No website about Air Raid Precautions would be complete without the famous set of cigarette cards produced by The Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain and Ireland) Limited in 1938. These cards are absolutely fantastic and were ultimately what sparked off my interest in the subject. Unfortunately, my grandfather (who became an air raid warden in 1939) didn't manage to smoke his way to completing the entire set, but I have since managed to acquire a full album. (Without ever smoking, I hasten to add!)
The set of cards was released by at least three branches of the Imperial Tobacco Company:
- W.D. & H.O. Wills
- Ogden's Cigarettes
- Churchman's Cigarettes
Wills and Ogden's set contained fifty cards measuring 36mm x 68mm, shown full-size above. Churchman's set consisted of only 48 cards, nos. 11 and 12 being omitted, but having a larger card measuring 53mm x 68mm. Each card came with explanatory text printed on the reverse, and had an adhesive surface to allow them to be stuck into an album which was available from tobacconists for a penny.
The album had an introduction by the Home Secretary, Samuel Hoare:
Foreword by the Home Secretary
Home Office, Whitehall, London, S.W.1This series of A.R.P. cigarette cards shows in clear pictures some of the things that the Government and the Local Authorities are working out for the protection of the general public, and also some of the things that each member of the public can do for himself in time of emergency.
As Home Secretary I am responsible for a Home Defence Service which might affect the life of any person in the country, and I therefore welcome these cigarette cards for the manner in which they bring home to the householder and his family what they can do for themselves.
Air Raid Precautions are not mysterious. They are based on commonsense suggestions and the essential things recommended cost very little and demand ingenuity and improvisation rather than expenditure. Even some of the more elaborate recommendations can be carried out quite easily in co-operation with a neighbour.
I commend a study of these cards to your attention.
Samuel Hoare
A note on copyright
The set of cards has already been used in whole or in part both in conventional print media and on the Internet without any indication as to who the copyright owner is.
However, as most of the cards are based on official Government photographs, the copyright on them has expired, and archive documents in HO 186/676 include a letter from Marden Son & Hall (a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company) asking whether they can supply cards based on official photographs to S. Evelyn Thomas for publication in his book, A Practical Guide to A.R.P.. The copyright of cards not based on official photographs still belongs to the respective owners. However, it is not clear which cards these might be, nor who the copyright owners are. Therefore, if anyone can tell me who the rightful owners are, I will either remove the relevant material or acknowledge copyright ownership accordingly.
I hope that my implementation of these cigarette cards will be permitted to remain here in full, as it differs from the original in:
- being fully text-searchable
- the addition of annotated interpretation notes
- the addition of extra illustrations, both from contemporary literature and of artefacts from my collection