A Step Back in Time: Dan Dare Tooth Powder Cards

Many might think licensing comic characters is a modern phenomena, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Just like Batman, Superman and Judge Dredd today, comic heroes of yesterday leapt from the printed page and featured on plenty of merchandise.

In the 1950s, Eagle publisher Hulton Press licensed Dan Dare for use on jigsaws, toys and more, including a special set of cards produced by Manchester-based FC Calvert’s, to boost sales of their tins of Dan Dare Tooth Powder, a special edition of their antiseptic dental wash, first produced in the nineteenth century.

FC Calvert's Dan Dare Toot Powder and Picture Card Album (1953), with all 25 cards unmounted
FC Calvert’s Dan Dare Toot Powder and Picture Card Album (1953), with all 25 cards unmounted, offered for sale back in 2012 by Compalcomics

Previously featured on downthetubes, the cards were first released in 1953. 25 cards were produced in all, still considered very collectable, three given away with each tin of tooth powder.

The box the tin came in included a voucher you could post to the company, together with a small fee to cover postage, to obtain a free album to stick the cards in.

FC Calvert's Dan Dare Tooth Powder - Album

The colourful cards picture some of the main characters, different space craft and, of course, The Mekon, who was a super-intelligent alien and enemy of Dan Dare. Each card included a profile of the character or vehicle featured, in some cases expanding on what was known about them from the comic strip alone.

The company clearly felt Dan Dare Tooth Powder would be popular with children, actively promoting the brand to retailers in 1954.

A trade advertisement for FC Calvert's Dan Dare Tooth Powder, from an issue of The Chemist and Druggist, published in January 1954. Via  The Internet Archive
A trade advertisement for FC Calvert’s Dan Dare Tooth Powder, from an issue of The Chemist and Druggist, published in January 1954. Via The Internet Archive

Sets of the cards come up fairly regularly on eBay and other sites such as Cardhawk and the London Cigarette Card Company – but even individually, they can be quite pricey.

You can still buy brands of tooth powder today, used to clean and polish teeth and freshen breath. It is believed to have originated many millennia ago, and proponents claim that it may be more effective at removing plaque and surface stains from teeth than toothpaste, although these claims have not been widely studied.

WEB LINKS

The DanDare.org site has pictures of the full set and tin here

• The London Cigarette Card Company has some Calvert cards for sale

• Check Out the Calvert Cards on Card Hawk | Complete Set for Sale

• Check out all Dan Dare cards, including Clevedon releases, and and Dare ephemera on Card Hawk

The Cardhawk team say their aim is “to deliver a great range of top quality cigarette cards, trade cards and related ephemera with the best quality customer service”. It’s designed to be a reference tool as much as an e-commerce site, with information regarding producers and card subjects just as important as the cards themselves.



Categories: British Comics, Comics, Features, Merchandise, Other Worlds

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