1954 Lever Brothers : Jet & Rocket Plane Trading Cards



Jet & Rocket Plane Trading Cards were released in 1954 by the Lever Brothers Company of New York. The 30-card series features colorful illustrations of military aircraft and weapons printed on shiny aluminum foil. The American Card Catalog reference is F332-2. The cards were distributed with various brands of soap bars produced by Lever Brothers. Each foil card measures approximately 2.25 x 3.25 inches.

The back of each card promotes Uncle Johnny Coons' Show. The black-and-white children's program aired each Saturday on CBS from September 4, 1954, to December 5, 1955. The show was originally sponsored by Lever Brothers and McCann Erickson. "Uncle" Johnny Coons previously hosted Noontime Comics weekdays on WNBQ in Chicago, as well as a radio program on WMAQ. Uncle Johnny Coons Show later aired each Saturday on NBC from March 3 to November 24, 1956.

1954 Lever Brothers : Jet & Rocket Plane #15 - Aerojet RTV-A-1A Aerobee

The Aerojet RTV-A-1A Aerobee sounding rocket is featured on card #15. The two-stage RTV-A-1A was first launched from Holloman Airforce Base on October 17, 1951, reaching an apogee of 71 miles (114.3 km) . The U.S. Navy designation is RTV-N-10a.

The card text references the U.S. Air Force Aeromed 3 biological mission. An Aerobee RTV-A-1 rocket carried two Capuchin monkeys named Patricia and Mike, and two white mice named Mildred and Albert. Aeromed 3 was fired to a height of 38.6 miles (62.1 km) . Patricia and Mike were the first primates to safely land from such a high altitude. The Aeromed 3 mission is documented in the 1953 U.S. Air Force film Animals in Rocket Flight .

The card also references the Ionosphere 4 mission, launched on July 1, 1953. Ionosphere 4 reached an apogee of 86 miles (138.4 km) . The tests were conducted by the Air Force Systems Command with a team of scientists and graduate students from the Utah State University Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences.

1954 Lever Brothers : Jet & Rocket Plane #15 - Aerojet RTV-A-1A Aerobee


Checklist
1 Convair F-102
2 Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior
3 Ryan Q-2 Firebee
4 Convair XB-46
5 Martin B-61A Matador
6 Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight
7 Western Electric Nike
8 Lockheed XF-90
9 North American B-45 Tornado
10 Chance Vought F7U-3 Cutlass
11 Boeing F-99 Bomarc
12 Convair YB-60
13 North American F-100 Super Sabre
14 Lockheed XFV-1 VTO
15 Aerojet RTV-A-1A Aerobee
16 Convair XF2Y-1 Sea Dart
17 Douglas A2D-1 Skyshark
18 Martin PTU-N-2 Gorgon
19 Martin X8-48
20 General Electric Hermes A-1
21 Convair XP5Y-1 Tradewind
22 Firestone Corporal
23 Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
24 Convair XFY-1 VTO
25 Chance Vought SSM-N-8 Regulus
26 Martin XB-51
27 Grumman F9F-9 Tiger
28 Douglas A4D-1 Skyhawk
29 Fairchild Lark
30 Boeing B-52 Stratofortress