In the United States, collector cards are included with bubble gum and often deal with sports figures. But in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, collector cards were (and in some cases still are) a staple with other products, including cigarettes and tea. These cards, mostly targeted at children, typically contain an illustration or photograph on one side, and a bit of educational information on the back. The subject matter often ranges far from sports.
One of the more famous sets of British collector cards came from the venerable tea producer Brooke Bond, established in 1869 by Arthur Brooke (there never was a Mr. Bond — he just liked the name). The company began including cards with its tea in the 1950s and continued with various themes until 1999 when the practice was discontinued. Today’s images are from a variety of card collections, but mostly from a specific set titled “The Sea — Our Other World.” Click on any image for a larger version.
Most of the card sets contained 50 different cards, and the company sold (for 5 or 6 pence) albums you could use to compile the various collections. Many themes had to do with nature and animals, though they later started covering famous inventors, explorers, other individuals, and even British fashion trends.
These cards are small, approximately 2.5 by 1.5 inches, and were printed in full color on the illustration side, and black and white on the information side. Each was numbered sequentially.
The company employed various illustrators over the years, and most sets were done by one illustrator per set. Illustrating these sets was a good enough gig to attract many of Britain’s most famous artists.
In the complete set I have, which is themed around ocean exploration, there are references to famous ocean explorers, great moments in ocean science, famous shipwrecks, and frightening sea creatures.
Here, for example, is the invention of the aqualung in 1943 by Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnon; a fantastical tourist submarine vehicle; and a story of an experiment in which hamsters were able to live underwater for two weeks using a special membrane.
The educational value of these cards is a little shaky — many contain limited real information and some downright questionable scientific evidence — but they make for fun reading.
Brooke Bond produced more than 200 sets of these cards, and many are still collected today.
Brooke bond was sold to food giant Unilever in 1984, and eventually the Brooke Bond brand was eliminated in the UK (though it still exists in some parts of the world), and the cards were discontinued.
I was never a baseball or football card collector as a kid, though I did hang on to gas station promotions, which often took the form of educational cards. I also had Beatles cards, Man from Uncle cards, and Batman cards.
But had I grown up in the UK, I’m sure I would have collected Brooke Bond tea cards. They are right up my alley.
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This article was last modified on March 1, 2021
This article was first published on December 2, 2011
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