1960's Rock Stars, Pop Stars & Ice Cream Vans: The Kinks, Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones Mister Softee Trading Cards

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One particular ice cream franchise, Mister Softee, didn’t just hand out confectionary and ice cream from their vans. They also issued many series of trading cards, especially on rock stars and pop stars of the 1960s and 1970s

The card set pictured above is called “Lord Neilson’s Star Cards” and consists of 12 cards. I believe that the music newspaper “Record Mirror” helped contribute to the descriptions on the backs of the cards, and perhaps the pictures too.

The Kinks are featured on one of the cards. Although perhaps not the most commercially successful of bands from the British Invasion era, they were incredibly important and influential. Dave Davies was the first musician to popularize the power chord in the band’s first commercially successful single, “You Really Got Me”. This played a crucial role in the early development of the hard rock and punk rock genres. Dave Davies achieved his distorted guitar riff with a cone, but not an ice cream cone, by modifying the speaker cone on his Elpico amplifier. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes Ray Davies, his brother, as “Rock’s most literate, witty and insightful songwriter”.

This set also includes the Beach Boys, rising to fame with their tight harmonies and Brian Wilson’s knack for creating timeless hit singles. They even rivalled the Beatles at one point.

One important thing to note, is that this is the only Mister Softee card set I know of to feature an all black group, The Supremes. The choice of words in the description on the back isn’t very politically correct.

Alan Price, the organ playing wizard that gave The Animals its distinctive sound makes an appearance on card no. 12 along with the singer Chris Farlowe, who didn’t achieve the success he deserved.

This set also includes music legends such as Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones, Lulu, Manfred Mann, Georgie Fame, The Walker Brothers and a pop group with a name combining the nicknames of all the band members: Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick and Tich.

Mister Softee, Lord Neilson’s Star Cards (12 Cards), 1967

Includes:The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Tom Jones, The Kinks, Manfred Mann, Julie Felix and Georgie Fame, Lulu, The Rolling Stones, The Walker Brothers, Alan Price and Chris Farlowe; Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

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Coin Collecting is Sexy - 1890s-1900s Brothel Token Paris Aux Glaces, Rue Stainte Apolline, France

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Who says that coin collecting isn’t sexy?! The token pictured above is a brothel token coin. The obverse side features the name and address of the brothel, Aux Glaces, 25 Rue Stainte Apolline, Paris. The reverse reveals a nude angel and rooster, a design similar to that on French gold coins of the period, perhaps intending to mock the state. Paris was the art centre of the world when this token was issued, late 19th to early 20th century. It’s not too difficult to imagine famous artists wandering into the Les Glaces brothel and using their token to purchase a drink at the bar before joining a Parisian beauty of their choice.

1890s-1900s Brothel Token

Aux Glaces, 25 Rue Stainte Apolline, Paris

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Magic Tricks and Puzzle Cigarette Cards ( Collectables )

During a time when there was no television or computers, and even books were still quite expensive, people had to find other ways to amuse themselves. Not too long ago many people were still superstitious and labelled anything strange and unusual as magic. Tobacco companies identified a gap in the market and realised that the average, information-starved person hungered for knowledge about the strange world around them. From 1870s-1930s, tobacco companies issued cigarette cards in packets of cigarettes on numerous topics. One of those topics was magic tricks and puzzles.

I've listed a small selection of magic trick and puzzle cigarette cards. I've provided scans of a sample card from each set and I've tried to list as many card titles as possible.

Name Of Set: Tricks and Puzzles (Black Back)

Manufacturer: Gallaher

Issue Year: 1933

Card Number: 100

Card Titles: A trick with a clothes brush, The three-square puzzle, Self luminous steam, The three dozen match puzzle, Two Square match puzzle, A coin problem, Making a pack of cards spring from one hand to another, A fancy flourish, To put ale and water in a glass without mixing them, A puzzle with a match,Making a basket, Match box trick, How to make a paper tree, Indestructible match box, Atraction and replusion, Bottle and straw, A good game for two, To change the contents of two glasses without using a third, Subtraction puzzle, How to break glass in any direction, The resin grapes, Onion juice as a sympathetic ink, The cross puzzle,Communication of thought, The nine puzzle, The marked penny, The Garrison Puzzle, The square puzzle, Balancing penny, A simple trick, Park drive match tick, The acrobatic card, Bottle and penny trick, To balance one ball on another, The moat puzzle, On line puzzle, How to make smoke rings with a box, To tie a knot in a hand-kerchief without letting either end go, The Three-coin trick, The 6-square puzzle, To separate oil from water, The four into three square puzzle, To pick up a sixpenny piece from a saucer of water without wetting your fingers, The shot rabbit, To draw a design upon a piece of paper, The match trick, Cigarette paper trick,Joke with a match, The revolving penny, Squeezing the shilling, Removing the Domine, The wine bottle puzzle, How to hear guns of an imaginary fleet firing, Fun with a threepenny bit, How to plung a piece of white paper into an inkpot filled with ink without blackening it...

