The
"2nd Series" of cards, as their wrapper proclaimed,
was issued in the summer of 1969, capitalising on the tremendous
popularity of the then current 1897 storyline and the newest
Dark Shadows star, David Selby as Quentin Collins.
The
66 cards in the series covered the earlier period of 1897,
once again composed of black-and-white publicity stills, generally
taken during dress rehearsals on the set. The cards had a
wavy green border which was probably intended to resemble
a picture frame. There were no autograph facsimiles on the
individual cards of the set, but there were small purple dialogue
boxes which were usually directly above the bottom green border,
over the still itself. In a few cases, the box would find
its way to the top or centre of the photo. Each of these had
a simple sentence, in black lettering, explaining the scene
on the card. The sentences were presented as attribute character
quotes. The story was somewhat stilted when put together,
but any young fan of the show could tell exactly what was
happening.
On
the bottom section of the wavy green border, from left to
right, appeared the assigned card number and "1969 DAN
CURTIS PRODUCTIONS INC. PCGC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRTD. IN
U.S.A.", as seen on series one. The backs of the 66 cards
of the set formed four different black-and-white "pin-up"
photos, each with a green facsimile autograph in the lower
right corner. These were Barnabas (foyer painting), Angelique
(as seen on pink card 38), Quentin Collins (as seen
on green card 43), and Chris Jennings (werewolf, as
seen on green card 66).
The
packaging reflected the style of the cards, with a wrapper
depicting Collinwood on the lower edge of its centre panel,
a sepia photo set in a green background and a purple strip
in the upper left hand corner proclaiming "2nd Series"
in white letters.
A white version of the series logo dominated the upper centre
of the front of the gum pack. Beneath these words were the
smaller, plain black words "WALLET PHOTOS AND BUBBLE
GUM". In the lower right corner "5¢" was
announced in green. The white borders of the wrapper contained
at least two different ads, these appearing to the right of
the center panel. They were ads for SWELL bubble gum (Favorite
of Champions!) , and the famous Barnabas Ring ad, complete
with drawings of the ring and the vampire. These wrappers
held 5 random cards and a single stick of bubble gum.
The
Barnabas ring was a tie-in promotion with the cards that became
one of the rarest and sought-after Dark Shadows collectables.
For 50c and five gum wrappers, fans could obtain a cheap replica
of the ring Barnabas wore on the show by mail order from Timco
Industries. Because so few survived, they have recently commanded
prices of over $1000.00 from collectors. In 1998, MPI Home
Video produced a licensed replica of the ring.
The
packs came in boxes of 24, with the display box similar in
style to the packs. The top of the box shows the same green
and purple color scheme, with the Dark Shadows logo
in white in the upper right section of the box top. Above
and to the left of this was a small pink rectangle with the
words "SECOND SERIES"
in white letters. Farther left was a sepia-hued photo of Barnabas
(a mirror image of pink card 1), with his cane. Left
of that was the "Swell" insignia and the words "©
1969 Dan Curtis Prod., Inc. All Rights Reserved." The
price, "5¢," in white, was far right. The sepia-toned
Collinwood stretched across the box top, from left centre
to right. The front side of the box also had the image of
Collinwood, this time to the left. The upper center area of
this panel was where the series logo was, with the "WALLET
PHOTOS and BUBBLE GUM" and "5¢" in black
below the right section of the series logo. A picture of Barnabas
(from the pink series wrapper) was to the far right.
The Cards: A Description
The second series focuses on plotline rather than the character
portraits of the first series. The bulk of the cards feature
the 1897 storyline involving Quentin as a zombie. This story
began with episode 722 (aired on April 1 1969; taped on March
25 1969), when Quentin is re-animated, concluding with the
arrival of Gregory Trask and his "curing" of both
Quentin and the possessed Jamison in episode 726 (aired on
April 7 1969; taped on March 31 1969). Cards 7-48
deal with this story. Interestingly, Trask wears glasses in
the shots on the cards; by tape time, the decision was made
to not use the spectacles. The same frames had appeared earlier,
as the Eagle Hill cemetery caretaker's, in 1967.
