Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #28 (August 2006)      www.oldcardboard.com


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Welcome to Old Cardboard, the most complete reference resource for information about collecting vintage baseball cards and related memorabilia.  More information about this eNewsletter and its companion website and magazine are found at the bottom of this page.

Contents:
1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar
2. Piedmont Ad Poster Places Spotlight on Wagner
3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. USPS Honors Baseball Sluggers in New Stamp Release
5. The "Philly Show"?...Still To Be Determined



1. Updated Auction and Show Calendar

The following is a summary of vintage card events coming up in the next 30-45 days. For the most current listings on additional vintage card shows and auctions, see the Show and Auction Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.


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August 2006

10Internet/Phone Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
12Internet/Phone CubanBaseballCards.com/ (see website for details).
17-18Internet/Phone Mastro Sports Premier Catalog Auction (see website for details).
17-20White Plains, NY The "East Coast National" Baseball Card Show (see Westchester
County Center website; select "Calendar of Events" for details).
25Internet/Phone Lelands Summer 2006 Catalog Auction (see website for details).
27Internet Heritage Sports Collectibles (see website for details).

September 2006

8Internet/Phone 19th Century Only Auction (see website for details).
9Internet/Phone Grey Flannel Auction (see website for details).
13Internet/Phone Geppi's Phil Rizzuto Auction (see website for details).
9/29 -
10/1
Ft. Washington, PA Ft. Washington (Philly) Card Show (CANCELLED; see article
below for details).


2. Piedmont Ad Poster Places Spotlight on Wagner

Many collectors have long believed that the association between Honus Wagner and The American Tobacco Company (ATC) began, and ended, with his short-lived inclusion in the T206 tobacco set issued between 1909 and 1911. Well, not exactly. A newly discovered team poster of the Pittsburgh Pirates (see scan below) shows that Wagner's alleged objection to the use of his image on a tobacco card did not discourage Piedmont from promoting him (and them) in another, less overt, manner.


(click on image to view enlargement of Wagner)
Issued in 1913, this large-format advertising display features a photo of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a classic team pose. Wagner, of course, is among the twenty-one players pictured, as are manager Fred Clarke, Max Carey and Babe Adams. Wagner's name, however; is the only one invoked within the company's advertising text in the block at the lower right of the poster. It reads "In the diamond game 'Honus' Wagner hits around '400' - in the smoke game Piedmont Cigarettes are in the same 'star' class."

The cleverly worded advertisement appears to avoid any legal entanglement for the company while at the same time serves to create the illusion of Wagner's personal endorsement of Piedmont cigarettes. Piedmont, as most collectors are aware, is the one of the ATC brands found on the back of T206 "White Border" tobacco cards.

The poster, along with another from the same series featuring the Washington Senators, was recently consigned to Robert Edward Auctions (REA) and will be among the lots auctioned in the company's Spring 2007 auction.


"We will never know for sure," according to Robert Lifson, President of REA, "but perhaps the wording of this advertising display was the tobacco trust's sly way of retaliating against Wagner for not cooperating with plans for his inclusion in the T206 set. To the best of our knowledge, this is a previously unknown advertising piece."

The posters and several others were found in the wall of a house being renovated by a non-collector in Georgia. As seen, they are in pretty rough shape and perhaps contain more historical that monetary value. According to Lifson "I don't think we're going to retire on what this sells for." He does, however, think "it is really neat."

Other players in the Pittsburgh team photo are (left to right, standing): Simon, McCarthy, Hoffman, Adams, Carey, Miller, Kelly, Cooper and Robinson. (middle row): Wilson, Hyatt, Camnitz, Hendrix, Wagner and Manager Clarke. (bottom row): Butler, Viox, Byrne, Mensor, O'Toole and Booe.

The players in the Washington Senators photo are (standing): Martin (trainer), Henry, Harper, Boehling, Gandil, Johnson, McBride, Engle, Gideon and Gallia. (2nd row): Hughes, Schaefer, Morgan, Manager Griffith, Milan, Shanks, Moeller and Groom. (sitting): Calvo, Foster, Altrock, Ainsmith, Laporte, Acosta and Williams. The ad block in the lower right reads: "PIEDMONT Cigarettes -- known to fans everywhere. Greatest sale of any 5c. cigarette in the country!" Unlike the ad in the Pirates poster, the Piedmont ad in the Senators piece does not spotlight any single player.

Both posters measure 18-3/4 by 12-1/2 inches. Each of them also carries a copyright notice for "The Pictorial News Co., New York" just below the team images.



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3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website

We are continually expanding the Old Cardboard website with more set profiles, checklists and set galleries. Recent (past 30-40 days) additions include:

Set Profiles
have been added or significantly expanded for:
1912 PC766 Robert Robinson Postcards (Baseball)

Set Checklists have been added for:
1889 N165 Games and Sports Series
1912 Robert Robinson Postcards (Baseball)
1934 PD9 "Ward's Sporties" Pinbacks
1950 D358 Drake's TV Baseball Series

Set Galleries have been added for:
1889 N165 Games and Sports Series
1912 Robert Robinson Postcards (Baseball)
1934 PD9 "Ward's Sporties" Pinbacks
1950 D358 Drake's TV Baseball Series

We continue to update the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage issues, so check in often to check out the latest additions. There are now many thousands of card images on the Old Cardboard website and the list continues to grow. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input to editor@oldcardboard.com.


