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 749273.4.5
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, ‘BERMUDA.' The central coat of arms consists of a grey shield featuring a boat with sails and oars, a horizontal green band at the top of the shield features a white boar facing left. The shield has a red border with a gold linked chain pattern on it.On the rear of the card is decorative scrolling and the text at the top reads 'No5 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 'The arms of Bermuda, which are of Spanish origin, are taken from the coinage. The chain which surrounds the shield is doubtless suggested by the arms of Bermudez, the Spaniard who first sighted the islands in 1515. The islands were first colonised by Admiral Sir George Somers, who was shipwrecked on one of reefs in 1609, on his way to Virginia.'