Company History
Rubis was an artisanal chocolate confectionery company. Which was run by the Bonjean brothers. Henri Bonjean was the Administrative Director who was the central Pillar of the Company. Hubert Bonjean Sales Director, and Félicien Bonjean the manufacturing director. The factory was not very large as they never employed more than 50 people.
On April 22, 1922, Mr. Bonhomme joined forces with the Bonjean brothers, who already sold products under the RUBIS brand, and they set up the company on rue Pisseroule 57 in Dison. When the workshops became too cramped, the firm moved in 1930, rue Tranchée 48 in Verviers. Like all chocolate factories, Rubis also inserts into its sticks small images intended to be pasted into albums.
In July 1964 Henri Bonjean, the elder brother died at 75 years of age. Upon his death the brothers Hubert and Félicien decided to stop all activities of the company. Then in 1965 the Rubis brand and some product recipes were sold to Léonard Hardy chocolatier in Andrimont.
‘Great warehouse find’
In the early 1990s a large cache of cards was discovered. Many that I have spoken with about the series, say they discovered them at trade shows across the US or Europe around this time. Or their parents found them and they had no clue how or where. So it sounds like from the initial find there was a mass explosion of these into the market which crossed hands via trade shows pre internet days. The cards from this find landed mostly in Europe, the UK and here in the US.
What we are witnessing at the moment is a new generation of appreciation for the Rubis Mickey cards as they re-emerge back out to the market. As the original owners pluck them out of the private collection to sell or simply pass them down to their kin who puts them out into the market.
Cards themselves
Now ‘Verviers’ as written on the back of the cards is the city in Belgium which the factory was operating from. So since we know the factory moved to Verviers in 1930 that is our start date for their possible creation or release. Some have speculated that since there is no album they must be unlicensed cards. While this is interesting that an album hasn’t surfaced to date nor a ‘Disney/Mickey’ Rubis wrapper has been found. It doesn't tell us if they made it to the general public. I have spoken with others who have said they never made it to gen pop which is why so many are in still good condition for their age.
Personally I’ve not heard of a Disney card/sticker album prior to 1935. Which would make sense since that is shortly after 1933 the year Disney licensing effort was in full swing that all depictions of Mickey had to appear ‘on model’. So when we look at known licensed and popular ‘albums’ for Mickey/Disney such as. 1935 Gum Cards, 1935 Mickey Recipe Bread, 1936 Elah FIGURINE PREMIO TOPOLINO, 1937 French C.P.G.M Concours Vignettes Mickey. We know after 1933-35 Disney was in full legal action with their licensing of said productions and marketing. Prior to that there was an endless amount of unlicensed items out there with Mickey on them.
If they were endorsed by Disney they should have that written on them as do most licensed Disney items of the era had this to some degree. So at best with this knowledge my guess is they are pre 1930 -1935 if they are unlicensed. – Speculation on the age via my part 100% but it’s logical knowing what I know about Disney, the company etc.
Card actions
The vast majority of the cards are Mickey doing various things like listening to the radio, painting, working on pluto's dog house to sports related items like Boxing, lifting weights, Football (soccer), Olympic disc throwing, Fencing, target practice, or horse back riding. There are a series of him riding a bicycle, flying a plane and riding a motorcycle. Another series of him with musical instruments like Drums, guitar, or playing an accordion.
The phone, radio talking and listening to the radio are all using equipment from the period as well. The rest are Mickey goofing around doing day to day things.
The only other characters to make an appearance in the series are Minnie from the back and Pluto getting a bath. One other cards mentions Mickey's love for Minnie that he buys her flowers. Aside from those few appearances or mentions they are mostly dedicated to Mickey.
Card Renderings
Mickey in many cards is very true to the era, however the lack of a model sheet is showing on many of the drawling of Mickey. Some are close to actual Disney drawn Mickeys where others have more than 3 fingers or the foreshortening is not quite correct. Still the artistry, ink work and printing are high quality on good stock and are a beautiful sight to behold.
Card Count
From what I know from talking to various collectors around the globe, if I were to guess how many exist in the market I would say it is around 4-6k in individual numbers. What I don’t know is are some cards deliberately printed less than others? Sure some are difficult to find atm, but a great deal of people have a whole set. This gives way to the idea that there were no deliberate limited versions of said cards in the series. However that still doesn't explain the shortage of certain cards in the series. Unless there was a deliberate limited number of a certain few which would be similar to many sets of the age.