“War News Pictures” (R165)
Gum Inc., United States

• Series Title: War News Pictures
• ACC No.: R165
• Manufactured by: Gum, Inc.
• Country: United States
• Number of Cards: 144
• Numbering: 1 to 144
• Card Dimensions: 2½×3⅛ inches
• Circa: 1939-1940

Background

This World War II set from Gum, Inc. is not as confusing as it looks. The set is divided into seven distinct subsets which have their own characteristic look. The subsets are as follows:

• Cards 1-48 — These cards feature black-and-white photos and black and gray drawings with white borders. The reverse contains a 1939 copyright with a code B- 1--14.
• Cards 49-72 — These cards feature multi-color artwork with white borders. The reverse contains a 1939 copyright with a C-49-72 code.
• Cards 73-84 — These cards feature artwork with green and orange tones with orange borders. The reverse side contains a 1939 copyright with a D-73-84 code.
• Cards 85-96 — These cards feature artwork with blue and orange tones with white borders. The reverse side contains a 1939 copyright with a E-85-96 code.
• Cards 97-108 — These cards feature artwork with black and orange tones with white borders. The reverse side contains a 1939 copyright with the code F-97-108.
• Cards 109-120 — These cards feature artwork with blue and orange tones with white borders. The reverse side contains a 1939 copyright with the code G-109-120. This series is the key to collection and are very difficult to obtain.
• Cards 121-144 — These cards feature artwork with blue and orange tones with white borders. Reverse side contains a 1940 copyright with no code number. F-L-A-S-H appears at the top center on the back.

Fortunately, the words “War News” are somewhere on every card, which is the one common detail that makes cards of this series easy to identify.

Gum, Inc. began distributing “War News Pictures” in 1939 and continued into 1940. The initial wrapper was semi clear wax with the word the “WAR” SET on a red center, and the advertising copy Onto Tried to Tie the War News Pictures with the extremely successful"Horrors of War" series which preceded it:"START IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE THIS COMPLETE SERIES. Complete sets of the first 240 Horrors of War cards, published in 1938, are now very valuable. Don’t miss the opportunity to get all of this new series of picture cards." If that wasn’t enough, another advertising panel on the wrapper described the current set as"news pictures and illustrations of the current HORRORS OF WAR in Europe." This wrapper bears a 1939 copyright date.

The second wrapper associated with the set carries a 1940 copyright date and has a white and black newspaper design set on a yellow center. By that time, the public had already come to the conclusion that War News Pictures could not match Horrors of War in style and quality, so the attempt to link to the two sets by advertising propaganda was abandoned in favor of passing off the cards as"valuable classroom material." J. Warren Bowman, the owner of Gum, Inc., was a man always in search of the promotional gimmick: convincing teachers to allow bubble gum cards in the schoolhouse was a kind of challenge he enjoyed!

There are three additional features of the set that are fascinating to collectors. First, the subseries numbered 49 -- 72 carries the identical color artwork of 24 cards of Gum, Inc.’s"The World in Arms" set, which was also issued in 1939. This is the only run of full-color cards in War News Pictures, and only Bowman would dare to make two sets out of one. Secondly, advertising on the last run of War News Pictures cards (121-144) suggests that more cards of both number 144 were planned -- but none were ever released to the public. Finally the set contains 12 of the rarest of all 1930s cards: numbers 109 -- 120. Over the years, collectors have constructed several series to account for the scarcity of these cards, but no reliable information about them has been confirmed. Very few sets of War News Pictures are known to exist because these 12 cards are simply not available. The American card catalog reference number for the set is R165.

