It Seems the Pin Was Tastier

With the eight players involved in this set, this pin is believed to be from around 1934:

It's obvious that Ward's Sporties is some type of food product (Ward's is the bakery that produced Tip Top bread), but nobody seems to be certain if it was cereal, a cracker or a cookie or some other type of product.

Evidently, it wasn't very good, as the pins that came inside the packages are quite rare and valuable today. The pins have been given a PD9 designation in the American Card Catalog and have blank metal pin backs. Of the eight known players in the complete set, most are Hall of Famers, which makes them even more valuable.

As with cards, condition dictates the final value (as many can be found with chipping, denting and other damage), but if you happen to find one you know it'll quickly find a home.

1969 Retreads, Part 1

I recently picked up some 1969 Topps cards for my collection and was reminded about the pictures used in the set. Thanks to expansion and a possible fight with the players' union, Topps used photos from the past and pretty much avoided anything that was taken in 1968 at all.

Here's one of the cards:

Tommie Aaron should be the subject of his own post. He was the younger brother of his teammate Hank Aaron, whose presence in the Braves' outfield was one of the reasons he didn't get more playing time. There's quite a family resemblance; I often wonder how many pulled this card out of the pack in 1969 and mistakenly thought they got Hank Aaron's card instead.

As it turned out, the image was several years old:

 It was used in 1963 as well.

A Crash Course in Exhibits

I've had this question sent to me a few times over the years:

"The 1947-66 Exhibit set...was that really issued over a 20-year period? If so, how did they know which players would be major leaguers?"

There's really two questions here. The set was indeed issued over a 20-year period, but each year new cards were added and some were dropped. Additionally, new cards appeared of star players over time, and players who were traded appeared on their new teams.

There are over 300 cards in a complete set, but they were issued in an ongoing series that took 20 years to complete. In reality, many of the players in the set only appeared for a year or two. So no, Ernie Banks wasn't in the set in 1947 (he'd have still been in high school then), but he was definitely part of the set in the late 1950s and into the 1960s.

There were a number of slight formatting changes over the life of the set, meaning that there are a number of variations that go beyond the variations shown in my Website's checklist that involve placement of the copyright line and other issues. Those could easily take up another post here.

However, the Exhibit Supply Company issued their postcard-sized cards for a 45-year period. Many of those years were also cases where new cards appeared with the older ones. Here's a quick rundown of the general issues:

In 1921, the company issued their first cards. They used a script-style name along the bottom, along with the player's position, team city and league. The card above shows the American League as "Am. L," a distinction that cards from later sets would change. New cards appeared through 1924 in the same general style, though some later cards featured white borders as well.

In 1925, the design was altered. The info was changed to a printed font and placed into a white box in the corner. The name, position, team city and league were retained, and a "Made in USA" designation was added to the card. This configuration lasted only one year.

Actually, that's not entirely true...

In 1926, the "new" cards appeared without the white boxes on them. They were also tinted differently, which helps collectors identify the years.

At the same time a separate set of Exhibits appeared that recalled the "script" design used earlier:

There was one big difference, though. These cards had postcard backs and a notation that they were not to be inserted into Exhibit machines. They really don't belong in this entry, but are similar enough and commonly confused with their vended cousins. So I figured I'd show one here as well.

In 1929, the cards were changed to show 4 teammates together. This format continued for 10 years, and 16 "new" groupings per year -- one for each team -- were common. The "new" cards were interspersed with older groupings, as long as the four players were still on the team.

There are two notable exceptions: the 1929 and '30 sets featured postcard backs and are considered to be a single, 32-card set, and the 1931-'32 set features a coupon on the back for a premium and is also considered to be a single set of 32 cards.

In 1939, Exhibits reverted the single-player format. A greeting was added, which created the name "Salutations" for the set. At the same time, the team cities were dropped from the cards altogether. Even though the references showed these cards as an eight-year project, some Salutations Exhibits were issued well into the next era.

In 1947, All that was included on the cards was a player's name and the "Printed in U.S.A." line. This was the most familiar style of Exhibits, given the aging of the Baby Boomers, the players involved and the fact that the series ran for 20 years.

It's been ascertained which years each card was available, but the 1962 and '63 issues are easiest because career stat lines have been added to the backs. The issue may have gone on for longer, but the Exhibit Supply Company went out of business in 1966.

Answering Fuji's Question...

Yes, I'm a little late to the party...but after a little extra thought, I'll answer Fuji's question about my favorite vintage card. All of them. I realize that's a cop-out answer, but it's true.

So here's a vintage card I own, and have shown here before:

I bought this at a card show in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in the late Summer of 1989. It was back when there seemed to be a show every weekend within a 25-mile drive of my house, and this one was interesting because it was a little farther than that and involved a trip over the border for me. The price? $7.95 Canadian, or $5 and change in U.S. currency  (the exchange rate was more favorable to me back then).

