During World War II, the creation of sports cards was halted dramatically. But several sets were created during wartime, even if some of them weren’t technically trading cards distributed inside of packs. The 1945 Leister Autographs game set was one of those — here’s a closer look at this interesting game card set that was issued during World War II.
1945 Leister Autographs Game Set
The 1945 Leister Autographs Game was issued near the end of World War II. It was distributed by the Toledo-based Leister Game Company.
As you might have figured from the name, this was not a traditional set of trading cards. Rather, it was a 52-card deck of playing cards used to play a trivia game. The game was packaged inside of a small red and black box with the name ‘Autographs’ printed on it. The box included a few of the signatures that are found on the cards of the game. It was said to be able to be played with as few as two players or with as many as ten. Finally, the game was packaged with a small booklet of instructions.
One side of the cards merely had the word ‘Autographs’ written in a cursive font. The other had pictures of two subjects. One subject was pictured along with a short biography, along with his or her birth date. The distinctive part of the card, of course, is that it also included a replica signature of the subject. That person’s image was a real black and white picture.
At the bottom of that side of the card was a cartoon image of a second subject. But instead of his or her name being printed, the corresponding biography only described that person. Their real picture and autograph was found on a different card in the deck instead, serving as the ‘answer.’
Similar to other playing card styles, each card has rounded corners. This has helped collectors to find these in high-grade condition much easier than other cards with sharp corners from the same time period.
Athletes
The set is primarily a non-sports set as subjects are from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some are actors and actresses, while others are singers, comedians, and even presidents.
The set includes its fair share of other big names, such as Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower, among others. But the most sought after cards in the set are those of the athletes.
Nearly 1/4 of the entire set is actually comprised of athletes with 12 of the 52 cards being sports-related. The most popular cards are those of baseball players Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. Their cards are both the ‘question and answer’ to each other’ with Ruth appearing as the question/clue at the bottom of DiMaggio’s card and DiMaggio as the question/clue at the bottom of Ruth’s. Those two cards are easily the most valuable in the set, but other popular athletes are found, too.
From the world of boxing, there are Hall of Famers Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. Four football players are included — Red Grange, Knute Rockne, Bernie Bierman, and Tom Harmon. Then there are tennis stars Bill Tilden and Don Budge. And the cards of golf legends Walter Hagen and Byron Nelson are also among the more sought after cards.
Checklist
Here is the complete 52-card checklist for the set. Cards are presented below with the number that is found on their card.
1 Cards
- H.V. Kaltenborn
- Grace Moore
- Lily Pons
- Lowell Thomas
2 Cards
- Jack Dempsey (Boxing)
- Joe Louis (Boxing)
- Lauritz Melchoir
- John Thomas
3 Cards
- Gary Cooper
- Clark Gable
- Kate Smith
- Dinah Shore
4 Cards
- Jack Benny
- Bing Crosby
- Bob Hope
- Frank Sinatra
5 Cards
- Irving Berlin
- Claudette Colbert
- Jerome Kern
- Dorothy Lamour
6 Cards
- Walter Damrosch
- Kay Kyser
- Arturo Toscanini
- Paul Whiteman
7 Cards
- Bernie Bierman (Football)
- Walter Hagen (Golf)
- Byron Nelson (Golf)
- Knute Rockne (Football)
8 Cards
- Bob Benchley
- Irvin Cobb
- Thomas Dewey
- Franklin Roosevelt
9 Cards
- Dwight Eisenhower
- Douglas MacArthur
- Joe DiMaggio (Baseball)
- Babe Ruth (Baseball)
10 Cards
- Don Budge (Tennis)
- Red Grange (Football)
- Tom Harmon (Football)
- Bill Tilden (Tennis)
11 Cards
- Fanny Brice
- Katherine Cornell
- Joan Davis
- Helen Hayes
12 Cards
- William Green
- Westbrook Pegler
- Ernie Pyle
- John Lewis
13 Cards
- Gene Autry
- Ted Husing
- Roy Rogers
- Bill Stern
Rarity and Pricing
The cards are not terribly rare but they are not overly common, either. You can usually find at least a few dozen on eBay. Commons in the set generally start at only a few dollars for the lesser celebrities that were featured.
Decent cards of the athletes typically start in the $10-$20 range and even high-grade cards of some athletes can be found at the upper end of that spectrum. The star athletes are, of course, more. $50-$100 can required for Ruth and DiMaggio in decent shape. Collectors, however, may find a better bargain by purchasing an entire set. Sets can sell for as little as $100-$150 in decent condition.
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