Baseball cards first made their mark in the late 1800s and early 1900s, primarily as tobacco card inserts. After a brief respite of sorts during World War I, the 1920s and 1930s saw the creation of even more sets. But by the 1940s, the collecting world was again on a bit of a hiatus. The 1930s brought about the gum card boom and, by that time, cards had really shifted from … [Read more...]
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1940 Play Ball Set Filled With Post-Career Stars
The 1940 Play Ball set was the largest baseball card offering from Gum, Inc. With a total of 240 cards, it's not only the largest Play Ball set, but one of the larger gum card sets in general. Not many baseball card sets were printed in the 1940s but this was one of them. And while this set includes plenty of contemporary stars, it is also known for a large collection of … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Two New Baseball Wrappers Checklisted In A Rare Set
It's baseball cards that most collectors are interested in. But a rare set of pre-war baseball wrappers is getting some interest in the news with the discovery of two that were previously unchecklisted. About the R301 Overland Wrappers The R301 Overland Wrappers aren't what most wrappers collectors would expect. Distributed by Chicago's Overland Candy Corporation, these … [Read more...]
1941 Goudey Set Marked End of an Era
Goudey Gum Company sailed across the pre-World War II landscape with a busy run that included standard issue baseball cards, premiums and some non-sport sets. The 1941 Goudey Baseball set would mark the end of a relatively brief but impactful run. The Boston-based firm got off to a huge start with its ultra-popular 1933 set that featured four Babe Ruth cards. The ’34 … [Read more...]
1949 Remar Bread Set Highlighted Strong Oakland Oaks PCL Team
“Let’s Be Friends” was the motto of the Remar Baking Company, and that slogan adorned the back of a 32-card minor-league set during the late 1940s. The 1949 Remar Bread Oakland Oaks cards, 2 inches by 3 inches, could be found in packages of the venerable bread, an institution in Oakland since the company was formed in May 1918 by brewer Jacob Paul Rettenmayer. The … [Read more...]
Bargain Cards of Early Long Ball Specialist Home Run Baker
When discussing the first great home run hitters, Babe Ruth's name usually jumps to the top of the list. But before the Babe came onto the scene, players such as Roger Connor and Home Run Baker were even earlier kings of the long ball. From 1911-1914, Baker led the league in home runs each season and, despite having only 96 in his career, he was one of the game's early great … [Read more...]
A Look Inside the U-Card Designation
When most collectors think of Jefferson Burdick's American Card Catalog designations, the most popular types of cards are T-Cards (Tobacco issues), E-Cards (Early Caramel/Candy issues), or R-Cards (Later Gum/Candy issues). One designation that you don't hear much about are U-Cards. What are they? Let's take a closer look. U-Cards Introduction Part of the reason the … [Read more...]
1939-46 Salutations Exhibits Spanned Pre-War and Post-War Eras
The 1939-46 Salutations Exhibits set was produced over nearly the span of a decade. The set really mixes two eras as it began in the pre-war time period and was in the post-war era by the time it concluded. Here's a closer look at the set. 1939-46 Salutations Exhibits Basics The set was recognized in Jefferson Burdick's American Card Catalog but you might have a little … [Read more...]
1948 Signal Oil Set Featured Powerful Oakland Oaks Squad
The 1948 Oakland Oaks were a powerful team in the Pacific Coast League, and the West Coast circuit made a strong bid for major-league status several times. That was thwarted when the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved to California, but in the late 1940s the Triple-A PCL had some strong squads. Consider that the Oaks, while going 114-74 seventy years ago, won the PCL … [Read more...]
1947 Tip Top Set Was A Post-War Pioneer
Baseball fans hate players who loaf — unless those players were part of the 1947 Tip Top Bread card set. At 163 cards, this set was one of the largest to come out of the early post-World War II era — and in fact, it was one of the largest sets in many years. But that number is deceiving, because the ’47 Tip Top set actually was made up of a group of regional issues. The … [Read more...]
