Dinosaur Series 5 card - Backside view

Tea Card . Com

Home Site Map Downloads

Brooke Bond Tea

Brooke Bond Cellos Transport Comparison


Tea Cards From England (and the World)

Brooke Bond of England was the parent company of Red Rose for all 17 of the card series.  This parent company also issued tea cards in its tea in Ireland, South Africa, Rhodesia and of course, England. In England, fifty-six different sets (along with many variations) were issued.  All of the wonderful, interesting things that can be collected in Red Rose have counterparts in the British series. There are of course, the cards and their variations. Then albums, coupons, uncut sheets, cellos, wall charts, mugs, magazine ads, and much more.  So much to collect, so little spare money (sigh...).

Here's an interesting fact, Red Rose "borrowed" a series or two from England. Brooke Bond had been putting tea cards in the tea long before Red Rose considered it. I believe it was the success of the British premium promotion that encouraged it be tried in the Americas. There were many successful British series to choose from but a lot were geared solely toward the British interest. Trees in Britain, British Butterflies, British Costume and the like would have a limited interest in the Americas.

Red Rose did adapt some of the concepts though. Tropical Birds was a British set that Red Rose did as well. Not a picture is alike although a lot of the names of the birds are duplicated It kinda makes sense, doesn't it. There are only so many different tropical birds. Wildlife in Danger is the same. Not a matching picture.

There are a couple of near exact matches. One is the African Animals series. Both British and Red Rose match on almost all paintings and the texts are similar. Another near match is the Transport(ation) Through the Ages series. That is an interesting one to dive into.

Brooke Bond sold Red Rose a long time ago ('85 for Canada and '90 for the US) but they issued cards in England right up until 1999.

In South Africa, three sets were issued. Some count a variation in the first series as a second series making the total four.

South African Series Issued

Ref 

Series Name 

Number in Set

Year of Issue

1a.

Wild Van Afrika (One Language)

50 cards

1965

1b. 

Wild Van Afrika (Bilingual) 

50 cards

1965

2.

Out Into Space 

50 cards

1966
3.

Our Pets 

50 cards

1967

Here is a sample card from the 1967 "Our Pets" series. It is card number 29, The Cockatoo.

These images have been reduced to a thumbnail to save you time in loading them. Click the thumbnail to see the actual full size image. Once the large one has been viewed, click "Back" on your browser to return to this page.

Cockatoo

Card number 29, The Cockatoo

For Rhodesia, there must be more Brooke Bond tea drinkers as there were seven sets that were issued. OK, Rhodesia started earlier...

Rhodesian Series Issued

Ref 

Series Name 

Number in Set

Year of Issue

1.

Bird Portraits

50 cards

1960

2.

African Wild Life 

50 cards

1961

3.

Tropical Birds 

50 cards

1962
4.

Asian Wild Life 

50 cards

1963

5.

Wild Life in Danger

50 cards

1964

6.

African Birds 

50 cards

1965
7.

Butterflies of the World

50 cards

1966

Here is a sample card from the 1964 "Wild Life in Danger" series. It is card number 12, White Rhinoceros.

These images have been reduced to a thumbnail to save you time in loading them. Click the thumbnail to see the actual full size image. Once the large one has been viewed, click "Back" on your browser to return to this page.

White Rhino

Card number 12, White Rhinocerus

 

Last modified: April 25, 2020

Home ] Up ] Brooke Bond Cellos ] Transport Comparison ]

Send mail to with questions or comments about this web site.