One of the best things about being a kid in the sixties, during the height of the space race, was that the excitement and wonder of space travel was reflected everywhere. It was not just found in toys and games, but in clothes, confectionary and foodstuffs. Space was big business and the burgeoning children's market which had arisen following cheap plastic production techniques in the late fifties, meant that everyone wanted a piece of the action. In order to capitalise on the demand by children (via their mums and dads) for space themed goodies, confectioners and food companies ran special mail away offers for larger items such as posters and models, but also took advantage of the already substantial cigarette and tea card collecting fad. Sweet cigarettes made of candy sticks were popular with kids who wanted to emulate their favourite tv and movie stars. as smoking was seen to be chic and cool, but clearly not all parents would want their children to see smoking as a good thing, so the cards were also issued tucked away inside ice lolly and sweet wrappers. America had gum cards for many years previously, but these were larger and much more substantial. A smaller, more cost effective card type - around the same size and format as a cigarette card - was packed with Walls and Lyons Maid ice cream products. These were extremely popular and given the companies promotional tie-in with popular shows such as Doctor Who, Thunderbirds and Stingray, demand quickly soared.
The only problem with the lolly cards was if the product thawed slightly and the card became wet and refroze, getting the card out of the waxed wrapper could be tricky. Besides the basic cards, Wall's also ran other paid promotions for badges, albums and other tie ins.
Primrose Confectionery, among many others also issued a set of collectables, once more in candy cigarettes, but of a much less substantial quality. The 'cards' are a medium weight paper stock and are quite flimsy. Keeping a stack of them together was always problematic, as unlike full cards, the edges would be prone to dog earing and folding. Once more, the simple illustrations document early sixties space research, prior to Apollo, but then abruptly shifts to a heavily fantasy and science fiction influenced style, more reminiscent of a Boys Own comic.
To complete my collection, I recently found an example of the Moon Fleet plastic badge - a little larger than I expected, at about an inch wide, printed directly onto the surface.
