1926 “Flyers Series” (AL2-18)
Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd., Melbourne, Australia

Series Title: Flyers Series
Issued by: Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd.
The Australian & New Zealand Index: AL2-18
Issued with: Allen’s Fliers
Country: Melbourne, Australia
Number of Cards: 24
Card Numbering: unnumbered
Type of Card: Food insert
Card Dimensions: 76 × 50 mm
Circa: 1926
Checklist: Download

Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd. ^[1]

Allen’s is currently an Australian brand of confectionery produced by Nestlé. Allen’s was founded by Alfred Weaver Allen (1870-1925), a Melbourne confectioner. Originally employed by MacRobertson’s, Allen commenced confectionery production in the 1890s at his Fitzroy confectionery shop. By 1909, Allen’s was the third largest confectionery business in Melbourne, after those of MacRobertson and Abel Hoadley. It was launched as a public company in 1922 and erected a vast factory to the design of prominent Melbourne architect Joseph Plottel in South Melbourne on the banks of the Yarra River, where its animated neon sign was a local landmark up to its demise in the 1980s. Allen’s abandoned chocolate production after World War II, however it became Australia’s largest confectionery company. Allen’s was purchased by the UK-based Rothmans Holdings in 1985, and later sold to Nestlé. Allen’s is the top brand in sugar confectionery in Australia. ^[2]

During the 1920s through the early 1940s, Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd. was also known for their trading cards. Allen’s issued trading cards as inserts packaged with their various confectionary products. Subjects included:

1. Bradman’s Records (1931);
2. Butterflies and Moths (1920),
3. Cricketers (4 sets 1933-38);
4. Footballers (3 sets, 1933-1939);
5. Kings & Queens of England (1937);
6. Medals (1938);
7. Soldiers of the Empire (1938);
8. Sports & Flags of Nations (1936);
9. Wrestlers (1926); and
10. Film Stars (1934). ^[3]

They also issued at least 5 series of aviation/military related trading card sets, including:

1. 1926 “Flyers Series” (AL2-18) 24-cards.
2. 1938 “Aeroplanes” (AL2-1) 72-cards.
3. 1939 “Defence Series I” & “Defence Series II” (AL2-13a & AL2-13b) 2 × 36-cards.
4. 1943 “Fighting Planes Series” (AL2-15) 36-cards.

Overview

During 1926, Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd., Melbourne, Australia issued a 24-card set of “Flyers Series” of package insert aviation trading cards. The cards featured prominent aviators/aircraft of the era. In many cases the subject pilots are shown with their aircraft.

The fronts of the cards are rather simplistic. Each card front contains a centered grayscale photograph printed on eggshell white card stock, framed by a thick black borderline, with medium size exterior margins. The card fronts do not contain any captions or card numbers.

The backs of the cards are a little more interesting but still rather simplistic. The card backs are printed with light blue ink on eggshell white card stock and are presented in a portrait (vertical) format. The text is centered in three vertical statements formed by heavy blue dots rather than tradition straight lines. The four corners of the rectangle are comprised of concave quarter circles. The top and bottom text areas are of equal height.

1. The top text area contains the following: “There are 24 Pictures in a Complete Set.” followed on another line “Try to collect them all.”
2. The center text area contains the card title in bold text followed by descriptive text that is not bolded.
3. The bottom text area contains the following two advertising lines: “Ask for” and then a second line “Allen’s Fliers”

We believe that Allen’s Fliers was actually the name of the Allen’s Confectionery Ltd. product that the cards were issued with. At this point, we do not have enough data to either prove or disprove this assumption. Any insight into this set’s history would be appreciated. A typical card front and card back are shown above. The cards measure 2.93 × 1.97 inches (74.5 × 50.0 mm).

Image-Guide

Checklist

Even though we currently do not have images of all the cards in this set, we’re fortunate enough to have its checklist.

1926 “Flyers Series” Allen’s Confectionary, Ltd., Australia Checklist
№	x	Card Title
1		A Ford Plane
2		A Girl Flyer
3		American Flyer in Berlin
4		Atlantic Airman Arrives in London
5		Colonel Charles E. Lindbergh
6		Commander Noel Davis
7		Emory Bronte and Ernest L. Smith
8		Fliers who spanned the Pacific
9		Fokker Monoplane
10		Giant Armored Bombine Plane (sic)
11		Hustling Hinkler
12		Lieut. Edmond Joublin
13		Lieut. B. Bentley
14		Maurice Drouhin
15		Pilot Clarence Chamberlain
16		Sir Alan Cobham
17		“Spirit of St. Louis”
18		The Flying Colonel
19		The Pride of San Diego
20		The New Bellanca Plane
21		Two Great Flyers
22		“Very much amused”
23		Waiting for the drop of the flag
24		Waving Farewell

References

1. Wikipedia: Allen’s Confectionery
2. Australian Dictionary of Biography: A.W. Allen
3. Neville Fletcher: Re: “Flyers Series.” Multiple messages to Skytamer Images. 1 October 2015. E-mail.
4. John A. Shupek: Card images via the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.

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