- The Story of E. & W. Anstie of Devizes -
According to our original Reference Book No.5 (“The Cigarette Card Issues of Abdulla…Adkin… E. & W. Anstie Ltd”), “this house was one of the oldest in the tobacco trade, some say it is the oldest, and the firm give commencing date as 1698, when Richard Anstie started to sell tobacco and snuff”.
Additional research by a number of collectors has found that Anstie was a grocer, and his shop was at the junction with Market Place on a street called Snuff Street. Some of these believe Snuff Street was not so named until his shop became more renowned, and that in fact it was named after him.
The 1888 version of “The Directory of The Tobacco Trade” also only cites “Market Place”, giving weight to this theory. However it then says the business only started in 1723, which is also the date we quote in our new World Tobacco Issues Index (RB123).
You can read, and see more of Snuff Street at: locksands.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/snuff-street/
Anstie was certainly keen on expanding the business; by 1731, he was leasing portions of land on both sides of that street, some of which was for growing tobacco plants, other parts being set aside to cure the tobacco, and then grind it. It is known that his son John briefly went into partnership with a William Leach in about 1740, to also grind snuff, maybe at times when the demand exceeded the capability of the hand drying process, as they used the pair of windmills situated on the mound of Devizes Castle.
These were “tower” mills, constructed as an upright column of brick or stone on which sat a wooden roof with a rudimentary mechanism with which it was possible to turn the sails in to the direction of the wind. The main advantage of these over the other, earlier “post” mills, was in their extra height, and strength, both of which allowed for larger sails, and access to more of the prevailing wind. Stephen Mitchell issued a set of curious "Village Models" in 1925, and card number 25 is shown below
Additional research by a number of collectors has found that Anstie was a grocer, and his shop was at the junction with Market Place on a street called Snuff Street. Some of these believe Snuff Street was not so named until his shop became more renowned, and that in fact it was named after him.
The 1888 version of “The Directory of The Tobacco Trade” also only cites “Market Place”, giving weight to this theory. However it then says the business only started in 1723, which is also the date we quote in our new World Tobacco Issues Index (RB123).
You can read, and see more of Snuff Street at: locksands.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/snuff-street/
Anstie was certainly keen on expanding the business; by 1731, he was leasing portions of land on both sides of that street, some of which was for growing tobacco plants, other parts being set aside to cure the tobacco, and then grind it. It is known that his son John briefly went into partnership with a William Leach in about 1740, to also grind snuff, maybe at times when the demand exceeded the capability of the hand drying process, as they used the pair of windmills situated on the mound of Devizes Castle.
These were “tower” mills, constructed as an upright column of brick or stone on which sat a wooden roof with a rudimentary mechanism with which it was possible to turn the sails in to the direction of the wind. The main advantage of these over the other, earlier “post” mills, was in their extra height, and strength, both of which allowed for larger sails, and access to more of the prevailing wind. Stephen Mitchell issued a set of curious "Village Models" in 1925, and card number 25 is shown below
The mills at Devizes were known as South Mill and North Mill, and were first mentioned in 1720, possibly when they were built? The South Mill was demolished in 1840 in order to clear the area to build the South Tower of the Castle rebuilding works - the North Mill was simply incorporated into the new build and became the new North Tower, in reference works it states that some of “the brickwork is 17th Century”, and sometimes that it was “originally a windmill”.
Despite a rather overblown business card/advertisement – which can be viewed at: www.british-towns.net/england/southwestern/wiltshire/kennet/devizes/album/devizes-snuff-mills Leach never owned the mills. They had existed before 1716, but this is the first legal record of them, when a half share of them was recorded as being bought by a William Maple; the other half was owned by George Flower, who also owned the castle site. Leach also seems to have forgotten to add his partner’s name on the business card, never a recipe for successful business. This may explain why by the mid 18th Century, the partnership between Messrs Anstie and Leach had already been dissolved.
