Many of you will remember Stamina Trousers (“Tailored from Crusader Cloth”) and the packs of cards that came with every purchase. Between 1946 and 1966, Stamina issued about 30 packs of cards featuring “Men of Stamina”. Each set of cards came in a series numbered pack and on the back of the card were a few sentences about the image featured on the front of the card.
The cards are interesting for many reasons: there were various printings of particular series of cards with colour variations, pictures were redrawn or reversed and captions changed; other sets would have two different numbering systems.
The first set of cards featured portraits of famous (and infamous) men including: Winston Churchill, Franklin D Roosevelt, Charles De Gaulle, Lenin, Stalin, Sun Yat Sen, Tito and Abraham Lincoln. Generic cards featured The RAAF, The AIF and The Silent Service. There were three printings of this first series and in one printing card number 3, Josef Stalin, was deleted.
The theme of politicians, military leaders, authors, scientists, philosophers, composers, and explorers continued for the first six series of cards. Series 7 was split into two sets – 7A and 7B and these cards featured drawings of men and their professions and occupations – The Shearers, The Road Makers, The Policeman, The Doctors, The School Teachers and The Drovers. This series had a very Australian look about it.
Series 8 also came close to home by featuring Australian Men of Stamina. Whilst Douglas Mawson, Sir Henry Parkes, William Wentworth, Charles Sturt and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith featured in the series so did Captain James Cook, Admiral Arthur Phillip and Matthew Flinders – not quite Australian Men of Stamina.
Series 9-12 reverted to the theme of famous world men but in an action rather than a portrait setting. Series 13 made a significant breakthrough by featuring “Women of Stamina”! The eight card set included Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie and Dame Nellie Melba. Card number 8 in the series was “Mother” – The older we grow and the more our understanding develops, the more our love grows for our mother. No one can ever do too much for their mother.
By series 17, Stamina had run out of famous men and issued series titled: Stamina in the Air, Stamina on the Sea, Strange Boats of Stamina, and Australian Animals of Stamina.
Series 24R Famous Authors, Artists and Composers and Series 25R Famous Statesmen were the last two series of cards issued by Stamina. The cards had different backs from all the other series – different colours and a variety of promotional words that focussed on a younger market – young men’s slacks, school wear and tunics.
Stamina cards are pretty common, however there are some sets that are very hard to find. These series are An Ideal Cricket Eleven and the Australian Rugby Football Team Touring Players, 1948-49. A series of blotters featuring the Australian cricketers is also very collectable.
Other items also made Stamina interesting:
- The insert cards that gave an outline of the cards in the series
- Promotional cards for particular series of cards
- Stamina pocket calendars
- A series of colourful, full page advertisements for Stamina Trousers on the back page of magazines like Sporting Life – very collectable themselves
- A beautiful booklet “The World’s Great Men” containing 80 portrait images by artist and illustrator Walter Jardine and descriptions of the cards that appeared in the first six series of card sets
- Project packs – large card sets that featured the making of Crusader Cloth, how trousers are made and how school tunics are made
Something that I found very interesting was a small advertising pamphlet that said: “In your set you have a number of duplicate cards. The idea is that you swap or trade the duplicates for other Men of Stamina until you have a complete set. These cards are a great aid in your social studies.”
I was always under the impression that you received a complete set of cards when you purchased a Stamina product. Perhaps this was not always the case?
If you have looked at the Collections section of our website, you will notice that we are compiling a collection of all the Stamina cards and related paraphernalia. There are gaps to be filled so if you have images from the early sets, the cricketers and rugby players, please send some images to me to include in the collection.
