Wills
74: The Wills/Waddington gift scheme
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by Ken Lodge
The scheme to promote playing cards as gifts by means of inserts in Wills' cigarette packets apparently saved Waddington from their financial problems in 1931. Here are some details of the cards involved.
Heber Mardon (1840-1925)
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by Simon Wintle
Heber Mardon was born in 1840. With his father he founded the firm of Mardon and Son which, in 1863, became Mardon, Son & Hall.
Mardon, Son & Hall of Bristol, branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company
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by Simon Wintle
A division of Imperial Tobacco, they appear to have made cards almost exclusively for the cigarette token market, which flourished during the 1930s.
Waddington’s Playing Cards
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by Simon Wintle
John Waddington Limited was a leading producer of playing cards and card games in the UK during the period 1922-1995. The company had been founded in the nineteenth century by Mr John Waddington and Wilson Barratt as Waddingtons Ltd.
Will’s Cigarettes and Auction Bridge
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by Tony Hall
In 1926 Will’s issued a set of 25 cigarette cards on Auction Bridge, presenting a range of hands illustrating various circumstances in play.
Wills 200th Anniversary
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by Simon Wintle
Double pack commemorating the 200th anniversary of W.D & H.O. Wills Ltd, 1786 - 1986.
Wills’s Happy Families game
Wills’s “Happy Families” cards were issued by the Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain and Ireland) Limited in around 1930.