1935-37 Wix Henry’s Adventures Series Set and Checklist

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Henry’s Adventures Series
Year	1935-37
Size	Varies
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	250

1935-36 J. Wix Henry’s Adventures Series Set Overview

J. Wix Sons Henry Golf These cards featured the activities of a mischievous boy named Henry. The cards were distributed by J. Wix and Sons Tobacco for their products and backs can be found with various tobacco brand advertisements, including Kensitas and Tareyton. While the set is often simply called the ‘Henry’ set, the actual name, as indicated in small print on the backs is ‘Henry’s Adventures.’

Each cartoon includes a picture of Henry in various situations. Cartoons, as indicated on the cards, were the work of Carl Anderson.

This is a massive issue with five different series, each consisting of 50 cards. The result is a 250-card set and, in reality, there are actually more cards than that. In addition to those 250 ‘regular’ cards (2 9/16″ x 3 1/16″), an extra large-sized set was available for the first two series’ and those included 25 cards in each series. The larger cards were similar but had more white space around the borders and, of course, were a little larger in size.

Counting the larger cards, there are 300 total cards, which would comprise a master set. The first two series’ were printed in 1935, the next two in 1936, and the last one in 1937. The first two series’ have card numbers while the latter three do not. The first four series are the easiest to find. Series 5, the final one, is significantly harder by comparison.

Albums were also available for the cards. Collectors were advised to see their tobacconist for them, though no cost information was mentioned on the cards as was the case with some other issues.

Backs of the first two series have an adhesive backing, which would make them easier to affix to the album pages. The other cards have more of a matte finish. Also in terms of the printing, many of the cards have a factory horizontal crease across the middle. That should not be counted as damage to the cards as they were deliberately printed that way, possibly to fit into a smaller package. Like other cards printed for albums, these were printed on a slightly thinner stock of paper.

Finally, two sets of 25 postcards each were created using pictures from the first and second series of cards. The postcards are significantly rarer than the trading cards.

Sports

Most of the cards are non-sports related. But a few include Henry being mixed up in various sports.

Golf is primarily the main type of sports cards from this set that interest American collectors. A total of three golf cards are featured — one with Henry carrying clubs himself and two with him interfering in the games of golfers. However, other popular cards include three soccer-related cards. A tennis card of sorts is included, too, with Henry holding a racket that has been chewed up by a cat.

In addition to those cards, cards depicting other minor sports including fishing, roller skating, and sailing. There are some more ambiguous sports cards as well. One features a fan with a megaphone wearing a cricket sweater. Other cards depict sporting events behind a fence, although the actual sport is not identified or stated.

Finally, a pseudo baseball card is included as he is holding sticks with two baseball gloves at the ends. He is in a room with men at an ‘Angler’s club’ and depicting the size of a catch.

Of the major sports cards, only one of the golf cards (from the first series) was made into a postcard.

Series Identification

While there are five series’ in all, only the first two are clearly marked as such on the back. Making matters worse, as mentioned earlier, the cards in the other three series’ are not numbered.

Still, there are easy ways to identify which series a card belongs to:

1st Series Cards – “A Series of 50” on back
2nd Series Cards – “2nd Series of 50” on back
3rd Series Cards – Have “Copyright Reserved” on the front with no mention of a series on back
4th Series Cards – Have “Copyright Reserved.” (with a period) on the front with no mention of a series on back
5th Series Cards – Have “Copyright Reserved-” (with a dahs) on the front with no mention of a series on back

1935-36 J. Wix Henry’s Adventures Series Set Checklist

The first two series’ are listed according to their card number. The other three series’ are not numbered and only listed according to images shown here. Titles are not presented on the cards themselves — I have merely provided descriptions below.

Series 1