We didn’t have much to do in the way of packing parcels this morning, or much activity from customers, so I was able to continue with the soul-crushing task of compiling a drop-down menu of Topical Times football cards for the eBay shop.
They aren’t like normal cards, which had to fit in a cigarette packet or pack of gum, these were given away with a magazine. The ones I did this morning are the miniature size – as wide as a cigarette card but about twice as high. This makes them difficult to photograph efficiently as they need cropping whichever way you do them. They are also in black and white, which makes them look very similar – I’m used to a world where football shirts come in different colours, not just black, white and grey.
Having said that, they had better names in 1938.

James Argue – Chelsea FC

Sam BarkasΒ – Manchester City
There were five Barkas brothers, all professional footballers. Sam and his cousin Tommy Felton both played for England.
We were lucky during the week when a lady rang up with a few things to sell – I checked if she had anything else and was able to buy some WW2 propaganda leaflets and wartime maps. They had belonged to her late father. but she was (quite rightly) keeping his DFC and other medals. More of this later.
Towards the end of the afternoon we had a number of sales, which we packed ready for Monday morning.
I scanned some of the propaganda leaflets ready for auction next week. This, though tatty, is probably the best of the lot – a magnificently evil Nazi spider with Hitler’s face.

WW2 propaganda leaflet
My Greek was weak in the 1970s when I actually made a serious effort. It’s worse now.
I’m still good at sticking stamps on envelopes though, as you can see here.

Β£3.95 – absolute bargain!
History, nature, Christmas, royalty – it’s not an envelope, it’s an education. The Winston Churchill stamp provides balance to the Nazi spider.
It should be possible to put several cards on the scanner and have them sent to the computer as single items. Your packaging gets my stamp of approval.
π Nice one. I used to be able to do that with my scanner at home but can’t seem to do it on the one at work. Will practice next week and see.
Your packaging could easily become a collectable item itself!
Sometimes we manage to theme the stamps and contents of the parcels. In other words, we have too much time on our hands. π
I once had a boss who themed the stamps he used to send us our paychecks with our personalities. THAT was interesting.
I bet. π π π
Can you scan the cards and the envelopes directly, instead of photographing them?
I’m scanning the leaflets, though it’s tricky lining them up properly. I photographed the one for the blog as it was easier than scanning and transferring the scan. I really need some time to get used to the scanner. I want to scan cards too, but I can’r work out the best way of doing them in bulk.
You’ll get there. Can you straighten the image if it’s not squared up
We can on the other computer but not on the one I use. Typical…
Yes, indeed! Quite an assortment comes into that shop, which must give you quite a lot to think about. And maybe make up for the boring bitd?
I was watching a TV programme recently on the subject of the benefits of learning new skills. There’s rarely a day that doesn’t teach me something new. π
Wonderful! So much to know and learn.
Yes, lots more to learn. π