Image-Guide

Partial Checklist

1. British Anti-Tank Rifle
2. Polish Cavalry (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
3. French Reservists Called to Colors (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
4. British Secret Anti-Aircraft Gun (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
5. German Air Student
6. Gdynia Bombarded
7. Polish “Big Bertha”
8. Newest British Motor Torpedo Boat
9. Inside the Siegfried Line
10. British Transport Plane
11. British Tank Crew
12. Polish Troops on the March
13. Lowering a Depth Charge
14. England’s General Ironsides
15. Decontamination Squad, England
16. Back Door of the Siegfried Line
17. Searchlights in London
18. French Motorcycle Unit
19. German Torpedo Boat
20. Guns on German Cruiser in Action
21. Exploding Depth Charge (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
22. Preview of London Evacuation
23. Polish War Tanks
24. Siegfried Line’s Bristling Face
25. Living Quarters on the Siegfried Line
26. President Moscicki of Poland
27. Signing Soviet-German Pact (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
28. Poles Attack German Radio Station
29. Poland’s Smigly-Rydz
30. British Bombers Rain Leaflets on Reich
31. Hitler Congratulates Von Ribbentrop
32. Avro Anson Bomber Over Rams Gate
33. King George VI and Neville Chamberlain
34. Danzig Harbor
35. German Submarine Base at Kiel
36. War Map
37. Controlling London’s Defense Machinery (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
38. Polish Bombing Planes (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
39. France’s General Gamelin
40. Aerial View of Warsaw
41. Admiral Raeder (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
42. The Siege of Wesferplaffe
43. The Maginot Line
44. Polish Massed Military Might
45. General Viscount Gorf
46. Franco’s Daladier
47. Germany’s Von Brauchitsch
48. Sinking of the “Athenia”
49. French Battleship “Dunkerque”
50. German Submarine
51. British Fifteen-Ton “Hornet”
52. Guns of the Maginot line In Action
53. British Balloon Barrage
54. German-Manned Avia Fighters
55. British Mayo Composite Plane (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
56. German Junkers Bomber (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
57. French Tank in Action
58. British Armed Cars
59. “Air Infantry”
60. Flame-Throwers
61. German “Schnellboote”
62. British Battleship “Rodney”
63. British Destroyer “Straddling” Torpedoes
64. Australian “Wirraway”
65. French Torpedo Planes as Air Escort
66. Germany’s Heligoland
67. The Mereth Line of France
68. British Portable Air Raid Shelter
69. Gas Raid Rescue Squad
70. Flame-Throwing Tanks
71. French 75 mm. Howitzer
72. Martin-Barlow Aerial Bomb
73. British Flying Boats Rescue Crew of Steamer
74. British bombed German ships at Wilhelmshaven
75. Air Raid Sirens Send Parisians to Cellars
76. Destroyers Sinks Strangely Disguised U-Boat
77. Nazi Machine Gunners Slay Polish Cavalry
78. British Troops Are Welcomed in France (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
79. Polish “Franctreur” Fires Into Germans
80. French Use Pigs To Touch off Mines
81. Plane Bombs U-Boat after Freighter Is Sunk
82. Aircraft Carrier “Courageous” Torpedoed
83. Russia’s Red Army Moves into Poland
84. Warsaw’s Last Stand
85. Nazi’s Use Parachute — Jumpers as Spies
86. French Flyers Raid Nazi Airplane Plants
87. Poles Capture Tanks with Flaming Hand Grenades
88. Polish Soldiers and Refugees Leave Warsaw
89. Sub Crew Saved after Ocean-Bed Vigil
90. Hela Peninsula Finally Surrenders
91. U-Boat Lands Shipwrecked Crew in Ireland (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
92. Largest Submarine Captures Nazi Merchant Ship
93. British Flyers Down Nazi in Dog Fight at Sea
94. British Destroyer Fights of Nazi Planes
95. Nazi U-Boat Torpedoes “Royal Oak” at Anchor (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
96. Nazi Bombers Raid Scotland
97. Terror in the Carpathians
98. German Cannonade Rocks Neutral Country
99. Ghost Plane Lands “with the Goods”
100. French “Suicide” Squads Hold Outposts
101. Russians Dump Propaganda in Poland
102. War on Land Is Bogged Down by Rain
103. British Freighter Fights Submarine (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
104. Nazi Bombers Attack Merchant Convoy
105. “City of Flint” Is Seized by Nazi Raider
106. Sub Taxis Streamer’s Crew to Rescue Ship (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
107. Peasants Quit Dynamited Bridge Area
108. Warsaw’s Sorrow (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
109. “Independence Hall” Rescues Sub-Marine Victims (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
110. Undersea Horrors (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
111. Freighter Disables U-Boat for Warship to Capture (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
112. Downed Nazi Fliers Use Rubber Boat to Escape (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
113. Nazi Robot Pamphleteer (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
114. Cruiser Lands Captured Germans in Scotland (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
115. British Divers Take Dead Nazis from U-Boat (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
116. Mortars Scatter Nazis Digging Earth Works (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
117. Nazi U-Boat Sinks English Fishermen (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
118. Germans Attack French Frontier Village (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
119. “City of Flint” Sales Under Norwegian Escort (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
120. France Mobilized Pigeons at Front (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
121. Nazis Use Pocket Subs
122. U-Boat Shells Mercy Ship (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
123. Swimmer Captures Mine
124. French Win Big Air Fight (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
125. Nazi River Patrol Is Hit (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
126. Dutch Flood Defense Line (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
127. Torpedo Cuts Ship in Two
128. Bomb Rocks Hitler Hall (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
129. Mine Blasts Indian Liner (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
130. Scheer Sinks Tanker
131. Nazi Flies to London (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
132. S.S. Pilsudski Is Sunk
133. Reds Attack Finns by Air
134. British Defeat Graf Spee (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
135. Finns Lick Reds at River
136. Graf Spee Goes to Doom (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
137. Crew Scuttles Columbus
138. Reds Make Costly Gains
139. Reds Shot Crossing Ice (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
140. Skiers Prey on Russians (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
141. Division Trapped on Ice (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
142. Russians Freeze at Posts (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
143. Turku Castle Is Bombed (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)
144. Ski Patrol Derails Train (need 600 dpi scans of front and back)

