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1958 “Missiles and Satellites” (V339-7)
Parkhurst Products, Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Parkhurst Products (Overview) [1,2]
Series Title: Missiles and Satellites
Cartophilic Reference Number: V339-7
Issued by: Parkhurst Products, Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Issued with: Zip Gum “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire”
Country: Canada
Number of Cards: 50
Card Numbering: 1 to 50 on reverse side
Type of Card: Gum card
Card Dimensions: 92.3 × 61.8 mm
Circa: 1958
Checklist: Checklist
Parkhurst Products of Toronto, Canada was a confectionery company that produced “Parkies” and “Zip” picture cards in the 1950s and 1960s. The company, led by a Mr. George Kennedy, primarily produced hand-size picture cards for ice hockey, but also produced them for baseball, Canadian football, wrestling and other subjects such as this “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire” series of 50-cards.
Over a 13-year period from 1951-52 to 1963-64, Parkhurst Products made 12 popular hockey sets, primarily targeted towards kids. A typical pack of “Parkies” or “Zip” hockey cards cost just five cents and included both a stick of gum and a stack of cards (usually four or five cards to a pack).
Bubble gum cards were popular in Canada and the United States in the 1930s, but they were all but forgotten in the 1940s because of war-time rations. Thanks to the 10-year gap between the 1940-41 “O-Pee-Chee” series and 1951-52 “Parkies” series, the new 1951-52 “Parkies” series featured the first popular cards for many of the game’s heroes. The two biggest rookies (or rookie cards as they are known today) were legends Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe (both of whom had actually made their debuts in the 1940s).
For its first four seasons, the “Parkies” hockey series featured players from all six National Hockey League teams. The 1951-52 series was small (44.5 × 63.5 mm) and the 1952-53 series only slightly bigger (49.2 × 74.6 mm). Starting in 1953-54, the “Parkies” series was a comfortable size of 63.5 × 92.1 mm (originally marketed as “Giant” in comparison to the previous seasons).
In those early years, Parkhurst Products also made a small-size series of minor-league baseball cards in 1952, a small-size series of Canadian football cards in 1952, and two hand-size series of wrestling cards in 1954-55 and 1955-56. It also produced a small-size “Photo-Magic” series of Canadian football cards in 1956.
In 1955-56, the “Parkies” hockey series featured only the two Canadian teams: the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The 1955-56 series included both modern players are retired Oldtime Greats from both teams. In 1956-57, no ‘proper’ “Parkies” hockey series was produced (although “Photo Magic” cards have surfaced in recent years).
Starting in 1957-58, “Parkies” went head to head with “O-Pee-Chee” hockey cards (produced in conjunction with Topps Chewing Gum). The “Parkies” hockey series still featured just the two Canadian teams, while the O-Pee-Chee/Topps series featured the NHL’s four American teams. “Parkies” established a new, slightly trimmer card size of 61.9 × 92.1 mm; O-Pee-Chee used the newly established Topps standard size of 63.5 × 88.9 mm (2.5 × 3.5 inches).
Starting in 1960-61, Parkies added the Detroit Red Wings to its hockey series, most notably adding reigning MVP Gordie Howe to its hockey series for the first time in six years. The O-Pee-Chee/Topps series was now left with just three American teams (although for two years it included either cards or stamps of retired All-Time Greats).
In 1963-64, Parkhurst Products made its last hockey series. While it is said Mr. Kennedy loved making hockey cards for the kids, it is believed that his success in other enterprises urged him to drop his bubble gum and picture card business. After “Parkies” left the hockey card market, the ensuing 1964-65 O-Pee-Chee/Topps series featured players from all six NHL teams.
According to the “ Non-Sports Bible” by Dr. Chris Watson, in addition to the Parkhurst series of sports cards, Parkhurst Products also produced the following 23 series of non-sports cards. Titles in bold contain airplane cards.
Overview
During 1958, Parkhurst Products, Ltd. issued a 50-card set of “Missiles and Satellites” Gum Card trading cards that were issued with Zip Gum “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire”. The cards measure 3.63 × 2.43 inches (92.29 × 61.81 mm), and are assigned the American Cards Catalog reference number V339-7.
