leeds Hot Shots 1999 (393, £18) and Topps LT6 Match Attax 2009/10 Hat Trick Heroes (403, £25). Plus we have a special selection for Brooke Bond collectors from lots 215 to 248 with scarce sets, albums, order forms, an advert card and a wallchart, single cards from Tea Leaf Oracle, U.S.A, Chimps Tak Tic, Place the Face Bingo, Wild Flowers 1st paper, etc.

Single cards

Starting off with 36 individual specimens at lots 41 to 76 there’s an Ogden’s Midnight Flake Collotype, Lloyds National Type, Godfrey Phillips Actresses ‘C’, Morris Boer War, Klene Footballer, Bassett Cricket, 7 Chinese cards and a Wills’ Waterloo proof (£90). The next selection (lots 133 to 164) includes a Pascall Boy Scout, CWS Boy Scout (lot 145), an extra-large Kensitas Flower, Lambert & Butler Joker, Parkhurst Hockey and a Barratt’s Famous Footballer 1939-40. Next at lots 249 to 269 are a Franks’ Beauty, Gabriel Pretty Girl, Hignett Beauty, Kinnear Royalty, Duncan Scottish Clans, Duke Ruler, Shirley Temple, Pattreiouex Footballer series F and Cricketer (large brown back). These are followed at lots 318 to 341 with a Thomson & Porteous Shadowgraph, Taddy Heraldry, Smith’s Battlefields, Sinclair Coinage, Richmond Cavendish Actresses PILPI, Kardov Dickens Characters and BAT Melbourne Cup Winners

And Lots More

Adding to the scope of the hobby are associated items such as the tobacco and confectionery packets and wrapper at lots 81 to 85, 351/2 and 342/3, coupons and inserts (150-152), errors and varieties (344 to 350), postcards (163/4, 267, 339 and 341), magazines (175/6), Wills and Players empty special albums (353-357), the L.C.C.C.’s Complete Catalogue 1981 (171), coloured Guinea Golds (374), Ardath 1941/43 Calendars (375), a Thomson’s 1925 50-page booklet The New Broadway Book Pranks and Problems (173) and Thomson’s booklet The Rover Handy Album of Famous Football Jerseys (360). Finally, from lots 405 to 413 there are promo, costume and autograph cards (Dr Who, Star Trek, Avengers etc.) Note lot 269 is unrecorded W.N. Sharpe silk Views V. no. 123 Maisoneure Monument Montreal.

The Catalogue, which contains a full description of all 435 lots, can be obtained FREE of charge by writing to The London Cigarette Card Company Limited at the address below or by telephone, fax or e-mail (see request form at the bottom of the page). A guide to how we assess condition and how to bid can be found on the bidding sheet, which comes with the free auction catalogue, so it couldn't be easier if you are an auction beginner.

Please note there are no additional charges to bidders for buyers premium etc.