There is a supremely well researched website on what happened to John Anstie after this which I have no hope of equalling. Suffice to add the weblink : www.devizesheritage.co.uk/johnanstie.html and just say he had no more dealings with tobacco, instead going into business as a clothier, primarily producing a fine type of woollen cloth called “cassimere”, or “kerseymere” after its original place of manufacture, Kashmir, in India. However he does still impact our tale somewhat as he made his cloth in a purpose-built factory that was constructed in 1785 behind the Anstie grocer’s shop.
In 1817, E. & W. Anstie was listed as being entirely a snuff manufacturer not a grocer, and he was leasing two further properties in the area. In 1824, Benjamin Webb Anstie died, he was listed in his will as a “Tobacco and Snuff Manufacturer of Devizes, Wiltshire”. By 1830, perhaps using some of Benjamin`s inheritance, the firm had started to take advantage of the coming of more industrial times, and were doing much of their manufacturing with the aid of mechanized devices. The works were completely rebuilt, perhaps to accommodate this, in 1831. They took on more staff, and needed offices, which were first occupied in 1894. These were built on the site of that original shop. A date stone on the site used to record this fact.
Their first cigarette cards were issued in 1899, and were medium sized 70mm x 50mm colour lithographs showing ships, namely “American Line – S.S. St Louis”, “Castle Line – The Dunottar Castle”, “Cunard Line – S.S. Campania”, “Dover and Calais Royal Mail Service. Calais – Deovres” – and – “Orient Line – S.S. Ormuz”. The cards only show the name of the vessel, but they do carry the brand name prominently; we cannot shake the feeling that the first card discovered could have been the “Dover and Calais” one, a Royal Mail vessel, so the early researchers believed the rest would follow this pattern, and gave the set its now adopted name of `Royal Mail`. For some reason this does not have a reference number in the World Tobacco Issues Index.
Despite a rather overblown business card/advertisement – which can be viewed at: www.british-towns.net/england/southwestern/wiltshire/kennet/devizes/album/devizes-snuff-mills Leach never owned the mills. They had existed before 1716, but this is the first legal record of them, when a half share of them was recorded as being bought by a William Maple; the other half was owned by George Flower, who also owned the castle site. Leach also seems to have forgotten to add his partner’s name on the business card, never a recipe for successful business. This may explain why by the mid 18th Century, the partnership between Messrs Anstie and Leach had already been dissolved.
There is a supremely well researched website on what happened to John Anstie after this which I have no hope of equalling. Suffice to add the weblink : www.devizesheritage.co.uk/johnanstie.html and just say he had no more dealings with tobacco, instead going into business as a clothier, primarily producing a fine type of woollen cloth called “cassimere”, or “kerseymere” after its original place of manufacture, Kashmir, in India. However he does still impact our tale somewhat as he made his cloth in a purpose-built factory that was constructed in 1785 behind the Anstie grocer’s shop.
In 1817, E. & W. Anstie was listed as being entirely a snuff manufacturer not a grocer, and he was leasing two further properties in the area. In 1824, Benjamin Webb Anstie died, he was listed in his will as a “Tobacco and Snuff Manufacturer of Devizes, Wiltshire”. By 1830, perhaps using some of Benjamin`s inheritance, the firm had started to take advantage of the coming of more industrial times, and were doing much of their manufacturing with the aid of mechanized devices. The works were completely rebuilt, perhaps to accommodate this, in 1831. They took on more staff, and needed offices, which were first occupied in 1894. These were built on the site of that original shop. A date stone on the site used to record this fact.
Their first cigarette cards were issued in 1899, and were medium sized 70mm x 50mm colour lithographs showing ships, namely “American Line – S.S. St Louis”, “Castle Line – The Dunottar Castle”, “Cunard Line – S.S. Campania”, “Dover and Calais Royal Mail Service. Calais – Deovres” – and – “Orient Line – S.S. Ormuz”. The cards only show the name of the vessel, but they do carry the brand name prominently; we cannot shake the feeling that the first card discovered could have been the “Dover and Calais” one, a Royal Mail vessel, so the early researchers believed the rest would follow this pattern, and gave the set its now adopted name of `Royal Mail`. For some reason this does not have a reference number in the World Tobacco Issues Index.
