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Published April 06, 2014 Updated April 05, 2023

Mustering of the Mustard Club

The “Mustering of the Mustard Club” was one of many promotional items produced by Colman's for the Mustard Club which was launched in 1926.

1926 United Kingdom Chad Valley John Gilroy Advertising Card Games Happy Families Add to Collection
“Mustering of the Mustard Club” box

Mustering of the Mustard Club, 1926

The “Mustering of the Mustard Club” was one of many promotional items produced by Colman's for the Mustard Club which was launched in 1926. The cards were produced for Colman's of Norwich by the Chad Valley Co., Ltd of Harborne. Some of the illustrations appear to be slightly re-drawn and derived from those of an earlier Chad Valley Happy Families pack. The illustrator was the royalty artist John Thomas Young Gilroy ARCA, FRSA (1898-1985), also well known for his advertising posters for Guinness, and whose initials JG can be seen on many of the cards. In 1925 Gilroy joined the advertising agency S. H. Benson Ltd, working on major accounts including Bovril, Rowntrees and Colman’s mustard. The “Mustering of the Mustard Club” game consists of 24 cards + 6 Mustard Pot cards + a rules card inside a yellow slip case (shown right).

REFERENCES & CREDITS

Mary Gardiner & John Hayter: The Catalogue of Happy Family Games, promotional packs, self-published, 1997.

See also: Wikipedia article about John Gilroy

“Mustering of the Mustard Club” Mustard Pot and reverse
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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.


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