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What did Red Rose Issue for Tea Cards?
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Brooke Bond was Red Rose's parent company back when the tea cards were issued. Brooke Bond sold tea and issued cards in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the US,
South Africa and Rhodesia. The only two Red Rose / Brooke Bond holdings were in Canada and the US. Every set listed below contains 48 cards. Lipton bought Red
Rose of Canada while Salada has the US Red Rose label. Lipton re-issued one set in 1990 and almost issued another in 1991. Yes, almost... I am aware of at least
two sets and a half dozen spares of the 1991 dinosaurs reissue even though as far as I know, they were never issued via Red Rose in boxes of tea.
17 Canadian and 10 American series were issued from Red Rose / Brooke Bond. Three of the American releases were identical in every way to their Canadian counterpart
so many say there are only seven "true" American series.
Both the American and Canadian issues used the same numbering scheme. Additionally,
if the Canadian Series 5 was Dinosaurs then the American Series 5 (if there was one) was also Dinosaurs.
Comparison of Black Backs to Blue Backs
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Canadian Card #23 (Iguanodon) Compared to US Version
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For the most part, the two major differences between Canadian and American cards are the address at the bottom and the back color of the card. Blue backing
is only found on most American cards. All of the Canadian Series are Black backed and one American Series can be found in Black and Blue. There are other "specialty
cards" discussed in two related sections named Variations and Errors. I am sure you could
argue that something I call a "variation" might be an "error" to you. Just to be safe, you better look at both pages!
Here's a list of all of the series and when they were issued. There are album and card pictures elsewhere on this site. Find them at your leisure or click the
word "Album" or "Cards" to go to the pictures. Some pics aren't available just yet but hang in there. You can click any of the five columns and sort by that
column if you wish.
Red Rose Tea Card Issues of Canada ('59-'74) and the US ('60-'69)
| Series |
Series Name |
Canadian Issued |
US Issued |
Cards / Album |
| 1 |
Songbirds of North America |
July 1959 |
Not Issued! |
Cards Album |
| 2 |
Animals of North America |
August 1960 |
August 1960 |
Album |
| 3 |
Wild Flowers of North America |
July 1961 |
July 1961 |
Album |
| 4 |
Birds of North America |
July 1962 |
July 1962 |
Album |
| 5 |
Dinosaurs |
June 1963 |
June 1963 |
Cards Album |
| 6 |
Tropical Birds |
February 1964 |
February 1964 |
Album |
| 7 |
African Animals |
October 1964 |
Not Issued! |
Album |
| 8 |
Butterflies of North America |
June 1965 |
September 1965 |
Album |
| 9 |
Canadian / American Songbirds |
August 1966 |
August 1966 |
Cards Album |
| 10 |
Transportation Through the Ages |
September 1967 |
Identical to Canadian* |
Cards Album |
| 11 |
Trees of North America |
July 1968 |
Identical to Canadian* |
Cards Album |
| 12 |
The Space Age |
July 1969 |
Identical to Canadian* |
Cards Album |
| 13 |
North American Wildlife In Danger |
August 1970 |
Not Issued! |
Cards Album |
| 14 |
Exploring the Oceans |
August 1971 |
Not Issued! |
Cards Album |
| 15 |
Animals and Their Young |
July 1972 |
Not Issued! |
Album |
| 16 |
The Arctic |
July 1973 |
Not Issued! |
Album |
| 17 |
Indians of Canada |
July 1974 |
Not Issued! |
Cards Album |
* - Proof of Issue
I made a change to the list above based on a question from another collector. I had originally said that series 11 and 12 had never been issued in
the US. Shame on me. Of course they were issued. My grandmother used to save the series 12 Space Age cards for me and she lived in Maine. Thanks to Robert Skurda
for asking a question that started me thinking.
As stated above, Red Rose was bought by Lipton and they made the wise choice of re-issuing the cards. Unfortunately, only one series made it to the boxes before
they stopped. Here is Lipton's list of Red Rose Tea cards.
Lipton's Red Rose Tea Card Issues of Canada
| Series |
Series Name |
Canadian Issued |
Comments |
| 1 |
Animals and Their Young |
1990 |
Re-Issue of RR Series 15 |
| 2 ? |
Dinosaurs |
1991 |
Never released Re-Issue of RR Series 5. A few sets exist. |
Are you curious if there are any differences in the Animals and Their Young series? There are! You can check out the
comparison here.
Now what about the differences in the Dinosaurs And Other Fossils series? You get to check that out with the
comparison here.
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