I've just laid my hands on a set of cigarette cards called, 'Deep Sea Diving', that were intended for distribution in the early 1930's.

(For those of you who may wonder what a 'cigarette card' was/is, they were a marketing ploy used in the early part of the century through to 1939, to sell cigarettes. One card per packet; build the set and achieve satisfaction!) :-)

This particular set - consisting of 50 beautifully painted cards with a printed summary of the picture on the reverse side - was never produced! It lay, until recently, in the vaults of the John Player company - along with the series depicting the Coronation of Edward VIII!!!!!!!!

Let me share some of the gems with you and - if there's interest? - relate some of the words about diving as it was perceived in the 1930's in a possible ongoing thread?

"In the early days diving physiology was poorly understood. Only men of a certain physical type could dive effectively to depths in excess of 33 feet. There was no way of predicting who these individuals might be and given that diving also required physical strength, steady nerves, and considerable engineering skills, genuine 'deep sea divers' were men apart."

Well! That should upset a few women!!!! But - Oh! My! - wait till you hear about the requirements for those eligible to join this elite band! :-)