The
first six cards depict Barnabas, with dialogue such as: "I
must go back to the past to save the boy's life," and
"Why is the ghost possessing Jamison?", beginning
the main story. Card 1 is one of the "bat against
red moon" series taken in 1967. Cards 2-4
appear to be taken during rehearsal for episode 725 (taped
March 28 1969, aired April 4 1969). A colour version of card
5 can be found on the back cover of Barnabas Collins:
A Personal Picture Album, with Jonathan Frid's autograph,
taken on the stairway in the Old House. Interestingly, the
publicity still on card 6 is the only series shot not
done on the set during dress rehearsals. This is a location
shot of Barnabas inside a mansion, standing on a staircase
with a heavy coat and a large book in his right hand. Another
picture from this shoot can be seen on the cover of MPI Home
Video's The Best of Barnabas video. He is in modern
dress, as in cards 1 and 5.
After
general angst and disbelief in cards 7-48 (all
shot during dress rehearsal for episode 725, with the exception
of card 14, taken during 719), cards 49-62
take place at various times before Quentin's murder by "Crazy
Jenny" and his subsequent revival as a zombie. Cards
49-58 take place during episode 719 (aired March
27 1969; taped March 20 1969).
Card
49 has a direct quote from the episode, in Judith's
declaration, "That music is driving me mad!". The
series had a maddening habit of quoting faithfully at times,
then inserting absurd quotes, such as those attributed to
the unthinking zombie Quentin: "I'll die when the moon
is full!" Also, at the series end, the werewolf has coherent
thought, a la the Gold Key Comics: "I must hurry, dawn
means death!" The remainder of the cards through to 58
focus on Magda telling Quentin's fortune, with Quentin and
Judith arguing.
A
brief sidelight is explored in cards 51 and 52,
involving Dirk and Judith discussing Judith's secret—Jenny
Collins. Cards 59 and 60 deal with "Mad
Jenny" interacting with Dirk and Judith. Card 61 shows
her happily looking at the keys to her prison-room, taken
from Dirk after knocking him out cold. All of these shots
also originate from episode 719. Card 62 seems to be
from the same episode, showing Jenny brandishing a knife.
Then, suddenly, we are whisked away from the gaslight of 1897
to 1969. Cards 63-66, are from this era, depicting
the werewolf. Card 64, in particular, shows the werewolf
and Carolyn in Elizabeth's mausoleum during dress rehearsal
for episode 672 (aired on January 20 1969; taped on January
13 1969).
Card
64 is one of the unique cards in the series, betraying
the manner in which the stills were procured. Several of the
stars have discussed the introduction of a photographer into
the rehearsal
process, with some resentment. In an interview which appeared
in Craig Hamrick's Dark Shadows Collector's Guide,
Kathryn Leigh Scott explained: "We would actually come
on the set with our hair in curlers or an old bathrobe on,"
apparently in rebellion against having no say in the merchandising
or photo selection. In 64, we see Carolyn screaming
in terror, as Alex Stevens half-heartedly stares off toward
the camera, with no hand make-up! On cards 32, 33,
43, 46, and 48, Quentin is missing his
mutton chops! One can only imagine the more obvious examples
of unusable stills, bathrobes and all! Actually, one has only
to go to the Imagine 1993 card set to see what this would
have been like. Card 54 of that series shows Scott and Don
Briscoe in a scene depicting Rachel Drummond's mortal wounding
in episode 776 (aired on June 16 1969; taped on June 9, 1969).
In this still, Scott is indeed in bathrobe and curlers.
According to Jeff and Bob Marks, in their article about Philadelphia
Gum in The Wrapper, the folks at Swell gum sent a photographer
over to take shots for the card series, augmented with existing
stills from Dan Curtis Productions. For the second series,
it seems the photographer recorded two different taping dates:
Thursday March 20 (episode 719), and Friday March 28 (episode
725) 1969. 59 of the cards bear images from these two production
dates; 44 from 725 and 15 from 719.
Interestingly,
several characters key to the early storyline depicted on
these cards, along with actors who appeared in the episodes
the photos were taken during, were absent from the card set.
Angelique, who caused Quentin to become a zombie, was not
included, her puzzle-back picture taken from a 1795 photograph.
Rachel Drummond is nowhere to be seen. The simpering Carl
Collins, who is there when the dead Quentin is re-animated
as a zombie, is absent. Sandor, with his rescue of Rachel
from the undead Quentin, would have lent some more action
to the story. But, all things considered, including some flawed
captions and blurry touch-ups, the second series is a fun
and interesting glimpse of the early goings-on at 1897 Collinwood.
Images
· Click on the thumbnails
to
view the full-size image
|
 |
An
example of the Countertop Display Box the card
packs
were originally issued in |
 |
An
original Wax Paper Wrapper for the second series
of cards
. |
Back
