1958 Mills Filtertips : Into Space



Into Space trading cards were distributed in packs of Mills Filtertips cigarettes in 1958. Mills Filtertips were manufactured by Amalgamated Tobacco Corporation, Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Australia. The American Card Catalog reference is A46-31. Each card measures approximately 1.375 x 2.625 inches.

Into Space was distributed with various tea brands from Swettenhams Chesterton in 1959. The series was issued by A. S Wilkin Ltd. in 1960 and Musgrave Brothers Ltd. in 1961. The cigarette and tea cards are printed with blue text on the back. The A. S Wilkin cards are printed with green text on the back.

The 25-card series features illustrations of early aviation and spaceflight milestones, including the launch of Laika the "Sputnik Dog." Laika (Лайка, "Curly") was the first animal to orbit the Earth, travelling aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. Laika died from overheating after the third orbit, about 5–7 hours into the mission. The Sputnik 2 spacecraft reentered the atmosphere on April 14, 1958.
1958 Mills Filtertips : Into Space #7 - Laika, The Sputnik Dog
"The story of Laika, the dog sent up in Sputnik 2 by the Russians, caused considerable controversy among dog lovers. It would seem however, that as far as possible the dog was provided for on its long journey at 18,000 miles per hour round the earth. Much valuable data was collected."

"Jules Verne's Moon Shell" depicts the fictional Columbiad spaceship in the 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon.


Into Space Checklist
1 Wright Brothers Aeroplane
2 The First Airship
3 The First Hot Air Balloon
4 Gliding in the Alps
5 First Liquid Fuel Rocket
6 Jules Verne's Moon Shell (Fiction)
7 "Laika," The Sputnik Dog
8 Sputnik II in Flight
9 Sputnik II (Diagram Section)
10 Royal Navy "Sea Slug"
11 Space Ship Landing on the Moon
12 Jupiter "C" U.S. Rocket Satellite
13 Space Suit Diagram
14 Manned Rocket Returning to Earth
15 Diagram of U.S. Satellite Rocket
16 Rocket Booster Parts from Rocket
17 Second Stage Rocket Parting
18 Track of Satellite Around the Earth
19 Space Men Returning to Ship
20 Imaginary "A" Plane
21 Re-Fueling Space Ship
22 Assembling a Station in Space
23 Radio Pictures of the Moon
24 Space Ship
25 Royal Navy Sea Slug in Action