4. USPS Honors Baseball Sluggers in New Stamp Release

While not vintage themselves, a group of baseball-themed postage stamps recently released by the United States Post Office honors four "vintage" batsmen. The players are Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg, Mel Ott and Mickey Mantle. All are found in sheets of twenty 39-cent stamps that can be purchased at your local post office. They add a vintage flavor for today's collectors that still like to send correspondence the old fashion way.

The four Hall of Fame sluggers were immortalized on postage stamps at Yankee Stadium's home plate last month in a ceremony held before a sellout crowd of more than 54 thousand prior to the opening pitch of a New York Yankees vs Chicago White Sox game. Family members of all four players attended the event. These included Mantle's sons Danny and David; Campanella's daughter Joni Roan; Greenberg's daughter, Alva, and Ott's daughter, Barbara Ott-Schneidau.

Artist Lonnie Busch of Franklin, NC, designed the "Sluggers" stamps based on historic photographs, then simplified and adapted the portraits to resemble vintage baseball cards. The 39-cent "Baseball Sluggers" stamps are available in sheets of 20 (the four player designs are repeated five times). A companion set of 24-cent "Baseball Sluggers" pre-stamped postal cards are also available in booklet sets of twenty.

Most vintage card collectors are well aware of the career accomplishments of the four Hall of Famers represented on the stamps. But just as a reminder, the following is summarized from the USPS release:

Mickey Mantle was a famous switch-hitter whose powerful home runs were matched by his impressive speed as a runner and outfielder. Synonymous with the New York Yankees for nearly two decades, Mantle was enormously popular with baseball fans. Fifty years ago Mantle earned the Triple Crown when he led the American league in batting (.353), homers (52) and RBIs (130). He is still considered one of the greatest players ever to take the field.

Roy Campanella, who was Major League Baseball's first African-American catcher, played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A talented all-around player, he hit 242 home runs during his ten-year Major League career. A catcher in five World Series, he was named MVP three times.

Hank Greenberg is remembered as Major League Baseball's first Jewish superstar and one of the all-time greatest right-handed batters. The Bronx, NY, native was named MVP twice: once as a first baseman, and a second time as an outfielder. He had a career batting average of .313 and 1,276 RBIs. He was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams from 1937 to 1940.

Mel Ott is remembered for his easygoing demeanor and his unusual but powerful high-leg-kick batting stance. Ott distinguished himself with the New York Giants for 22 seasons and was the first National League player to hit 500 home runs. He led the league in home runs six times.

The full text of the USPS release can be viewed in PDF format from the Postal Service website.


5. The "Philly Show"?...Still To Be Determined

With the 2006 National Sports Collectors Convention now history, many vintage collectors are now wondering when and where the next "Philly Show" will take place. Considered by many vintage collectors to be a close second in importance to the National, the four-times-per-year Philly Show is now looking for a new home. As a result, the previously scheduled September 29 - October 1, 2006 Fall event has been cancelled.

The final show for 2006, planned for December 1-3, is still on but at this time (early August) remains homeless.

The show's promoter, Bob Schmierer, was unavailable for comment as we prepared this eNewsletter. According to hobby buzz, however, a tentative site has been found but details have not yet been finalized or announced. The show's website promises that any news on future shows will be posted there, but lists all details as "TBD." It has been about thirty days since the website was last updated and it offers no hints about where the next show will take place.

Under the title of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, the event is better known simply as the "Philly Show." It began in September 1975 at Spring Garden College as an annual event. It moved to the George Washington Lodge in Willow Grove, PA in March 1978 as a twice annual show. The show grew to a three-per-year event in 1988, then further expanded to four shows annually (March, May, September and December) in 1990. The show relocated to the Fort Washington (PA) Expo Center in March 1993 where it has remained until earlier this year.

Old Cardboard will continue to track the progress of the search for a new home and update our events calendar as soon as details about the next show are announced. You may also want to check the "Philly Show" website for any future updates.


Lyman and Brett Hardeman
Old Cardboard, LLC.

Old Cardboard, LLC. was established in December, 2003, to help bring information on vintage baseball card collecting to the hobbyist.  Produced by collectors for collectors, this comprehensive resource consists of three components: (1) Old Cardboard Magazine, (2) a companion website at www.oldcardboard.com and (3) this eNewsletter. The Old Cardboard website contains more than 500 pages of descriptive reference information for baseball card sets produced fifty years ago or longer.  Each of these set summaries has a direct set-specific link to auctions and a similar link to 's powerful search engine for further research.  The website also includes a Show and Auction Calendar, an eBay Top 50 Vintage Sellers List, and much more.  As a result, the Old Cardboard website makes a great "Alt-tab" companion for vintage card shoppers and researchers.  Old Cardboard eNews provides current hobby news, upcoming shows and auctions, and updates to the website and the magazine.  It is published around the middle of each month.  For a FREE subscription to the eNewsletter, or for subscription information on Old Cardboard Magazine, please visit the website at www.oldcardboard.com.  If you find this information resource helpful, please tell your friends.  We need your support and your feedback. Thank you.

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