Fighting Planes, Shelby Gum Company, United States

1930s “Fighting Planes” (R47)
The Shelby Gum Company, Shelby, Ohio

Series Title: Fighting Planes
American Card Catalog Reference Number: R47
Issued by: The Shelby Gum Company
Packaged with: U. S. Army Navy Fighting Plane Chewing Gum
Country of origin: Shelby, Ohio, USA
Year issued: 1930s
Type of card: Chewing Gum insert card
Number of Cards: 24
Numbering: 1 to 24 on reverse side
Card Dimensions: 2½ × 3 inches

Overview

The “Fighting Planes” series of 24 airplane “gum” cards was issued by the Shelby Gum Company, Shelby, Ohio during the late 1930s. The cards were packaged with Shelby’s “U.S. Army Navy Fighting Plane Chewing Gum.” The landscape images on the card fronts feature soft color-artwork of United States military aircraft of the era. The color artwork are shades of blue with red and yellow accents. The aircraft artwork has a thick blue border and is surrounded by a white margin. The title of the card is included within the color artwork image area.

The backs of the cards are presented in a portrait format and are printed with blue ink. The cards are numbered sequentially from 1 through 24. The backs of the cards are divided into the following five vertical zones:

Card number: The card number is presented within a “wings” outline at the top of the card.
Descriptive text: A brief narrative of the aircraft is located in the center of the card.
Set advertisement: This is one of a series of pictures showing U. S. Fighting planes given free with each piece of “Fighting Plane Chewing Gum.”
Manufacturer: By The Shelby Gum Co., Shelby Ohio, U.S.A.
Advertising copy: Manufacturers of Mammoth Size Blow Gum, That Great Big Round Candy Jawbreaker filled with Bubble Gum.

Error Cards

It should be noted that there were several errors in aircraft designations:

Card No. 6: The Curtiss X5B2C-1 is actually the “Curtiss XSB2C-1.”
Card No. 15: The “Grumman XF4F-1” is actually the “Grumman XF5F-1 Skyrocket.”
Card No. 23: The “Douglas 8A-1” is actually the “Vought-Sikorsky XF4U-1 Corsair.”

There appears to be more than one printing of this set. The orientation of the card backs to the fronts are not consistent. Some collectors consider these as error cards. However, the most likely explanation is that the printing requirements were not well defined, and front/back orientation was not consistent between printings. Be that as it may, the cards in this set are prized by collectors and command premium values in the higher grades. There are also large color intensity differences between the same cards. The American Card Catalog reference number for the set is R47.

Image-Guide

Wrapper

The “Fighting Planes” dark blue with red and yellow highlights wrapper features a flight of three aircraft surrounded by bomb-bursts. A red star positioned in a yellow disc is located in each corner. This R47 wrapper is extremely difficult to obtain. The example shown below was sent to us by Vladislav Kuchta from Prague, Czech Republic.

Checklist

1930s R47 “Fighting Planes” Checklist
1		Coast Patrol Plane
2		Grumman F4F-3
3		Douglas TBD-1
4		Vultee V-12A
5		Seversky P-35
6		Curtiss X5B2C-1 (sic, XSB2C-1)
7		Bell’s Airabonita
8		Lockheed P-38
9		Bell P-39 Airacobra
10		Curtiss P-40
11		North American BT-9
12		Douglas SBD-3
13		Consolidated PB2Y
14		Spartan FBW-1 Zeuss
15		Grumman XF4F-1 (sic, XF5F-1)
16		Curtiss Hawk 75
17		Bell YSM-1
18		Grumman F2F-1
19		Vought-Sikorsky OS2U-1
20		Martin PBM-1
21		Curtiss SBC-4
22		Consolidated PBY-3
23		Douglas 8A-5 (sic, Vought-Sikorsky F4U Corsair)
24		Curtiss P-36
Wrapper		U.S. Army, Navy Fighting Plane Chewing Gum

References

John A. Shupek: Card images via the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.
Vladislav Kuchta: Wrapper Image
Benjamin, Christopher: The Sport Americana® Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards 1930-1960, Number 2, Edgewater Book Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1993, ISBN 0-937424-66-8, pp. 71