SUNDIALS & COMMERCE: FRY’S CIGARETTE CARDS

In the late C19, the first series of collectable themed cards were devised in America to encourage trade. The idea caught on, and these early examples of product placement gradually spread. Sportsmen (Cricketers), Nature, Actors, Military and Important People, were among the topics. By the turn of the century, British companies had taken up the challenge.

In 1924, Sundials became a novel theme, with an astonishing set of 50 cards produced by Fry’s. This was – until a takeover in 2011 – a long-established Bristol company founded in 1728 to process cocoa beans, and passed on down succeeding Fry generations.

Besides the large number of dials from all parts of Britain, each card had a sundial-and-product specific motto / pithy ditty on the back. The 5 collectors’ pages below show the front and the backs separately. Please note that you will have to read the text sides in reverse order to match the description to the correct dial. The centre one will be the same.

Following the example set by Fry’s, the cigarette company W.D. & H.O. Wills produced its own Sundial cards in 1928 with a set of 25. I have featured these HERE.