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Rowntree Elect chocolate tin George V 1915


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Rowntree Elect chocolate 1915 : Just a stab in the dark, does anyone have examples of the six post cards that were included with the chocolate when this tin was originally issued. I have been searching the internet and so far have drawn a blank.

Any help would be gratefully excepted.

Malcolm

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  • 1 month later...

There were a number of cards that featured an image of a York related building. Image was cigarette card size size, to the left of the 14cm x 7cm card.  Above the image it says "York is the "Home" of Rowntree's Elect Cocoa. 

I do not know if they could be bought separately at the time but I think there may have been more than 6 cards available, which means were the same 6 buildings of note cards used in each tin or perhaps any 6 from the set were used? Tin and cards are shown in the book Campaign 1915 by Chris Pollendine. Regards, Paul.

Edited by Wardog
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Hi Paul,

Thank you for that information it is much appreciated .

I new  it had Six postcards but I could not find any examples. I had asked Professor Peter Doyle as he has an example in his book, "For every Sailor afloat, every Soldier at the front" but he has not come back to me.

I will track down a copy of the book and resume the quest.

Regards

Malcolm 

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Peter Doyle's book only deals with Princess Mary related items. The Rowntree tin and cards had to be purchased to be sent to friend or family. I can say there are at least 11 different cards. Regards, Paul.

Correction- it is mentioned in the book as you say with a picture showing a tin and some cards. You had to collect 30 tokens when you bought the chocolate to obtain the tin. 

One of the cards in the book I dont have so the minimum no of cards is 12.

Edited by Wardog
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Hi Paul,

The cards displayed in Peters book only show the address side of the card. When cards are displayed on the likes of Ebay they are usually listed with the opposite side.

I keep looking and hope to find some examples one day.

Regards

Malc

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HI Paul,

Thanks for that , it makes the search a lot easier for me.

Best regards

Malc 

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Ypres. Did all those cards come with the tin? I've thought that 6 were in a tin. I've thought there was a larger set of cards, 12 or more, and 6 were selected at random. What do you think? Regards, Paul.

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Paul,

The book "Campaign 1915" by Chris Pollendine has images of period advertising that the author says lists the number at six cards which gives credence to your idea. I have only ever seen ten of these cards. For me, it would seem odd to go through the trouble of creating the cards and then only including six in the tin. The space in the tin is totally adequate for a number larger than six. Since writing was the only way someone in service could communicate with family at the time, the idea of only having six cards seems like a small number. Perhaps it was a sales tactic to sell more cocoa? A " collect them all" strategy.

All the best,

Ypres1915

On 23/06/2024 at 08:11, Wardog said:

Hello Ypres. Did all those cards come with the tin? I've thought that 6 were in a tin. I've thought there was a larger set of cards, 12 or more, and 6 were selected at random. What do you think? Regards, Paul.

 

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I'll try and post a picture of my cards sometime. The ones I have that look different to yours are Petergate, St Mary's Abbey, Cliffords Tower, St Williams College, Walmgate Bar, and York Minster. I have 11 in total. Can you list the ones you have? Regards, Paul.

 A couple of possibilities could be that the cards were not originally made to go with the tins, perhaps before the tins came to be, and that the 1915 tins had different cards to the 1916 tins. Regards, Paul.

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Paul,

 

Will do when I have a chance. They are in a box somewhere and I'll need to dig them out.

 

All the best,

 

Ypres1915

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That's fantastic, just the information I have been looking for. Regarding the tin's, I think they started in 1911 and further reissued and dated in 1915. I would assume that cards may have been printed for both issues therefore creating the variation in subject matter.

Now the hunt is on!

Regards

Malcolm

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As I understand the 1st tin was dated 1915 and the 1916 one was not dated. Regards, Paul. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting to see the variation in the cards and the score so far is thirteen that  I have seen. I understand that the service tin was originally launched in 1911 { no date on tin } then revampt and dated 1915.

The following examples have been noted :   York Minster and Bootham bar, York city walls, Stonegate York, St Williams College, St Mary's Abbey York, Petergate York, The Shambles York, Cliffords Tower, Parliament Street, Dinning halls Cocoa works, "Elect" block Cocoa works, Micklesgate Bar York and finaly Monk bar York.

The cards have no indication of the year of printing that I can see or if they had been printed in a set.

Regards

Malc

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Hello Malc. Can you give your source reference for a date of 1911? Both Doyle's and Pollendine's books state 1915 and 1916.  Regards, Paul.

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Hi Paul,

I have racked my brain trying to remember were I found the reference to 1911, Now their is an element of doubt I will investigate further and let you know what I find.

As for the quest in finding the post cards, I now have thirteen different examples for the collection. I now need to find out how many would have been included in the tin and also I need to find an example of the pencil .   

cards.jpg

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Glad you got them. Taken aback by the price though, but others also wanted them. Regards numbers of cards there is no reason at present to think more than 6 per tin. There is though the uncertainty over which cards were used or if it was 6 random cards per tin. You have enough to use if you have or get a second, undated tin. Regards, Paul.

PS Do you have an image of the pencil you are looking for?

Edited by Wardog
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Hi Paul,

Yes it was a bit higher than I would have liked but Ebay have a couple of dealers with deep pockets and have been hoovering up all the nice items in militaria, So I have been playing them at the same game. The down side is it hits the piggy bank somewhat.

I have had a reply from Nestle who now own Rowntree's, They do not have any information but have sent me a number of contacts who may be able to help.

I have a show to get ready for this Saturday but as soon as that's over I will ping few emails off and see what I can find out.

Regarding the pencil : I have not seen an example so its a bit of a shot in the dark, I only have the comment in Peter's book to go by.

Any information I find will be posted on this thread as soon as I have it.

Regards

Malc

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Paul,

As promised the update on my quest for information regarding this tin. So far I have drawn a blank, I contacted Nestle who said that they do not hold any memorabilia or information regarding Rowntree's also I sent a request to the Museum of Brands who do not have a example in their collection. The Brothwick Institute were not forthcoming but said I could pay for a researcher @ £15 per half hour and I am still awaiting a reply from York Castle museum but that looks like it might be a long time until I have a reply.

I will post any information that comes to light but it might be a slow burner.

Regards

Malc  

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  • 5 weeks later...

Up date regarding the tins content : Reference sent to me by a tin dealer  is a comment from Miller's guide to advertising tins which refers to the tin containing six cards.

Tin Book.jpg

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