Name Of Set: Tricks & Puzzles

Manufacturer: Richard Lloyd and Sons

Issue Year: 1935

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: -

Name Of Set: Amusing Tricks and How To Do Them

Manufacturer: Carreras

Issue Year: 1937

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: To Lengthen a Handkerchief, Thread Will Not Burn, Squares and Triangles, The Vanishing Coin, The Wandering Rubber Band, The Spoon Dances, Where's The Coin, Spotting The Card, The Jumping Card, The Wandering Ring, The Sugar Torch, Walk Through Postcard, Restoring Burnt Thread, Name Unseen Colours, Unbreakable Match, Bewitched Walking-Stick, The Magic Matches, The Balancing Coin, The Wandering Pen, Card Magic, Vanishing Threepenny-Bit, Telling Time By Clairvoyance, Find The Coin By Touch, Lift Three Matches With One, The Weeping Pencil, Handkerchief From Match Box, Rescuing a Submerged Coin, Rejoining Torn Paper, Matter Through Matter, A Mathematical Mystery, The Ghostly Gathering, A Flying Egg, Handerchief Holds Water, A Divided Apple, Tinfoil Will Burn, Finding The Chosen Card, Unspillable Match Box, Coin and Needle Trick, To Eat a Candle, Restoring a Broken Bootlace, The Magic Matchbox, The Magic Numbers, A Match Joke, A Writing Trick, The Rope Handcuff, Orange From a Ball of Wool, Four Kings Take a Journey, The Unwinding Trick, A Bluff Card Trick, and The Extra Cigarette.

Name Of Set: Magical Puzzles

Manufacturer: R and J Hill

Issue Year: 1938

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: Magic Water, How to make Smoke Rings, To put Ale and Water in a Glass Without Mixing Them, To Obtain Bell Effect With A Spoon, A Match Joke, Bottle and Straw Trick, How To Join String In Your Mouth, How To Tie a Knot In A Piece of String - Without Letting Go Of The Hands, To Turn Sixpence into One-and-Six, Is It Possible?, How To Float A Needle On Water, How To Make a Penny Stick On The Wall or Door, The Match and Coin, Match Trick, The Vanishing Spots, The Broken Match, The Burnt Thread, Rubber Ball Trick, Egg Trick, The Spirit in the Handkerchief, A Good Catch, To Pass Yourself Through A Playing Card, The Walking Coin, Fire-Resisting Paper, The Magic Match, A Draught-Board Problem, The Moving Bottle, How To Balance a Pencil on your Finger, Try Your Lung Power, The Mesmerized Match, How To Turn a Tumbler of Water Upside Down Without Spilling the Water, Mystic Production of Handkerchief, The Mysterious Ring, Ring and Wand Trick, A Wonderful Thought-Reading Trick, How Many Pins?, Magic Water,The Magic Production of a Coin, Producing Ribbon From a Tangerine, Balancing a Coin on the Hand, How To Reverse the Positions of Two Coins Without Touching Them, Disappearing Sixpence, The Magic Coin, Pulling the Handkerchief Through the Leg, Tell a Card By Magic, The Disappearing Coin, How To Spin A Penny by Friction, How To Balance Fifteen Matches On One, and Telling The Reds From The Blacks By Weight,How is it Done?

Name Of Set: Optical Illusions

Manufacturer: Ogdens

Issue Year: 1923

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: Circles Appearing as Hexagons, Long and Short Lines, Four Crooked Bars, Nine Cubes, Light and Dark Bricks, Cloisters, Pillars in Perspective, Spiral,Object Out of Perspective, The Deceptive Shapes, Book and Tube, Circle and Dot, Changing Arches, Balls and Glasses, Triangles and Star,Length of Lines, Length of Lines, Cog Wheels with Rotary Movement, Ball and Cup, Letters Appearing Out of Upright, Lines Appearing not Parallel,Rotary Movement, Cheese,The Wire Box, and Deceptive Lines.

