Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #163 (November 2017)       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. Set Profile: 1889 N228 Kinney "Novelties"
3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. Set Profile: 1890 N120 Duke "Novelties"
5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)


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 Key Events Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.

Have an event that needs to be on the OC Calendar?
Email editor@oldcardboard.com.


OC eNewsletter Sponsor

November 2017

30Phone/Internet Goodwin & Co. Auction (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet CollectAuctions.com Auction (see website for details).

December 2017

1-3King of Prussia, PA Philly Show (see website for details).
6Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
6-7Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
7Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
9Phone/Internet Small Traditions Auctions (see website for details).
9Phone/Internet Goldin Auctions (see website for details).
10Dallas, TX Heritage Auctions (see website for details).
16Phone/Internet SCP Auctions (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).


2. Set Profile: 1889 N228 Kinney Bros. Sets

In 1889, Kinney Bros. produced a series of six related but separate sets that were listed collectively as
N228 in the American Card Catalog.

Only one card, with artwork repeated in two of the five N228 subsets, relates (although somewhat subtly) to baseball. The "baseball" card, however, is sought by type collectors to complete their "type sets" (with an example card from each vintage card set related to baseball). The fact that this card is part of a set listed in the ACC elevates its importance to some collectors.

The relatively obscure "baseball" example is that of a young woman displayed over a figure-eight baseball background (see illustration above right). The stitch marks in the baseball may not be obvious at first glance. By comparison, other cards in the set show mostly lithographs of women superimposed on a wide range of objects from bells to padlocks to top hats. Only a handful of the cards relate even remotely to other sports. Examples of these are shown below:

Tennis Racket

Toboggan

Sailboat

Snowshoe

Balloon

The above images and descriptions are for the N228 subset identified in the ACC as Type 3 (or N228-3). All six N228 subsets are summarized below.

  • Type 1 (25) -- all die-cut round images of unidentified young women; simple solid backgrounds; no borders
  • Type 2 (50) -- same design as Type 1 except with narrow borders around rim; features different subjects
  • Type 3 (75) -- irregular die-cut designs (see examples above); backs may indicate 25, 50 or 75 subjects
  • Type 4 (50) -- die-cut subjects overlap with 50 of those in Type 3 except objects are embossed
  • Type 5 (50) -- designs overlap with Type 3 except printed on rectangular stock (not die-cut)
  • Type 6 (14) -- similar to Type 1 except die-cut to egg shape rather than round

    The "figure eight" baseball artwork is also found in the Type 4 and Type 5 subsets.

    A Set Profile for the N228 Type 3 subset is provided on the Old Cardboard website.


    OC eNewsletter Sponsor


    3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website

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

    Set Galleries have been added for:
    World Series Rings (updated to include all WS Rings from 1922 through 2016; pretty impressive display)

    Updating the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage sets is an ongoing project, so check back often to check out the latest additions. There are now many thousands of card images on the website and the list continues to grow every month. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, images of cards missing from our galleries, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all feedback to editor@oldcardboard.com.

    Beyond the above pages recently added to the Old Cardboard website, we continue to expand and refine our eBay Custom Search Links to make finding vintage baseball cards on eBay easier than ever. The results of these searches are continuously changing, so check back often to find the most recent eBay listings. Samples of a few of these custom searches are provided below. Hundreds more are provided on the Set Profile pages throughout the Old Cardboard website.

    F-Cards
    1916 Tango Eggs
    1928 F50 Ice Cream
    1935-41 Wheaties
    1937/38 Dixie Lids
    1952-54 Dixie Lids
    1937 Kelloggs
    1947-50 Hage's Dairy
    1952 F272-3 Wheaties
    Num Num Chips

    M-Cards
    Sporting News Record Book
    M101-2 Sporting News
    M101-5/4 Sporting News
    M101-7 Sporting News
    M113/4 Baseball Mag. Posters
    M116 Sporting Life
    M120 Det. Free Press
    Blum's Bulletin Poster
    M110 Sporting Life

    (more custom searches
    by major card group)



    4. Set Profile: 1890 N120 Duke "Novelties"

    Due to the very close similarity in design with the 1889 N228 Kinney Tobacco Company sets described above, now seems to be a good time to profile another obscure and sometimes confusing vintage set.

    As illustrated here, a series produced by Duke Tobacco at about the same time shares much of the artwork found in the Kinney cards.

    The Duke set is separately listed in the American Card Catalog as set N120. As illustrated here, the cards each display two example graphics from the N228 issues. In this example, the "figure-eight baseball" artwork is one of the two shared subjects found on the N228 cards.

    The N120 card backs promote "25 Miniature Novelties" (i.e., the cards themselves) packed with Duke's Honest Long Cut brand. At that time, Duke had just acquired Kinney Tobacco Company as part of the American Tobacco Company conglomerate, which explains the shared artwork with Duke's longtime rival Kinney Bros. Cigarettes, distributor of the N228 cards.

    As with the N228 "figure eight" baseball card, the N120 version is of interest primarily to non-sport card collectors as well as vintage baseball "type" collectors.

    A Set Profile page for the N120 set is being developed and will soon be posted to the Old Cardboard website.


    5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)

    First World Series Ring Design. Senior Hall of Fame Curator Tom Shieber has provided little known details about the design and origins of the first World Series rings, awarded to the New York Giants in 1922. In a sidebar to an article in the Fall 2017 issue of Memories and Dreams (the official magazine of the Hall of Fame), Shieber identifies several bidders anxious to participate in the project nearly a century ago. Also shown is a drawing of the original rendering of the ring, ultimately produced by the jewelry firm of Dieges & Clust. The drawing is now preserved at the Hall of Fame. A "Set Profile" for a complete series of rings along with a "Set Gallery" of all rings issued from 1922 through 2015) is provided on the Old Cardboard website.

    Four-Sport Rookie Card Guide Released. Avid Baseball Hall of Fame Rookie Card collector and researcher Phil Garry has now expanded his project to include Football, Basketball and Hockey. His new book covering all four sports has just come off the presses and is available for immediate distribution. The 340 page 8-1/2 by ll inch guide features full-color illustrations and documents the Rookie Card for each member of the Hall of Fame in all four sports. The guide can be ordered directly from Phil at vguerrerobb@yahoo.com. It is priced at $39.95 plus $7.40 shipping. Phil will also be happy to provide further details or to answer any questions about the content of the book.


    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.