|
Heraldryshop
|
ShopAbout usContactWantedCivic heraldry literatureGuestbookWhat is new ?
|
Heraldryshop > Catalogue > Tobacco cards > Wills's Borough Arms 1st seriesSeries information :
CompanyW.D. & H.O. Wills was a British Tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco. The company was founded as Wills, Watkins & Co. by Henry Overton Wills I and his partner Watkins, who opened a shop in Castle Street, Bristol in 1786. After the retirement of his partner in 1789 it became “Wills & Co.”. In 1826 his two sons, William Day Wills and Henry Overton Wills II took over the company and in 1830 the company took the above name. In 1901 Sir William Henry Wills et al formed the Imperial Tobacco company from a merger of W.D. & H.O. Wills with seven other British tobacco companies. Imperial remains one of the World's largest tobacco companies. In 1988 Imperial Tobacco withdrew the Wills brand in the United Kingdom, but it is still sold in India where it has many brands. Heraldic seriesThe company has issued a huge number of tobacco card series, probably more than 500 in the UK alone, and several hundred series in the overseas markets. The oldest series date from around 1890 and new series were issued until the late 1930s. More than 25 series with a heraldic theme have been issued by the company. These include arms of UK boroughs, schools, bishoprics and universities, as well as arms of the British Empire, Heraldic Signs and their origins and several overseas issues. See here for the series shown on this website. The borough arms were first issued in 1903, with no text on the back (Scroll back). The same year the same series were issued, but now with a small number on the front. In 1904 the same arms were issued again, but now with descriptive texts on the back. In 1906 the series was issued for the fourth time, but now named as Second Edition 1-50.
  Example of the numbered and unnumbered scroll back issues The arms are identical in the four series with two exceptions : Card nr 16 "Oxford University" was in the second edition replaced by "Kensington", and the arms of Grimsby (41) were updated, as Grimsby became a county borough instead of a town.
Cards issued :The numbering below is based on the descriptive and second edition numbering. The numbered scroll back-series has a different numbering.
|