We Need Your Help!

As you can see from the above checklist, we need help to complete this Card Collection. We are in need of high-resolution color scans of at least 600dpi for the fronts and backs of the cards noted above. If you can help us, please contact us via the "Contact Skytamer Images" link at the bottom left. If your scans are used, we will give you a permanent subscription to the Skytamer Archive. We will also acknowledge your contribution at the bottom of this page, display your business card, and provide a link to your website.

Contributors

John Shupek — John is retired Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineer that lives in Southern California. John’s 36 year aerospace career/adventure started in the mid-1960s when he worked for Pratt & Whitney at their “FRDC” … Florida Research and Development Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. John was part of the P&W jet engine design team for the CIA/USAF’s Lockheed A-12/SR-71A “Oxcart/Blackbird” engines (J58/JT11D-20). He also worked on the RL-10 rocket engine and the JTF-17A which was P&W’s entry into the United States’ SST competition between Boeing and Lockheed. Several years later, John moved back to California and worked at the AiResearch Mfg. Company at LAX and Torrance. He originally worked on the thermal design of the HRE (Hypersonic Ramjet Engine) which was a supersonic combustion Mach 7 ramjet engine that was to be tested on the North American X-15. John did about three more years of jet engine design work before he disappeared for 13 years into the classified DOE “GCEP” (Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant) Atomic Energy program for the enrichment of U₂₃₅. After the GCEP program was cancelled by the DOE in 1985, John was hired by Northrop Aircraft to do the thermal design for Northrop’s entry into the ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter) competition, the Northrop YF-23A “Black Widow II” stealth supercruise fighter. He also worked on the Northrop Grumman B-2A “Spirit” stealth bomber. After several years on a classified stealth missile program, John worked the remainder of his Aerospace career as one of Northrop Grumman’s Program Directors on the United States Navy’s F/A-18E/F “Super Hornet” jet fighter program.

During John’s career at Northrop Grumman he served for five years as Northrop’s “Vintage Aircraft Club” Commissioner and the Curator and Webmaster for the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, California. Several years later, John was the volunteer webmaster (for about 3 years) for the Yanks Air Museum, Chino, California. He also served as President and webmaster for two different NPO’s after his retirement. The Whittier Historical Society & Museum and Whittier Meals on Wheels.

John’s love of aviation history and aviation photography lead to the establishment of this Skytamer.com website in 1998. The Skytamer.com site has continued to expand and will always grow and will never be completed. It’s sort of analogous to a snowball rolling down a hill without any trees to stop it. In approximately 2002, John remembered that he had collected Topps “Wings” (ACC# R707-4) airplane trading cards while in High School. Somehow the cards had disappeared over the years. So at this point, he started to re-collect airplane trading cards via eBay and become an airplane card “Image Collector” rather than a “Card Collector” per se. After John scans an airplane card for the website, he has no further use for it and he puts it back into circulation via eBay. John’s mission statement for the Skytamer.com is basically to restore and preserve high-quality card images/artwork associated with the various airplane card sets from the early 1900s to the present. These cards are wonderful historical “snapshots” into aviation history showing which aviation events and aircraft were important at that point in time. For the Skytamer.com website, basically if it is a trading card collection that features things that fly, but doesn’t have feathers, it’s eligible for the consideration on the Skytamer.com website. John always welcome inputs and high resolution scans (600-dpi) that can be used on this website. John can be reached via the “Contact Us” navigation button on the left.