Their next set was also untitled, issued in 1901, with “High Class Cigarettes”, as no names appeared on the cards, they were given the title of `British Empire Series` by those same researchers. The sixteen cards so far found are standard sized, 68mm x 36mm, and the fronts are similar to John Player`s larger set “Cities of the World”. Anstie`s version showed views of prominent buildings world-wide, including the Houses of Parliaments in London, Ottawa, Cape Town, and New Zealand, as well as the Government Houses in Calcutta and Sydney. |
After May 1902, various medium sized cards bearing the rough title “Puzzle” were issued in with “Little Wilts Cigarettes”, this was originally recorded as a set of twelve but by 1943 only eight could be traced. If you have any in your collection, do tell us so we can compare our records. We know the date with such certainty because in that month Anstie became a Limited Company, and they proudly carry the “Ltd.” as part of their address, making them the first cards produced after that event.
World War One temporarily halted production, but in 1915 some kind of relationship developed between Anstie and Messrs. J Cash Ltd. of Coventry, silk picture makers. For some reason Anstie`s name does not appear, only Cash`s, and they are now catalogued as anonymous silks. The 1915 ones were -
a single card issue that is now titled “Flags of Britain”, a bit confusing as it is shows the Royal Arms with the Welsh, United Kingdom, Scottish and Irish flags
separate single Wartime Leaders cards showing either General French, King George V, Lord Kitchener, and Queen Mary – these were available in large and small size, which illustrates the "ribbon" nature of the small sized silks and how they were woven on continuous long strips of ribbon that were simply trimmed to size at bottom and top. From time to time complete strips appear at auction, and online, they are fun, and great for a collector, but they are very difficult to display to any good effect. two larger sets, both untitled, were also issued; some have been called Regimental Badges, and the others National Flags, but notably there is no Germany included in this latter group, so perhaps the intention was to make it another set of Allied Flags
Also available were larger silks of selected Countries; Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Servia, and South Africa, plus a Union Jack flag. “France” can be found with small letters or large letters for the title, “Servia” was added to our records in the 1950s, and in those original records “Canada” was listed, but no trace of it could be found when the book was updated. Do you have it? |
In 1916 another single issue silk was produced by Cash, this is titled “The Allies” in the bottom right hand corner, but it has become retitled by researchers as “Flags of The Allies”.
During the war, John Anstie`s abandoned clothing factory had gradually been used for extra storage, and to fit in the ever expanding mechanisation. By 1917, the whole building was being used for the processing of snuff and tobacco.
No new cards were issued until 1922, when one day a smoker suddenly spotted their return. (In fact Burstein Isaacs of East London holds the honours for being the first independent manufacturer to resume issuing cigarette cards after the end of World War One, and that was only in January 1922.) These new Anstie cards, of horse racing interest, appeared in “Downland” Cigarettes; they were a good local subject as the area is a popular one for racing stables, who use the Downs as training gallops. The first 25 cards were once known as `Racing Colours` and they are strange cards, unbordered with just the top half of the horse visible, mainly showing the silk outfits that told which horse belonged to which owner and stable. These cards only advertise the company on the backs. |
The next 25 cards to be issued, one of which is shown here, were very different. The first thing you will notice is that the back is now descriptive, and tells facts about the subject on the front. These cards were numbered from 26 - 50, but they did not have a title. They showed a mixture of views to do with the sport of Kings - famous jockeys, like this one, racehorses at full length, notable racecourses, even training stables and gallops, some of which, very topically, were located in the Downs, or "Downland" area. As there was no title, this second group of cards seemed to be a separate set, and they would became known by collectors as `Famous Horses, Jockeys and Race Courses`. I`m sure you will agree this was not a great title, but it did the job of differentiating between the two "sets". It was not until the 1955 edition of the London Cigarette Card Company`s British Cigarette Card Catalogue, and its accompanying Handbook, that the entire set was listed together as intended under the adopted title of `Racing Series`, and it is under that title that this set now appears in our current World Tobacco Issues Index. |
In 1923, Anstie`s “Gold Flake” Brand carried cards entitled “Scout Series”. This was a fantastic set, it starts with scouting personalities, and there are also cards of activities which include the embroidered award badge reproduced in a top corner. There is a curious feeling to the descriptions though. Look at card 23, the Cyclists Badge, which states “…that he still owns a bicycle in good order which he is willing to use in the King`s service if called upon in an emergency…” Was this set prepared before the War, then postponed? Also look out for an error card of number 31, which is the Girl Guide Athlete Badge, except that on some backs the italicized text at the top reads “Girl Guide – Ambulance” not Athlete. Actually there was a pair on eBay a little while ago.
