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From 1955 to 1956, Topps released a series of trading cards called “Rails and Sails” in packages of bubble gum that sold for five cents each. The front of cards #1 through #130 featured locomotives and trains, and cards #131 through #200 featured various ships or other water vessels. On the reverse of each card, they would give a general description of the image on the front, and some other various trivia that they would use as space-filler. Many of the cards with a ship image on the front, would also feature a small image of a lighthouse on the back, including its name and location, while some others featured a section called “Sea Myths.”
Trading cards, such as these, were a fun way to teach kids, as well as providing entertainment as they tried to collect them all, something that you can still do today, but they will now be harder to find.
We have featured a small selection of images of the fronts and backs of some of these cards where a lighthouse was shown. Some of the other cards, that we know of, that featured a lighthouse were:
Card #134 Caravel – a 16th Century vessel Boston Light, Massachusetts
Card #139 Skaffie – Scottish Fishing Boat Portland Head Light, Maine
Card #141 Canal Boat Whitehead Light, Maine
Card #144 Flat Boat Cape Elizabeth Light, Maine
Card #148 Herring Drifter Bakers Island Light, Massachusetts
Card #149 Fishing Junk – Chinese Eastern Point Light, Massachusetts
Card #150 Outrigger Canoe Deer Island Light, Massachusetts
Card #165 Tramp Steamer Tarpaulin Cove Light, Massachusetts
Card #200 Flat Top Aircraft Carrier Nobska Point Light, Massachusetts
This story appeared in the
Sep/Oct 2022 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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