Name Of Set: Optical illusions

Manufacturer: Godfrey Phillips

Issue Year: 1927

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: The Scotsman, The Black Toucan, The Parallel Lines, Can You Read This? The Cubes, The Birds, The Grey Smudges, The Rabbit, The Disappearing Line, Do These Wheels Revolve? The Elusive Line, Illusion of Distance, The Stairs, The Distorted Oblongs, The Diamond? Contrast, The Spiral, Which is the Longer? The Perfect Square, Hexagons or Cicles? The Two Circles, Illusion of Area, Colour Contrast, The Two Squares, and The Lines.

Name Of Set: Puzzle Series (normal size)

Manufacturer: Major Drapkin

Issue Year: 1926

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: Chelsea Pensioner, The Bandit, The Mountaineer, The Falconer, The Native American, Arab, Remeo and Juliet, Poacher, Snake Charmer, The Mandarin,Dancer, Town Crier, The Trapper, The Sailor, Watchman, The Bowman, The Beefeater, Huntsman, The Highwayman, The Gladiator, Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday, The Monstrel, The Shepherd, Trader, and The Smuggler.

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Napoleonic Jeton Battle of Leipzig Commemorative Medal Defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1813

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This Napoleonic jeton/token was issued by the Allied Nations to commemorate the decisive defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Leipzig, 1813. Following this significant battle, with his European military presence in tatters, Napoleon retreated back to France but was finally captured and exiled to the island of Elba in the following year. The historical significance of this jeton makes it exceptionally sought after. A view of the war torn city of Leipzig is shown on the one side of the jeton and the other side features the busts of the main two coalition leaders: Franz II Emperor of Austria, and Alexander I of Russia.

I think we can all agree that Napoleon was a significant historical figure and didn’t achieve what he did through pure luck. Napoleon was able to exploit the fresh ideas of great theorists of his day to transform his highly motivated but ramshackle army into a formidable fighting force that would conquer most of Europe. These new ideas included such simple but effective tactics as speeding up the marching pace, encouraging his soldiers to live off the land so they weren’t as reliant on vulnerable supply routes, and creating plans with many alternative objectives so that he could turn the unpredictable nature of war to his advantage.

1813 Commemorative Jeton / Medal for Napoleonic Battle of Leipzig

Info:The Battle of Leipzig (German: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig) or Battle of the Nations, fought on 16–19 October 1813, was one of the most decisive defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte. Busts include Franz II Emperor of Austria and Alexander of Russia, legend around "Ietton"; view of battle, city in background. By Steiner

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Queen Victoria's Royal Funeral on Commemorative Cigarette Cards by Ogden's Tabs, 1901

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This little card set was issued to commemorate the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. As well as featuring the late queen, ironically dressed in mourning clothes, it also includes the newly proclaimed King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Patriotic cards like these played an important role in Duke’s propaganda campaign in what is known as the Tobacco Wars.

W. Duke and Sons, a US tobacco firm, had strategically acquired the British tobacco company Ogden’s with the sole purpose of taking over the British tobacco market. The slogan “British Made by British Labour” printed on the backs of this card set and other similar card sets revealed Duke’s ploy to subtly win over the British smokers’ support and ease his takeover plot. His plan, as with Queen Victoria’s reign, eventually came to an end. Many of the major British tobacco companies formed a strong alliance and forced Duke to retreat back across the Atlantic Ocean.

Ogden's, International Interest (Tabs Type Issues), 1901 (3 cards)

Includes:Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra

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Lighthouse Cigarette Cards and Trading Cards (Collectables)

Lighthouses have been saving the lives of seafarers for thousands of years. The Pharos of Alexandria is the earliest known lighthouse and was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world. The traditional lighthouse is fast becoming a rarity as they become replaced by more sophisticated electronic navigation aids - radar beacons, radio beacons and satellite systems.

Maritime antiques are extremely popular on eBay and lighthouse cigarette cards are avidly sought after, especially since only a few sets were devoted purely to lighthouses. I've listed a small selection of cards sets containing lighthouses below. I've provided scans of a sample card from each set and I've tried to list as many card titles as possible.