I was 16 then. At the time, it was my first Williams card from his playing days. It was card #1 in the set, and the first Hall of Fame player I managed to add to my 1958 Topps set (which stood at about 10-15 cards). Those were all great reasons why -- as a collector -- I enjoyed getting this card.

Today, there's another reason I like it. When I was 16, I still wasn't working and my discretionary spending needed to be approved by The First National Bank of Mom. And she balked at the price. For that kind of money, I could find something that didn't look as ugly as THAT card.

The seller seized the opportunity. "Actually, Ma'am...if it were in top condition, it would be worth $375." He had watched me look through his cards. He saw the way I flipped through stuff but stopped at that Williams card and considered it for a while. Perhaps he'd used the technique before, but it made Mom do a double-take and pull out the money.

And that's what I think about now when I see this card. It isn't all the things I considered in 1989. It's the remembrance of a time that seemed simpler, when going to card shows was a family activity. Back then, it wasn't too uncommon to see a parent and child looking through cards; today, it's not really as common. Mom's still around...and sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm fortunate to have her, because several of my friends have lost theirs in the meantime. But this card -- as ragged and beaten-up as it is -- will always be a reminder of a time in my life where she was willing to chauffeur me around nearly every weekend and let me indulge in my little cardboard addiction.

After 23 years...my perspective has changed.

Another New Resource for T206 Cards

Last year, I pointed out this site for information about the T206 set.

Earlier this month, Tim (the site's owner/curator) put up this page with publications about the T206 set, some of which are available for download...for free.

One that isn't downloadable...is the earliest reference shown. This comes from 1946:

This is an original copy of the American Card Catalog compiled by Jefferson Burdick. That's the guide that first referred to the "white border" set as T206. Although I'd love to see what was inside this book, George Vrechek wrote that baseball cards took up very little space. Burdick's interest was in all types of paper collectibles, rather than simply baseball cards.

Besides, the downloadable content on the page is definitely enough to satisfy my collecting instincts.

Vintage "Ink"

There was a time when few people went out and got tattoos. Back then, tattoos were found on servicemen, criminals and circus sideshow performers. And if you were young, you could get a temporary tattoo that would wash off after Mom found out about it.

In 1960, Topps produced one of those temporary markings:

This wasn't an insert like many Topps products. Instead, it was the back side of the wrapper around a single piece of gum. Here's what an unopened package looked like:

There were 96 different subjects in the set. 55 were players, 16 were team logos, 10 were autographed baseballs and 15 were generic action shots. If you'll notice, there is a small tear above Willie Mays above; that is from also being a wrapper and almost every example you'll find has that tear.

In 1960, these items were undoubtedly unpopular with parents and teachers. Today, they're relatively rare, but low demand has kept prices in check.


In 1964, Topps brought the items back:

 This time, there was extra color added to the background, as well as a team name. Although they were once again available as single items wrapped around a slab of bubblegum, the package shows one little difference:

This issue is called "Tatoo" -- note that a "t" is missing from the spelling -- to differentiate it from the 1960 edition. Once again, 55 players appeared in the set, but the only "extras" were 20 team logos. Four of the players (Mantle, Koufax, Mays and Killebrew) have variations in the background, meaning that variation collectors get to complain that the more expensive items are the ones they have to look for.

Topps changed things when they brought back temporary tattoos in 1971:

Actually, they basically kept the design used in the 1964 set. This time around, the tattoos (note that Topps reverted to the more correct spelling) came in sheets, each featuring a variety of players, facsimile autographs, team pennants and generic drawings. There are 16 sheets, and collectors prefer them intact (not like the one I showed above).

Here's an unopened package from the 1971 set:

The bubblegum is still there. This time, it's included as an "extra" rather than making the tattoo part of its wrapper.

15 years later, Topps recycled its idea for a new generation of baseball fans to think was brand new:

The 1986 edition was pretty similar to the 1971 edition in style and the format of the sheets. Except for the players featured and the slightly "updated" style of the artwork, they're pretty much the same. There are 24 complete sheets in the set and they're still easily located today, even in unopened form.

Even the unopened pack from 1986 followed the general format used in 1971.

The "Hot Iron" League...

Today's post features an item that isn't exactly a card, but fits the vintage topic well:

This blank-backed piece of fabric was issued in 1961by a company called Chemstrand and was intended to be ironed on to a shirt, pants, jacket or other item, with the loving care that only Mom can give. It came along with the purchase of a new shirt and came in a package that had instructions for returning it in exchange for a different star.

This page about Yogi Berra has some ads and a scan of the package. I could simply gab the scans and show them here, but Mark (the guy who set up the page there) is a hobby friend and I'd rather send him some traffic.