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Cigarette Cards

W.H. & O. Wills Ltd.

Here you can see the front and back of the cigarette cards supplied by W.H. & O.Wills in 1926. On the reverse of each card is a short history of the light. There are 50 to collect and they are :-

1. Anvil Point - 2. Great Orme - 3. Skerryvore - 4. North Unst - 5. Inner Farne - 6. Portland - 7. North Foreland - 8. Needles - 9. Old Avonmouth - 10. Lizard - 11. Dungeness - 12. Spurn Head - 13. Penninis - 14. Lundy old - 15. Landguard - 16. Bishop Rock - 17. Trevose Head - 18. Smeaton Tower - 19. St. Anthony's Head - 20. Godrevey - 21. Dubh Artach - 22. South Foreland - 23. Seahouses - 24. Pendeen - 25. Round Island - 26. Longships - 27. St. Agnes - 28. Flannan Isles - 29. St. Catherine's - 30. Chapman - 31. Chicken Rock - 32. Berry Head - 33. Lundy South - 34. Flamborough - 35. Old cresset at St. Agnes - 36. Longstone - 37. Douglas - 38. Souter Point - 39. Cromer - 40. Bell Rock - 41. Eddystone - 42. Whitby Harbour - 43. Couquet Isle - 44. Beachy Head - 45. Hartland Point - 46. Bamburgh - 47. Corbiere - 48. Wolf Rock - 49. Lowestoft - 50. Barra Head

Look out for the reprints. They are printed in black on the back (not green) and have the year 2000 on them; See left hand side image. On the right is an example of 'Three Castles' which is a brand of Wills cigarettes made in Bristol. Both had 50 cards in the set.

British American Tobacco Co. Ltd.

BAT was formed in 1902 with the merger of American Tobacco of the USA and Imperial Tobacco on the UK.

They issued a set of 50 in 1926 (left hand image) but today you can buy reprint sets (right hand image). There are 50 to collect, namely :-

Societe Job (J Bardou & Co).

Here you can see the front and back of the cigarette cards supplied by Societe Job (J Bardou & Co) in 1925. On the reverse of each card is a short history of the light. There are 25 to collect and they are :-

Skerryvore - Flannan Isles - North Unst - Bressay - Isle of May - Bell Rock - Cromer - North Foreland - Hight light Yarmouth/Lowestoft ? - Longstone - Maplin - South Foreland - Beachy Head - St. Catherine's - Portland Breakwater (stone tower) - Eddystone - Plymouth Breakwater - Wolf Rock - St. Anthony's Head - Smalls - Bishop Rock - Longships - Chicken Rock - Hartland Point - Holyhead.

R. & J. Hill Ltd.

These refer to a series produced in the 1920s by Hills cigarettes. On the reverse of each card is a short history of the light.

Brian, in August 2011, says 'I sometimes use your web site to check out information for my lighthouse collection. I noticed that you have a few of the Hills lighthouse cig cards in one section and wondered if you had since discovered any more about these cards? I can tell you a little which might be helpful for an update to your site.

Firstly they were actually first issued in 1903. The original printing comprised nos 1-20 and these can be identified as they have no frame line around the picture on the front. I don't know exactly when the second printing appeared but I think it must have been fairly soon after the original issue. The second lot included nos 21-30 and all had a light black frame line around the image on the front. Some if not all of the original 1-20 were also reprinted. I have four or five of them with the black frame line but I have not been able to find out if they were all reprinted in this way.

The examples you are showing on your site look very much like they have been trimmed at the sides. This happened to a large proportion of this issue because they were slightly bigger than the "standard" cigarette cards and wouldn't fit the standard size slotted albums of the early 1900s period. Needless to say, collectors solved the problem by cutting down the cards to fit the album, consequently reducing their current value to about 30% of the very scarce untrimmed versions. Murray Cards currently catalogues the untrimmed original 20 cards without frame lines at over £ 700.

Here is a complete list :-

1. Longstone - 2. Lizard - 3. Smalls - 4. Mumbles - 5. Rock (New Brighton) - 6. Menai - 7. Skerryvore - 8 Corbiere (Jersey) - 9 Bell Rock - 10 Calf Rock (Bantry Bay Ireland) - 11 Kinsale - 12 Bishop Rock - 13 Fastnet - 14 N Unst (Muckle Flugga) - 15 Wolf Rock - 16 Gull Lightship - 17 Arnish Point - 18 Longships - 19 Needles - 20 Eddystone -

These listed above 1-20 were issues in 1903 with an unframed picture side. Some if not all were reprinted with a thin black frame line around the image.

21 St Anthony - 22 Hartlepool - 23 Douglas Head - 24 Smeaton Tower - 25 Flamborough - 26 Whitby (the two harbour lights, not the High Light) - 27 Scarborough - 28 North Foreland - 29 Beachy Head - 30 St Mary's (I am missing this one and am not sure if this is St Mary's Island Northumberland or St Mary's in the Scillies) -

These listed above 21-30 only exist with the frame line around the image. They were issued some time after 1903 but I do not know the exact date. '

Thanks Brian for the benefit of your research. It was very kind of you to take the effort.

Edwards, Ringer & Bigg Ltd.

This firm traces its origin back to 1813 when William Ringer set up shop at 22 High Street, Bristol. 30 years later W.H. Edwards joined the company to create Edwards, Ringer & Co. In 1851 W.D. Bigg & Co merged to establish, Edwards Ringer & Bigg & Company. In 1893 another merger was made with the old established Bristol firm of W.O. Bigg & Company with the final name of Edwards, Ringer & Biggs Ltd., known locally as 'Ringers'. Eventually the company became part of Imperial Tobacco.

Here is the only example that I have been able to find. It appears to be card number 15 out of a set of 25 and depicts the Pharos at Alexandria.