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1952 Airplane Flash Cards, Set 1 (F270-1)
Albers Milling Company, A Division of the Carnation Company, Oakland, CA, USA
Series Title: Airplane Flash Cards, Set 1
American Card Catalog Reference Number (unofficial): F270-1
Issued by: Albers Milling Company, A Division of Carnation Company
Issued with: Carnation Corn Flakes
Issued via: Retail Sales
Country: Oakland, California, USA
Number of Cards: 42
Card Numbering: Alphabetically
Type of Card: Retail or Possibly Mail Order Sales
Card Dimensions: 3.50 × 2.25 inches
Date of Issue: c.1952
Checklist: Download
Carnation's Airplane Trade Card Sets - Overview
During the past several years, there has been some confusion about who actually issued the Carnation Airplane Trade Cards sets … the Albers Milling Company or the Carnation Company?. The answer to the above question is BOTH.
The following envelope indicates that the Albers Milling Company was actually A Division of the Carnation Company. This makes the Albers Milling Company responsible for the Carnation Corn Flakes product line, and thusly, the issuer for Carnation's Airplane Trade Card Series (F270) series.
The actual composition of Carnation's F270 multiple sets of Airplane Trade Card Sets (F270) sets was not fully understood.
The interest in this set peaked circa 2015, when veteran non-sports airplane card collector Albert B. Al Kramer discovered the previously unknown red livery Douglas D558-2 Skyrocket card. At the time of its discovery, the red livery Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket card was thought to be an orphan card, (i.e. a unique or test card not belonging to any known trade card set).
However, research during the first five months of 2016 conducted by veteran non-sports airplane trade card collectors Pete D'Luhosch of PJD Enterprises, and John Shupek of Skytamer Images, documented the existence of five distinct F270 Carnation Airplane Trade Card Sets, with five distinct checklists, and 211 individual cards, including the previously unknown red livery Douglas D558-2 Skyrocket card.
Each of the five individual sets is easily distinguishable by the configuration of the card corners, the number of branding lines on the card's reverse, and the size of the 3-view image on the backside of the card. The key recognition points for each of the five sets is shown on the F270 Overview page.
1952 Airplane Flash Cards, Set 1 (F270-1)
During 1952, Albers Milling Company, A Division of Carnation Company, issued a 42-card set of Airplane Flash Cards that were distributed via retail sales. This boxed set of Airplane Flash Cards is considered to be the Ground Zero set for Carnation's F270 series of Aircraft Recognition Cards. The box (shown below) is labeled 42 Airplane Flash Cards, and was published by Frye & Smith, Ltd., San Diego, California, and was packaged as a typical playing card pack-box. The notation Natural Color Reproductions also appears on the sides of the box. In reality, the Carnation Corn Flakes series of Airplane Trade Cards should have been known as Airplane Flash Cards rather than Aircraft Recognition Cards as they are commonly known.
Since this set was a 42-Card Boxed Set, we can assume that this F270-1 set was not packaged inside Carnation Corn Flakes Cereal Boxes. Instead, we believe that this Airplane Flash Cards, Set 1 F270-1, was marketed as an over-the-counter retail product, or possibly a Carnation Corn Flakes Premium Mail Order Sales promotion.
The key features of this F270-1 set are illustrated below.
As noted above, both of the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket red and white livery cards are ERROR cards. The origin of the errors are due to modifications of the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket during the aircraft's flight test program.
The Douglas D-558-2–1 Skyrocket was originally configured with a flush cockpit canopy as shown in Figure 1 [4]. The visibility with the flush cockpit was poor, which led to a raised cockpit reconfiguration with conventional angled windows as shown in Figure 2 [4]. This resulted in a greater frontal profile area of the aircraft, which was balanced by an additional 14 inch increase in the height of the vertical stabilizer. Like its predecessor, the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak (Figure 3) [5], the Douglas D-558-2–2 Skyrocket was designed so that the forward fuselage, including cockpit, could be separated from the rest of the aircraft in an emergency. Once the forward fuselage had decelerated sufficiently, the pilot would then be able to escape from the cockpit by parachute. Photos of the two Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket configurations are shown below in Figures 1 and 2, and the red livery Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak is shown in Figure 3. As a side note, it should be noted that the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak was flown in both red and white livery, which could easily have contributed to the card errors. It should also be noted that the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket was never flown or painted with red livery.