Name Of Set: Lighthouses

Manufacturer: Liebig Extract of Meat Co

Issue Year: 1907

Card Number: 6

Card Titles: -

Name Of Set: British Lighthouses

Manufacturer: Societe Job

Issue Year: 1925

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: Longstone's Lighthouse, North Unst , Smalls Lighthouse, The Wolf Lighthouse, St. Catherine's Lighthouse, The Chicken Lighthouse, Skerryvore Lighthouse, The Bell-Rock Lighthouse, St. Anthony's Lighthouse, The Longships Lighthouse, The Flannan Lighthouse, The Bishop Rock Lighthouse, The High Lighthouse, Cromer Lighthouse, The Eddystone Lighthouse, Beachy Head Lighthouse, Maplin Lighthouse, Isle of May Lighthouse, South Foreland Lighthouse, North Foreland Lighthouse, Holyhead Lighthouse, Plymouth Breakwater Lighthouse, Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, Hartland Point Lighthouse, and Bressay Lighthouse.

Name Of Set: Lighthouses

Manufacturer: British American Tobacco

Issue Year: 1926

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: Anvil Point Lighthouse Swanage, Great Orm Lighthouse Llandudno, Skerryvore Lighthouse, North Unst Lighthouse North of Britain, Inner Farn Lighthouse, Portland Lighthouse, North Foreland Lighthouse, The Needles IOW, Old Lighthouse Removed to Avonmouth, Lizard Lighthouse, Dungeness Lighthouse, Spurn Head Lighthouse, Penninis Lighthouse St. Mary's ScillLundy Isle Lighthouse Disused, Landguard Lighthouse, Bishop Rock Lighthouse, Trevose Head Lighthouse, Smeaton Tower, St. Anthony's Falmouth, Godrevy Lighthouse, Dubh Artach Lighthouse, South Foreland Lighthouse St Margaret's Bay, Sea Houses Lighthouse, Pendeen Lighthouse, Round Island Lighthouse, Longships Lighthouse, St. Agnes Lighthouse Disused, Flannan Islands Light Station, St. Catherine's Lighthouse IOW, Chapman Lighthouse, Chicken Rock Lighthouse, Berry Head Lighthous Brixham, South Light Lundy Island, Flamborough Head Lighthouse, Early History, Longstone Lighthouse, Douglas Lighthouse, Souter Point Lighthouse, Cromer Lighthouse, Bell Rock Lighthouse, Eddystone Lighthouse, Whitby Lighthouse, Coquet Lighthouse, Beachy Head Lighthouse, Hartland Lighthouse Hartland Point, Bamborough Lighthouse, Corbiere Lighthouse, Wolf Rock Lighthouse, Lowestoft Lighthouse, and Barra Head Lighthouse.

Name Of Set: Lighthouses (NZ)

Manufacturer: WD and HO Wills

Issue Year: 1926

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: -

Name Of Set: Towers S1032

Manufacturer: Liebig Extract of Meat Co

Issue Year: 1912

Card Number: 6

Card Titles: -

Name Of Set: The Seven Wonders of The World S451

Manufacturer: Liebig Extract of Meat Co

Issue Year: 1895

Card Number: 6

Card Titles: -

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History of British Military Uniforms Evolution on Trading Cards by Nabisco Foods Ltd, 1971

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This nicely illustrated card set includes British military uniforms through the ages. The first two cards are devoted to the English Civil War period: card no. 1 features one of Oliver Cromwell’s Roundhead Pikemen, 1642, and card no. 2 depicts a confident looking Royalist Cavalryman, 1645. The following card in the series catapults us into the Napoleonic Wars, showing us an Officer of the Royal Horse Artillery, 1809.

An officer of the 11th Hussars, from the time of Crimean War, is pictured in this set on card no. 5. It is thought that British soldiers introduced the concept of cigarette smoking to the UK after seeing their Russian counterparts smoking tobacco rolled up in tubes of thin paper. So, perhaps cigarette cards owe their existence to the Crimean War. A less conspicuous and more practical looking khaki uniform of an Officer of the 2nd Life Guards is shown on card no. 10, from the Boer War period. The final two cards show a couple of ceremonial uniforms from when this card set was issued, 1971.

Nabisco Foods Ltd, British Soldiers, 1971 (12 cards)

Roundhead Pikeman 1642,Royalist Cavalryman 1645,Officer Royal Horse Artillery 1809,Private Sutherland Highlanders 1854,Officer 11th Hussars 1855,Pioneer Scots Guards 1866,Sgt Major Greadier Guards 1870,Private Royal West Kents 1887,CO Argyll and, Sutherland Highlanders 1895,Officer 2nd Life Guards 1900,Pipe Major Scots Guards,Officer Royal Horse Guards,

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