1924 saw the issue of “The Worlds Wonders” in “Downland” Brand, black and white, these show natural, ancient, and modern wonders, for example “Niagara Falls in Winter” (card 28), “Colossal Stone Statue” (card 24) and “The Flatiron” [skyscraper] New York” (card 10).
They would have looked really stunning in colour, so I wonder why they were not issued in that format ? Do you know ? By the way we must say many thanks to a visitor who has told us about a fun YouTube film showing an original packet of Navy Cut, including this card. Its only a very short film and you can see it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDcqmPmtrTk but there is a warning - try not to wince too badly when the card goes back in the packet ! |
Another group of sets were issued in 1925/26 in with the “Gold Flake” brand. These form a trio of global interest, and could well have been inspired by the J Arthur Hammerton part work of magazines that were published in the 1920s to great acclaim. I had a set many years ago, but they disintegrated in the loft. However while researching this I found that the original books have been digitised and all seven volumes are available to read online. The link is : archive.org/details/PeoplesOfAllNationsTheirLifeTodayAndStoryOfTheirPast_387/Vol1-7PlanOfTheWork Anstie`s cards were called “People Of…”, and they were titled either “…Africa”, “…Asia” and “…Europe”. Each set was of fifty cards. The “People of Africa” (shown here) can be found printed on two different thicknesses of stock board, perhaps it was so popular that a reprint was needed and the old stock was no longer available. They are certainly the most attractive of the trio, perhaps because the other two sets are merely monochrome. |
During this issue, in 1925, the tobacco-making business of I. Rutter & Co., of Ravensbury Mills at Mitcham in Surrey, and 66 Great Queen Street of London, had become associated with Anstie`s and moved to Tobacco Factory, Devizes, Wilts. Our Cartophilic Reference Book No.5, written in May 1943, says associated, other sources say absorbed into. Rutter had been founded in 1767 and were manufacturers of snuff and shag tobacco, with brands named after their location, “Mitcham Cigarettes” and “Mitcham Cricket Green”. There seems no mention of Rutter on any of the Anstie`s 1930s issues, which started in 1934 with the very curious “Aesop`s Fables”. The curiosity is not in the subject, but in the fact that the very same set was issued by two other companies, Gallaher Ltd (like Anstie, in colour) and W.H. & J. Woods (in black and white). In fact all were even printed by the same firm, Tillotson & Sons Ltd, of Bolton, who also printed the Bolton Evening News. You can read their history at www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5998969.a-brief-history-of-the-bolton-evening-news/
At this point we will give you a website, an excellent and fascinating one, which is devoted to all manner of collectable items associated with Aesop and his fables. The link is www.creighton.edu/aesop/artifacts/cards/cigarettecards/anstie/
At this point we will give you a website, an excellent and fascinating one, which is devoted to all manner of collectable items associated with Aesop and his fables. The link is www.creighton.edu/aesop/artifacts/cards/cigarettecards/anstie/
In the late 1930s, Anstie issued several sets in a very strange style. In fact smokers must have wondered what was going on when they started pulling the picture card from their packet, as it was not a picture. Look at our featured image, at the cards right at the top of the assemblage. One just has a line, and the other has a line with a very indistinct flag! I suppose if you got a piece of boat first it might have made more sense!
