36 American Civil War Cards

In the spring of 1965 we were in the grip of the American Civil War Card craze. The cards, made by A&BC, came packaged with chewing gum and imitation dollar bills, and sold at thruppence a pack. Forbuoys and the Copper Kettle were just two of the many shops that sold them, but Kevin and I got most of ours from the shop on the corner of Twydall Lane and Romany Road. I didn’t care much for bubble gum but I loved these cards, criticised though they were in the national press.

Paul Parker: "I remember the one called Painful Death – a soldier impaled on spikes."

Completing the set seemed to take an age but eventually, I obtained The Silent Drum – the most elusive card – from a second year boy in exchange for every spare card and all the dollar bills I had.

Yes!

Note: the series of World War II cards that followed weren’t anything like as popular.