These cards were included in Brooke Bond (Red Rose/Blue Ribbon) tea and coffee until 1974. Each card measures 1-7/16"x2-11/16".

My tea card page is picture-oriented and only on the Canadian series, which is all I collect. Each set was made up of 48 cards. If you want to see pictures of a set, click on the Series title. Generally, I have 3 sets of pictures per page. My site is mainly a venue for displaying another one of my many collections. If you want more comprehensive information on tea cards and related items, including sets issued in other countries, there are a couple of reference sites that are much better than mine:

Teacards.com - Mark's site is exceptional!

TeaCard.Com - Bill has a great site, too!

I am in the process of redoing my pictures so the quality is better. On the card fronts, I have completed Series 1 to 5. On this page, the replacements are close to complete.

Canadian Series 1 (1959) - Songbirds of North America

Canadian Series 2 (1960) - Animals of North America

discovered by Mark Talbot, Romford

Canadian Series 3 (1961) - Wild Flowers of North America

Canadian Series 4 (1962) - Birds of North America

Canadian Series 5 (1963) - Dinosaurs

Canadian Series 6 (1964) - Tropical Birds

Canadian Series 7 (1964) - African Animals

Canadian Series 8 (1965) - Butterflies of North America

Canadian Series 9 (1966) - Canadian/American Songbirds

Canadian Series 10 (1967) - Transportation Through the Ages

Canadian Series 11 (1968) - Trees of North America

Canadian Series 12 (1969) - The Space Age

Canadian Series 13 (1970) - North American Wildlife in Danger

Canadian Series 14 (1971) - Exploring the Ocean

Canadian Series 15 (1972) - Animals and Their Young

Canadian Series 16 (1973) - The Arctic

discovered by Don Scanlan, Barrie, Ontario (go, Canada!)
as first reported on Bill's site.
It took me a while, but I finally found a 'blue sign' card of my own, to display here.

The following error card was my own discovery:
Although the first Prime Minister of Canada was "Sir", the icebreaker was not.
Also, Macdonald did not have a capital "d".

Useless Info:
The John A. Macdonald was a triple screw icebreaker.
Built: 1960 Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon, QC / Length: 315 / Beam: 70 / Draft: 28
Tonnage: 1686 / Machinery: Diesel electric / Horsepower: 15000 SHP
It was decommissioned in 1991 and sold for scrap in 1993.

Canadian Series 17 (1974) - Indians of Canada

MY COLLECTION

I started collecting the Canadian series tea cards when I was 6 years old. At that time, it was the end of the Tropical Birds run and beginning of African Animals. I couldn't wait until my Mom had to open a new package of coffee or tea! Also, both my Babas on the farm would save cards for me. I even enjoyed getting duplicates. By the time I was a teenager in the early 70's, my interest waned and I put my collection away in my old tin lunch box. It kept moving around with me over the years.

I opened my lunch box of cards again in March, 2001 and decided I would finish my collection. At that point I had around 1700 cards, including duplicates (my highest individual count was 14 of card #19 in Exploring the Ocean). I had single sets from Tropicals Birds through Animals and Their Young, as well as some Arctic, very few Indians of Canada and only a smattering of the first 5 series. When I looked on the Internet, I was lucky enough to find Mark's site, which clued me in on variations within sets. If I was to finally collect the first 5 series, I would really be collecting 9 sets. On the bright side, when I looked through my cards, I was happy to find I already had many of the variations of the later sets (red tops, CU15 tea/coffee). I even had 2 out of 3 of the rare Transportation cards (Kayak/Galley reversals, London Bus with blue ad).

Happily, there are good card sources locally. My first stroke of luck was being able to purchase a boxful of cards (around 1400) in September, 2001. This box had many sets, completion cards, coupons, just about everything you could desire! I had a superb time sorting through them. I continued to find cards here and there until again, in October, 2002, I was able to purchase another boxful (1200). Shortly thereafter, a WONDERFUL vendor let me be the first to sort through a box he had tucked away and I picked out 103 choice cards, including cellophanes and coupons. There's very few cards I still need but I nevertheless enjoy getting duplicates and being able to put together more sets. My prime eluder is Transportation (black) #9 Kayak.

My biggest thrill has been finding the card #18 error on series 16 The Arctic. When the writing on the backs of two cards didn't line up, I stared at them for 5 minutes, thinking maybe I was hallucinating. In order to find out which name of the icebreaker was correct, the Canadian Coast Guard site was consulted. The next thing I did was scan them and email Mark. He has been wonderful in advertising my find (he even got us published!).

I think probably the best part of collecting has been the nice people I have met - the fellow collectors and the vendors who sell me both cards and floaty pens.

Canadian Football League Series (1954)

I just learned about this series in April, 2002. This set of 80 cards was issued by the Blue Ribbon Tea Company of Canada. Each card measures 2-1/4"x4". The information on these cards was bilingual, much in the same format that appeared again with Tropical Birds but had been abandoned for the first 5 series.

I don't own any of these cards yet; I used to steer clear of sports cards on my treasure hunts. Finding one of my own will be my next project.

Images and information courtesy of J-P and his CFL cards.com site.

Have you wondered what the going rate is for tea cards on ebay?
This is something I have been working on for my own information and I thought perhaps others might find it of interest, as well. Click on the ?$ image to see what I have found.

I decided to put my name up in tea cards. Like the title picture, each of the Canadian series is represented. OK, so I have have too much time on my hands....