Parkhurst’s “Missiles and Satellites” is in all actuality two sets of 25 cards sequential numbered from 1 to 50 on the back of the cards. The first set of 25 cards depicts artist drawings of a 1958 narrative of a futuristic look at space travel. The story line for the first 25 cards goes this way (tongue-in-cheek):Our (U.S.A.) German Rocket Scientists are bested by the USSR’s German Rocket Scientists on 10/4/1957 (Tuesday night, Skytamer was at a high school basketball game when the announcement was made) when the USSR places a 23 inch diameter satellite with four antenna (Sputnik 1) into low Earth orbit. Approximately one month later on 11/3/1957 the USSR follows up by placing a dog “Laika” into low Earth orbit. Our main German Rocket Scientist (Werner von Braun who preferred “Ham”) is embarrassed and outlines his plans for interplanetary travel … first to the moon … build a space station … and then on to Venus and Saturn and back … the “Space Race” is on!”
The second subset of cards (26-50) is rather straightforward. This 25-card subset features color photographs of 22 USAF and USN missiles and rockets, plus 3 experimental aircraft.
The fronts of the 1958 “Missiles and Satellites” cards feature color artwork and photographs of 1958 futuristic space travel, plus color photographs of rockets, missiles, and experimental aircraft in the United States inventory. The card images are centered within a thin margin, and do not contain any captions.
Since these cards are Canadian origin, the descriptive text on the backs of the cards are presented in both English and in French. The descriptive text is divided into the following vertical segments:
It should be noted that the cards themselves are anonymous without any manufacturer or copyright date information. The only way to identify these cards was the wrapper which noted the origin of the cards.
The following reference card shows the fronts and backs of a typical 1958 “Missiles and Satellites” (V339-7) card. Click on the card images to reveal full-size computer enhanced 600-dpi images of the card.
Image-Guide [3,4]
The following 1958 “Missiles and Satellites” (V339-7) 50-card set by Parkhurst Products, Ltd., Canada, Image-Guide shows computer enhanced images of the fronts and backs of the 50 cards in the V339-7 set. Behind each thumbnail image is a 600-dpi computer enhanced card image that you may access. In addition, directly beneath the Image Guide, in tabular form, are links to the original scans used for this series.
| 1958 “Missiles and Satellites”
Zip Gum “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire”, 50-Airplane Cards ORIGINAL SCANS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wrapper
The wrapper for Parkurst’s (V339-7) “Missiles and Satellites” shows a futuristic spacecraft streaking past Earth over Canada and the upper United States towards deep space. The title of the wrapper is ZIP “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire” and does not contain any pricing information. It does however clearly show that the set was issued by Parkhurst Products Limited, Toronto, Canada, and also notes the ingredients included in the gum. It also includes a “PRINTED IN CANADA” caption. As noted in the Overview, Parkhurst’s sets usually contained 4 to 5 cards along with a stick of gum. We’re not sure exactly how many cards were contained in this wrapper.
Checklist
| 1958 “Missiles and Satellites” (V339-7)
Parkhurst Products, Ltd., 50-Cards, Canada CHECKLIST | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| № | x | Card Title English/French | |
| 1 | First Satellite Launching / Lancement du Premier Satellite | ||
| 2 | Putting Satellite into Orbit / Placement du Satellite sur son Orbite | ||
| 3 | Laika — First Space Traveler / Laika — Premier Voyageur de L’Espace | ||
| 4 | Earth and Sky Observatories / Observatoire de la Terre et du Ciel | ||
| 5 | Frogmen Recover Nose-Cone / Des Hommes-Grenouilles Récupèrent le nez D’Une Fusée | ||
| 6 | U.S. Moon Rocket / Fusée Lunaire Américaine | ||
| 7 | Battle of Gravity / La Lutte Contre la Gravité | ||
