ARP Wills Cigarette Cards (1938)

**GasMasksUK** · 07-01-2013, 05:49 PM

I picked up this rather nice item in Camden Market on Saturday morning and carried under my arm all day until it was time to leave London and head back to where I spend my weekends

I think that all the awkwardness of jumping on and off the tube with it, running for trains etc was worth it, but my girlfriend who I was with still doesn't quite understand why.....

It's what I believe to be a complete set of advertising/trading cards that were included inside a packet of Wills Cigarettes from 1938 onwards until the end of the war. They show various things that would be encountered on the home front such as Fire Appliances, Anti Aircraft guns, Gas Masks, how to deal with an incendiary bomb and how to make a door gas tight. I'm not too sure how rare or sought after they are, I still think that the £30.00 I paid was a fair price bearing in mind that they're all in really good condition.

I am however faced with a little bit of a dilemma, as you can see in the photo above several of the cards have slipped out of place and the only way to move them back would be to open up the frame, which in this case would mean removing the tape from the back of it.... and I really don't like messing about with things this old. So, what's the overall opinion?

Thanks

Danny

**SteveR** · 07-01-2013, 07:27 PM

Nice find.

**Woolgar** · 07-01-2013, 07:34 PM

I love them ! What a great find

Nick

**ruddersrangers44** · 07-01-2013, 07:39 PM

Nice buy Danny

...........Jake.

**Spitace41** · 07-01-2013, 08:26 PM

These are great! I also have a full set, but not nicely mounted like yours are. Are they just sort of stuck on with some sort of adhesive?

**GasMasksUK** · 07-01-2013, 09:24 PM

by Spitace41

These are great! I also have a full set, but not nicely mounted like yours are. Are they just sort of stuck on with some sort of adhesive?

Cheers, they are great little items

I'm not too sure what is holding them down, I think its just the pressure of the glass against the backing as a few of them have slipped out of place as you can see.

Thanks

Danny

**Spitace41** · 07-02-2013, 06:08 AM

Ah right. I was told, when I brought mine, to keep them away from moisture as the backs are self adhesive (for sticking in albums) and apparently, that can de- value them.

**Glenn66** · 07-02-2013, 10:58 AM

I vote for putting them back in their place.

**GasMasksUK** · 07-02-2013, 01:12 PM

by Spitace41

Ah right. I was told, when I brought mine, to keep them away from moisture as the backs are self adhesive (for sticking in albums) and apparently, that can de- value them.

I found that out several years ago when I bought a pile of cards which had ships and aircraft on them, after buying them and removing the elastic bands that held them all together, they didn't come apart because of the adhesive which had made them all fuse together

All wasn't lost though, I filled a container with boiling water and put the cards in it which soon separated them. After that they had a long spell under some very heavy books which soon flattened them out

Thanks

Danny

**4md** · 07-02-2013, 02:35 PM

Nice!! the set looks great framed up like this. I would be inclined to open it and move the cards. These are not like the wills cards i have seen which have information on the back and are not adhesive

regards Paul