Tag Archives: cards

The Trivia of Life

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Julia rang this morning, the first time I have heard her voice for a fortnight. I could have spoken to her on the phone, but we decided it would cost too much and I can’t go on Whatsapp because it keeps telling me to go into my Google account, and that gets complicated as I can’t remember any passwords, or even the email address I used to set it up. It got very messy last time I used Google and I said, like Poe’s Raven, “Nevermore!”

It was nice to hear from her and nice to know that she had landed safely, though later than expected. She will be home tomorrow after spending the night in Norwich. I would be happy to go down and pick her up but she has decided it would be too much for me. I hate it when people decide things will be too much for me. It will be an endurance test, but I am still capable of driving to Norwich and back. Still, it’s nice she thinks of my welfare, even if she has mentally consigned me to the scrapheap of life.

I have a new card on the way from the Anti-coagulant Service. It is a cheaply produced yellow card to let paramedics know why, if they are called out to you in an emergency, you are bleeding so profusely. Most of the lettering came off soon after I got it after Julia washed my wallet recently most of the erst disappeared. There is only one complete word left (two if you count NHS) plus  farin and ibril. I’ll leave those last two for those of you who like word puzzles.

In my wallet I had several other cards, including several that are quite cheaply produced, and none of them has suffered so badly from wear and washing. The irony is that the anti-coagulant card is the only one that might save my life and it is the only one that has been rendered useless.

 

Frank Soo

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I was entering pre-war football cards onto eBay, specifically the large sized Topical Times series from the 1930’s. I find them awkward to work with and tricky to photograph, because they are nearly ten inches long with a tendency to curl. I’ve mainly used the scanner, because it flattens them nicely for the picture.

Yes, I’ve finally worked out how to use the scanner properly, though you can only fit two of these monster cards on at a time.

Tom Gardner – Aston Villa
James Beattie – Portsmouth
Frank Boulton – Derby County

Ears, as you can see from the photographs, were worn larger in the 1930’s.

When I started on the colour cards, which are much less harrowing than the black and white images, I found Frank Soo.

Topical Times coloured cards
Frank Soo

 

The combination of name and slightly oriental features made me look again.

Frank Soo, was the first man of Chines heritage to become a professional footballer and first man of non-white heritage to play for England (in nine wartime Internationals). He went on to manage a number of teams in Sacandinavia, Italy and Scunthorpe. As a collector of trivia, I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of him.

His brother Ronald flew with the RAF in the war (Frank served in the RAF in a technical capacity) and was shot down and killed as a Lancaster air-gunner in 1944.

It’s amazing what you can learn if you keep your eyes open.

Football, a Spider and an Educational Parcel

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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

James Argue – Chelsea FC

 

Sam Barkas - four of his brothers were also professional footballers, as was his cousin Billy Felton

Sam Barkas  – 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

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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

£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.

Get that party started

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First event of the day – phone call from Number 1 son enquiring about the chance of a lift on Friday. Seems he’s bought so many presents that he won’t be able to carry them all. It’s his first Christmas since he started working full time. You can’t fault his generosity, but as a parent, I’d rather he invested it in National Savings Products for his future. (Yes, there’s no pleasing me, is there?)

We posted the last of the Christmas cards this morning – I’ve decided I really should stay in touch with more of my family rather than just meeting them at funerals, a sentiment expressed in several of the cards I’ve had this year.

When we drew up at the farm we had a phone call to tell us the taxi would be late. It seems the driver had managed to reverse in Vicki’s drive, put his back wheels on the lawn, and then get stuck by dropping the clutch and spinning the wheels.

Dave was here when we arrived, unloading the Christmas presents he has been making in his shed. Santa has many helpers at this time of year.

I’ve just been reminded that it’s nearly 11.00 and people will be expecting to eat at 12.00 – so I’m off to do the sandwiches.

Time flies…