Figure 1: Douglas D-558-2-1 Skyrocket (BuNo 37974) with flush canopy, undergoing ground tests) (USN Photo: 39561, Date: 1948) 
Figure 2: Douglas D-558-2-2 Skyrocket (Navy BuNo 37974/NACA 144) with raised canopy. The Skyrocket is parked on Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base. This aircraft, NACA 144/Navy 37974, was the first aircraft to reach Mach 2. NASA Photo: D-558-II-NASA-E-1442, Date: 1955) 
Figure 3: U.S. Marine Major Marion Carl (left) and U.S. Navy Commander Turner F. Caldwell stand next to a Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak at Muroc Army Airfield (later Edwards Air Force Base) in California (USA). Both Carl and Caldwell established world speed records in Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak aircraft in 1947. (Date: 1947, Source: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation, Photo: 2012.004.090) |
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Errors and Typos
Now let's talk about the actual errors and typos in this set of 42 Airplane Flash Cards.
Note: Typos 1 through 5 are systemic throughout all five of the Carnation Airplane Trade Card sets.
The fronts of the 42 unnumbered F270-1 Airplane Flash Cards all feature American-built aircraft. 41 of the 42 cards are presented in a landscape (horizontal) format and feature the aircraft in flight. One of the cards, the Convair XF-92 Delta Wing is presented in a portrait (vertical) format and shows the aircraft on the ground. The red livery Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket shows the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket climbing off of the desert lake bed with a RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off) boost (Note. Both of the Skyrocket cards are error cards).
The backs of the cards are presented in a portrait format and include the:
(1) The card title
(2) A brief description of the aircraft
(3) A 3-view OML (outer mold line) drawing of the aircraft
(4) A single branding line of CARNATION CORN FLAKES at the bottom of the card.
Image-Guide
| 1952 Airplane Flash Cards (F270-1)
Carnation Corn Flakes Original Scans | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1
1b |
2
2b |
3
3b |
4
4b |
5
5b |
6
6b |
7
7b |
8
8b |
9
9b |
10
10b |
11
11b |
12
12b |
13
13b |
14
14b |
15
15b |
16
16b |
17
17b |
18
18b |
19
19b |
20
20b |
21
21b |
| 22
22b |
23
23b |
24
24b |
25
25b |
26
26b |
27
27b |
28
28b |
29
29b |
30
30b |
31
31b |
32
32b |
33
33b |
34
34b |
35
35b |
36
36b |
37
37b |
38
38b |
39
39b |
40
40b |
41
41b |
42
42b |
Checklist
| 1952 Airplane Flash Cards (F270-1)
Carnation Corn Flakes (Albers), 42-Cards, United States of America Checklist | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnd. | x | Card Title | |
| (1) | Bell 47-D Helicopter | ||
| (2) | Bell X-1 | ||
| (3) | Boeing B-29 Superfortress | ||
| (4) | Boeing B-47 | ||
| (5) | Boeing B-50 Superfortress | ||
| (6) | Boeing C-97A Stratofreighter | ||
| (7) | Boeing Stratocruiser | ||
| (8) | Chance Vought F7U-1 Cutlass | ||
| (9) | Convair - Liner | ||
| (10) | Convair B-36 Bomber | ||
| (11) | Convair Turboliner | ||
| (12) | Convair XB-46 Bomber | ||
| (13) | Convair XF-81 Escort Fighter | ||
| (14) | Convair XF-92 Delta Wing | ||
| (15) | Douglas AD Skyraider | ||
| (16) | Douglas C-124 - Globemaster | ||
| (17) | Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (Red - RARE) | ||
| (18) | Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket (White - ERROR card with D-558 Skystreak back) | ||
| (19) | Douglas DC-6A Liftmaster | ||
| (20) | Douglas Super DC-3 | ||
| (21) | Grumman Albatross | ||
| (22) | Grumman F9F-2 Panther | ||
| (23) | Lockheed Constellation | ||
| (24) | Lockheed Constitution | ||
| (25) | Lockheed F94-A All Weather Interceptor | ||
| (26) | Lockheed F-90 Penetration Fighter | ||
| (27) | Lockheed P2V Patrol Bomber | ||
| (28) | Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star | ||
| (29) | Martin 404 Transport | ||
| (30) | Martin AM-1 Mauler | ||
| (31) | Martin Caroline Mars | ||
| (32) | Martin P4M-1 Mercator | ||
| (33) | Martin XB-51 | ||
| (34) | North American AJ-1 Attack Bomber | ||
| (35) | North American B-45 Tornado Jet Bomber | ||
| (36) | North American F-86 Sabre | ||
| (37) | North American T-28 Advanced Trainer (folded tail) | ||
| (38) | Northrop X-4 | ||
| (39) | Northrop YRB-49 | ||
| (40) | Republic F-84F Thunderjet (rear view) | ||
| (41) | Republic F-84F Thunderjet (side view) | ||
| (42) | Ryan Navion 205 | ||
| (n/a) | Airplane Flash Cards Box-Pack | ||
| Note: Numbers in parentheses (xx) indicate unnumbered cards presented in alphabetical order. | |||
Contributors
Ken Bush - We would like to thank Ken Bush for the photo of 42 Airplane Flash Cards box-pack for this Carnation Corn Flakes set.
References
