Lot 626:
A Collection of W.D. & H.O. Wills Corporate Ephemera and Commemorative Playing Cards
Description
A collection of printed ephemera and commemorative items related to the British tobacco manufacturer W.D. & H.O. Wills. The group includes three issues of Wills’s Works Magazine, a corporate periodical. The February 1938 (Vol. 8, No. 64) and October 1948 (Vol. 11, No. 81) issues both feature elaborate woodcut-style cover illustrations depicting a galleon at sea, framed by vignettes of traditional sports including cricket and tennis. The July 1959 (Vol. 14, No. 103) issue shows a revised cover design with a central illustration of a sailing vessel.
Also included is a twin-deck set of playing cards housed in a blue plastic presentation tray with an outer white card sleeve. The card sleeve features a printed blue oval logo reading W. D. & H. O. WILLS. The two decks are sealed in original plastic film, one featuring a gold-toned back and the other a silver-toned back. Both decks are printed with a central illustration of a man working on a dock with a ship in the background, accompanied by the text W. D. & H. O. WILLS and the dates 1786 – 1986, indicating production for the company’s bicentenary.
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