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 749273.4.9
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, ‘NOVA SCOTIA.' The central coat of arms consists of a gold shield with a wavy blue band cutting across it horizontally. The blue band features a grey fish in the centre. Above the band on the gold background are two green and purple thistles, and below the blue band, again on the gold, one green and purple thistle.On the rear of the card is decorative scrolling and the text at the top reads 'No9 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 here illustrated are those assigned in 1868, by Royal Warrant in England, to the province, on the formation of the Dominion of Canada. It appears at that time to have been quite overlooked that a quite different coat of arms was registered for Nova Scotia in Lyon Office, dating back to the seventeenth century.'