With only 30 subjects on the checklist, the E93 Standard Caramel card set would seem to be an easy one to tackle. However, despite its small size, it can be expensive to complete. The cards aren’t as plentiful as many tobacco cards or other cards from the same era and can be challenging to find in good condition. Here’s a closer look at this common caramel issue from the early 1900s.
E93 Standard Caramel Basics
Believed to be issued in 1910, the E93 Standard Caramel cards are similar to other candy card sets from the same time period. Fronts include a colorful background with no specific imagery. The backgrounds contain anywhere from one to three solid distinct colors behind a color picture of a given player. Borders are white and the only text on the front is the player’s name and team.
One thing to notice is that the cards will occasionally have slight variations to the background colors. The background on the Ty Cobb card (pictured at right), for example, can appear as a bright orange or a red/reddish-orange.
The backs are just as basic as the banal fronts, featuring a player checklist. The top reads “Base Ball Stars” and “This card is one of a set of 30 stars” while the bottom states that the cards were manufactured by the Standard Caramel Company in Lancaster, PA.
The cards are the traditional size of approximately 1 1/2″ wide x 2 3/4″ tall. Note that these are slightly taller than some other tobacco card issues from the era that measure around 2 5/8″ high.
E93 Standard Caramel Stars
Standard Caramel made sure its small set was absolutely filled with star players and big names.
More than half of the set is comprised of Hall of Famers including Cobb, Chief Bender, Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, Eddie Collins, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Hughie Jennings, Addie Joss, Nap Lajoie, Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell, Honus Wagner, and the legendary Cy Young. Also there is Hal Chase, one of the top players of his era. All told, it’s one of the better collections of talent in any caramel card set.
Familiar Poses
One of the interesting aspect of the E93 set is that you can find some of the artwork/poses used in other card sets from that time period. For example, the Red Ames, Lajoie, and Mathewson poses are the same as what you’ll find in the famous T-206 white border set, which was produced from 1909 to 1911. At that time, images were commonly used on a variety of different products and the E93 set is no exception.
Cy Young … The Hitter
Perhaps the most unique card in the set is that of Cy Young. Winning 511 games, Young holds one of baseball’s records likely to never be broken. He was so dominant as a pitcher that the Cy Young Award was created shortly after his death to honor the league’s best pitcher each season.
When fans think of Young, they think of him as a pitcher. However, his E93 card depicts the Hall of Famer as a hitter, swinging a bat. Why that image was used isn’t known but it makes for one of the era’s most interesting cards. You can usually find them on for $1,000-$2,500.
E93 Standard Caramel Prices
As you might have guessed, E93 cards aren’t cheap or easy to find. There are rarer cards to be sure, but eBay generally has only about 100-200 listings at any given time with decent ungraded commons starting out around $50 at the low end.
Most of the stars and Hall of Famers in mid-grade condition will vary greatly, starting in the neighborhood of around $200 for some of the lesser names. The Wagner and Cobb are the cream of the crop with both of those reaching into four figures for lower mid-grade. High grade examples yield many times that. A Honus Wagner PSA 8.5, for example, topped $40,000 a few years ago at an auction.
Complete sets are scarce, but do occasionally surface at auction. A nice mid-grade set sold for just under $26,000 almost two years ago.
E93 Checklist
- Red Ames
- Chief Bender
- Mordecai Brown
- Frank Chance
- Hal Chase
- Ty Cobb
- Eddie Collins
- Stan Coveleski
- Fred Clarke
- Jim Delehanty
- Bill Donovan
- Red Dooin
- Johnny Evers
- George Gibson
- Clark Griffith
- Hughie Jennings
- Davy Jones
- Addie Joss
- Nap Lajoie
- Tommy Leach
- Christy Mathewson
- John McGraw
- Jim Pastorius
- Deacon Phillippe
- Eddie Plank
- Joe Tinker
- Rube Waddell
- Honus Wagner
- Hooks Wiltse
- Cy Young
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