1959 Sicle Airplane Trading Cards (F223)
Joe Lowe Corporation, New York City, New York, USA

Series Title: Sicle Airplane Trading Cards
American Card Catalog Number: F223 (F223-1 and F223-2)
Manufactured by: Joe Lowe Corporation, New York City, New York
Packaged with: Sicle Red Ball Frozen Confections
Number of Cards (F223-1): 21 (Cards with Aurora branding)
Number of Cards (F223-2): 76 (Cards without Aurora branding)
Numbering (F223-1): A-1 to A-21
Numbering (F223-2): A-1 to A-42, and AA-43 to AA-76
Card Dimensions: 3.75 × 2.35 inches (nominal)
Circa: 1959
Checklist: Download

Overview

When collecting this series of airplane cards, it is best to first understand the origin of the cards' artwork. During the 1950s, the plastic model kit builder Aurora, New York City, New York, issued their “Famous Fighters” series of plastic model airplane kits. The box-top artwork of this series served as the source of the cropped airplane artwork used for the Sicle Red Ball Frozen Confections series of airplane trading cards.

There were a total of 76-card images used for two series of Sicle Airplane Trading Cards. The first series of 21-cards, numbered A-1 to A-21, advertised Aurora's Famous Fighters series of model airplane kits on the reverse side of the cards. The second series of 76-cards, was without Aurora's branding. The numbering for this second series was A-1 to A-42, and then continued with AA-43 to AA-76. The artwork for cards A-1 to A-21 was the same for both the first and second series. We're not quite sure why there were two series, but it could have been due to a similar issue that Revell faced with their “50th Anniversary of Naval Flight” series. The Revell series resulted in a lawsuit by the Artist Guild which terminated the series.

The aircraft artwork covered the timeframe from World II through the late 1950s. The artwork included 74 American, one Canadian, and one British aircraft. Bombers, fighters, transports, helicopters, rockets, missiles, and research aircraft were featured. The card fronts featured attractive color lithographs with the title line beneath the image. The backs of the cards, were printed in red ink. 75% of card back was dedicated generic advertising copy that was used on all 76-cards, including:

1. Advertising copy for Sicle frozen confections,
2. The manufacturer Joe Lowe Corporation, and
3. The printer Kehrkard Litho, in U.S.A.

The remaining 25% of the card contained a lined box which included the card number, card title, and descriptive text. The backs of the 21 Aurora cards were similar and included Aurora Famous Fighters advertising. The nominal dimensions of the cards are 3.75 × 2.35 inches. The American Card Catalog reference number for the set is F223.

F223-1 “Airplanes” Image-Guide

Airplanes The following image guide shows the fronts and Backs of all of the F223-1 “Airplanes” airplane trading cards. The images are divided into the “Series A” subset (42 cards) and the “Series AA” subset (24 cards). Behind each thumbnail image below is a 600-dpi image.

Checklist

We have provided two versions of the F223-1 “Airplanes” checklist. An 8½ × 11 inch PDF version, and the web version shown below. Click on the PDF graphic below to access the PDF version.

References

1. Watson, James C., M.D. “Airplanes.” Non-Sports Bible (NSB). Vol. I. Chelsea, MI: Sheridan, 2007. p.42. Print.
2. Albert B. (Al) Kramer: Card images via the Kramer Non-Sports Trade Card Collection.
3. John A. Shupek: Card images via the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.

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