Cigarette card
Category
Ephemera
Date
Unknown
Materials
card
Measurements
35 mm (Width) x 0.5 mm (Depth); 68 mm (Length)
Order this imageCollection
Mr Straw's House, Nottinghamshire
NT 749273.4.40
Summary
One of a set of 50 of Will's Cigarette cards 'Arms of the British Empire'. The first of three partail sets of cigarette cards kept in a wooden box with two compartments, a metal hinged lid painted red with a yellow / orange flower and card suit design. On the front of the card, at the top, is the title 'ARMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.' To the left of the central coat of arms image it reads 'WILLS's, and then to the right 'CIGARETTES.' Beneath the image is the location the arms originate from, ‘QUEENSLAND.' The central coat of arms consists of an ornate shield with scrolled edges. The top section shows two animal heads on a gold background, a bull on the left and a ram on the right. The bottom left section shows a gold wheat sheaf on a black background, and the bottom right contains a pyramid of gold and stones with crossed tools beneath it on a green hill against a red background. Above the shield is a blue Maltese cross with a gold crown on it, placed between two fronds of sugarcane sprouting from grass. Beneath the shield a banner reads 'AUDAX AT FIDELIS'. On the rear of the card is decorative scrolling and the text at the top reads 'No40 ARMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 'WILLS'S CIGARETTES. The text at the base reads 'W.D. & H.O. WILLS.' BRISTOL & LONDON. ISSUED BY THE IMPERIAL TOBACCO Co. (OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND)Ltd' Down either side of the card there is text running vertically which in its entirety reads 'ALBUMS FOR THESE PICTURE CARDS CAN BE OBTAINED AT 1/- EACH FROM ALL TOBACCONISTS.' In the centre of the rear of the card the decoration creates a box for information specific to the location portrayed on the card. In this instance it reads 'Arms granted in 1893. The pyramid of gold, the pile of quartz, and the miner's tools, are emblems of the mineral wealth of the colony; the bull's head, the merino ram's head, the wheat sheaf, and the sugarcanes tell of the even more valuable agricultural resources of this queenly colony. The Maltese Cross, with crown, forming the crest, is frequently used as a badge.'