| 8 | Spaceman in Special Suits / Costumes Spéciaux des Hommes de L’Espace | ||
| 9 | Weightless Man with Pistols / L’Homme Volant Avec des Pistolets | ||
| 10 | Building a Spaceship / Construction d’un Vaisseau Aérien | ||
| 11 | Giant to Other Worlds / Un Géant des Autres Mondes | ||
| 12 | Tankette Laboratory on Moon / Chenillettes-Laboratoires sur la Lune | ||
| 13 | Returned from the Moon / Retour de la Lune | ||
| 14 | Cosmic Television / Télévision Cosmique | ||
| 15 | Comparative Flights in Space / Comparaison des Envolée dans L’Espace | ||
| 16 | Sun Powered Moon Rocket / Fusée Lunaire à Propulsion Solaire | ||
| 17 | With Speed of Light to Saturn / Vers Saturne à la Vitesse de la Lumière | ||
| 18 | Artificial Gravity on Satellite / Gravitation Artificielle sur le Satellite | ||
| 19 | Spaceman Struck by Meteor / Un Météore Frappe un Voyageur de L’Espace | ||
| 20 | U.S. Daisy Cartridge / La Cartouche-Éclair Americaine “Daisy” | ||
| 21 | Perpetual Light on Sea, Land, Air / Le Jour Perpétuel sur la Terre | ||
| 22 | Devastating Sunshine / Le Soleil Dévastateur | ||
| 23 | Landing on Venus / Atterrissage sur Vénus | ||
| 24 | Mineral Excavations on Planets / Exploitations des Minéraux des Planètes | ||
| 25 | Manned Satellite in Action / Un Satellite Dirigée par des Hommes | ||
| 26 | Viking (U.S. Navy) / Viking (De la Marine des É.-U.) | ||
| 27 | Regulus I (U.S. Navy) / Regulus I (De la Marine des É.-U.) | ||
| 28 | Vanguard / Vanguard | ||
| 29 | Firebee (Air Force, Navy & Army) / Firebee (Aviation, Marine et Armée) | ||
| 30 | Matador (U.S. Air Force) / Matador (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 31 | Regulus II (U.S. Navy) / Regulus II (De la Marine des É.-U.) | ||
| 32 | Sidewinder (U.S. Navy) / Sidewinder (De la Marine des É.-U.) | ||
| 33 | Terrier (U.S. Navy) / Terrier (De la Marine des É.-U.) | ||
| 34 | XQ-4 Target Drone (U.S. Air Force) / Cible Volante XQ4 (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 35 | Falcon Series (U.S. Air Force) / Séries Falcon (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 36 | Hawk (U.S. Army) / Hawk (De l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 37 | Hermes A-1 (U.S. Army) / Hermes A-1 (De l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 38 | Redstone (U.S. Army) / Redstone (De l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 39 | Nike Ajax (U.S. Army) / Nike Ajax (de l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 40 | Nike Hercules (U.S. Army) / Nike Hercules (De l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 41 | Honest John (U.S. Army) / Honest John (De l’Armée des É.-U.) | ||
| 42 | X-10 (U.S. Air Force) / X-10 (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 43 | Rascal (U.S. Air Force) / Rascal (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 44 | Terrapin / Terrapin | ||
| 45 | V-2 (U.S. Army) / V-2 (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 46 | Snark SM-62 (U.S. Air Force) / Snark SM-62 (De l’Aviation des É.-U.) | ||
| 47 | Lockheed F-90 Penetration Fighter / Avion d’Attaque Lockheed F-90 | ||
| 48 | Convair XF-92 Delta Wing / Convair XF-92 a Ailes Delta | ||
| 49 | Northrop X-4 / Northrop X-4 | ||
| 50 | Northrop YRB-49 / Northrop YRB-49 | ||
| n/a | ZIP “Missiles and Satellites / Fusées Nucléaire” Gum Wrapper | ||
Special Thanks
On 10/31/2014 we received an email from Fred Cousineau asking for help to identify a particular card set. After identifying the V339-7 “Missiles and Satellites” set for Fred, we realized that we (Skytamer Images) only had seven original cards in our collection. Fred had received a set of cards from his brother-in-law, Roger Geiger. Roger lives in Wylie, Texas and had collected a set of cards while living in Agincourt, Ontario when he was younger. Roger gave Fred the cards in September 2014 on a family visit. They had been stored in his attic for at least 25 years. We contacted Fred, and Fred sent us 600 dpi scans of the fronts and backs of all 50 cards in the set. So again, a very special thanks to Fred and Roger for helping us to complete this collection.
References
