To many, Cracker Jack is known for its prizes that were packed inside of their famous peanut and popcorn combination snack boxes. But to sports card collectors, they are famous for their 1914 and 1915 baseball card sets. While those are undoubtedly the most important issues created by the company, Cracker Jack also produced a unique set of cards in the 1940s.
Let’s take a closer look at this release — the Cracker Jack Sports Yesterday and Today set.
1940s Cracker Jack Sports Yesterday and Today Basics
This unique card set was issued in the 1940s. While 1949 is often the date attributed to it, other sources merely call it a 1940s issue, meaning it could have been printed earlier. Other sources, still, declare that it was issued in both 1943 and 1949. Whatever the case, it is almost always referred to as a set from the 1940s.
An important note is that, while it is routinely called a Cracker Jack set, that is only partially true. The set was actually issued by Lowney’s, a popular candy company in Canada. Because of that, it has a V-Card designation and is cataloged as V410.
So where does the Cracker Jack name come in? Well, Lowney’s received a contract from Cracker Jack to produce that snack in Canada. It still had the Cracker Jack name but was made in Canada by Lowney’s. That information comes to us straight from the backs of the cards. Thus, while the set bears the Cracker Jack name, Lowney’s name should probably be present with some sort of asterisk. PSA, in fact, even calls this a Lowney’s set instead of Cracker Jack.
It is worth noting that Lowney’s, like Cracker Jack, actually produced other cards, too. For one thing, they were responsible for the V49 Just Kids set, which, while most a non-sports issue, included a pair of baseball cards. Less known was a small set of postcards cataloged as E230 which included a hodgepodge of subjects, including golfers, college graduates, and Native Americans. But, at any rate, this was not Lowney’s first foray into trading cards.
The concept of the set was a simple one that is explained in the set’s title. The cards pictured sports being played as they were at present day and when they were in their formative years. Thus, each sport that is featured in the set has two different cards with one depicting the sport’s origins and one showing a modern form of it.
Cards were printed with full color artwork on the front. Backs included the sport’s name, a card number, and a descriptive writeup (along with the aforementioned relationship between Lowney’s and Cracker Jack). The most notable feature is that the cards have rounded corners. Similar to game and playing cards, that has helped many of them to remain in good condition, despite being approximately 70 years old. A special collectible album for the set was also available to collectors.
Checklist and Sports
Below is a complete checklist of the set. While names of specific athletes are not named on the front of the cards, some are mentioned on the backs. For example, the modern baseball card cites both Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb as notable players. The back of that card, interestingly, cites Cobb as the greatest ‘batsman’ of all time while only noting the home run legend Ruth as ‘his closest rival.’
Cards depicting the major sports of baseball, basketball, football, and hockey are generally the most desirable of the group.
- Bicycle Racing
- Bicycle Racing
- Snowshoe Racing
- Snowshoe Racing
- Hockey
- Hockey
- Boxing
- Boxing
- Auto Racing
- Auto Racing
- Basketball
- Basketball
- Bowling
- Bowling
- Lacrosse
- Lacrosse
- Motor Boat Racing
- Motor Boat Racing
- Croquet
- Croquet
- Rowing and Sculling
- Rowing and Sculling
- Skiing
- Skiing
- Softball
- Softball
- Swimming
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Tennis
- Polo
- Polo
- Baseball
- Baseball
- Speed Skating
- Speed Skating
- Wrestling
- Wrestling
- Badminton
- Badminton
- Track and Field
- Track and Field
- Football
- Football
- Golf
- Golf
- Archery
- Archery
Rarity and Pricing
By most standards, these cards are relatively rare. To date, PSA has graded only a little more than 130 of them in all. Some do surface on eBay occasionally, but they are not common there, either, usually with only a handful of listings. Suffice to say, building the entire set is not easy.
Prices for the cards are all over the map. You will sometimes see them for as little as $5-$10 but asking prices can surge to much more than than, depending on the condition and the sport. The baseball cards are the most popular with those generally starting at $25-$50. Collectors should be aware that asking prices may be considerably higher as sellers that are aware of their rarity can seek more.