Anyway once the smoker read the back, they would realise that though it looked most odd when viewed as singles, the cards had been designed to be pushed together like a non-linking jigsaw, and at that point they would make a larger picture, and finally make sense.
The cards had adhesive backs, which was supposed to aid in them being framed. The first two sets, issued in 1935, were of 20 cards, and showed Wells Cathedral and the Wiltshire Downs.
In the following year they dropped down to 10 cards per set, and immortalised Stonehenge and HMS Victory, (shown here), adding Windsor Castle in 1937, and Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1938.
The local theme continued with a set of “Wessex”, forty cards in black and white. These were issued in 1938. Actually one of Anstie`s brands was also called "Wessex". The region of Wessex had not existed since 1066, but it had been a huge area, covering the region of present day Wiltshire, as well as Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, The Isle of Wight, and parts of Somerset. However it featured heavily in the novels of Thomas Hardy, and is even in current usage as Prince Edward and his wife are the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Returning to Anstie, this set was probably a chance to celebrate their area in card, without having a lengthy title. This card, number 1, is not only Anstie`s home town, but tells a local story which has always intrigued me. And you can read more about that at history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getfaq.php?id=36 |
Their next set was entitled “Places of Interest”, and it was issued in 1939. These cards are again black and white in a very similar style to the above set, but the cards you will come across most frequently have been varnished to give an extra "glossy" look.
Do note that a variant printing of these cards exists which does not have this varnish. These are more expensive, and were so, right from the outset in the earliest dealers` catalogues. The theory is that there was a problem either in the printing or afterwards, maybe that the cards even reacted in some way with the tobacco and the cards started to yellow, and the addition of the varnish was perhaps done as an attempt to solve the problem.
Do note that a variant printing of these cards exists which does not have this varnish. These are more expensive, and were so, right from the outset in the earliest dealers` catalogues. The theory is that there was a problem either in the printing or afterwards, maybe that the cards even reacted in some way with the tobacco and the cards started to yellow, and the addition of the varnish was perhaps done as an attempt to solve the problem.
Anstie then prepared to issue another set. It was to comprise 40 cards, and be called “Nature Notes”, another black and white set, and it was to be varnished, which supports the above theory that the non-varnished “Places of Interest” did not work, were replaced by the varnished version, and varnished cards were to become the normal from then on. These cards were also going to be slightly larger than standard.
However, the set was abandoned due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the impending wartime restrictions, as many forthcoming issues would prove to be. But how far did the set get in production? Does anyone out there have any cards, or a proof sheet, or just information? We would love to hear from you.
It might well have been issued after the war, as many sets were following the First World War, but it was a changing world that dawned. Also, in 1944 the firm had been sold to the Imperial Tobacco Co. and a six-generational link with the Anstie family was gone forever. Their lovely brand names were also lost, those we mention in the text, and also “Cambridge Virginia”, “Fashoda”, Heatherdale", “Musketeer”, "Navy Cut" and "Polyanthus".
Snuff was failing to catch the attention of the more youth-oriented culture, and went out of production in 1957, and the last batch of tobacco was cured on site in 1961. Later in that year, the factory and ancilliary buildings were sold to Woodward, Ltd. a printers.
However, the set was abandoned due to the outbreak of the Second World War and the impending wartime restrictions, as many forthcoming issues would prove to be. But how far did the set get in production? Does anyone out there have any cards, or a proof sheet, or just information? We would love to hear from you.
It might well have been issued after the war, as many sets were following the First World War, but it was a changing world that dawned. Also, in 1944 the firm had been sold to the Imperial Tobacco Co. and a six-generational link with the Anstie family was gone forever. Their lovely brand names were also lost, those we mention in the text, and also “Cambridge Virginia”, “Fashoda”, Heatherdale", “Musketeer”, "Navy Cut" and "Polyanthus".
Snuff was failing to catch the attention of the more youth-oriented culture, and went out of production in 1957, and the last batch of tobacco was cured on site in 1961. Later in that year, the factory and ancilliary buildings were sold to Woodward, Ltd. a printers.