Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #113 (September 2013)       www.oldcardboard.com


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. W519 / W521 Strip Sets Printed in Hoboken
3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. Negro League Collectibles Guide Released
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

September 2013

21Internet Brockelman & Luckey Auctions (see website for details).
24Internet JVSC Auctions (see website for details).
27-29King of Prussia, PA Philly Sports Card & Memorabilia Show (see website for details).

October 2013

2Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
3Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
3Phone/Internet Collectible Classics Auction (see website for details).
5Culver City, CA So. Calif, Cards and Collectibles Show (see web page for details)
5Internet RMY Auctions (see website for details).
5Phone/Internet Small Traditions Auction #13 (see website for details).
8Internet JVSC Auctions (see website for details).
9Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
11-13Chantilly, VA CSA Chantilly Show (see website for details).
19Phone/Internet Robert Edward Auction (see website for details).
22Internet JVSC Auctions (see website for details).
24-26Dallas, TX Heritage Signature Sports Collectibles Auction (see website for details).


2. W519 / W521 Strip Sets Printed in Hoboken


Rube Marquard
W521 Strip Set
with printer's imprint
(enlarged 50%)
Hobby veteran and Old Cardboard subscriber Dan Mckee recently reported a printer's imprint on the card of Hall of Famer Rube Maquard from the circa 1920 W521 Strip Card set. The printer, Decalco Litho Co., Inc. of Hoboken, NJ, is identified in the wide right margin of the card (see example at right).

Although the link between the W521 cards and the Hoboken printer have been known for several years, Mckee's reminder does underscore the fact that very little information is known about the source and distribution methods of most all strip card sets.


Rube Marquard
W519 "Numbered 1" Subset
with printer's imprint
(enlarged 50%)

Similarly labeled cards from the closely related W519 strip set have also been reported (example at left). Both examples are displayed at about 50 percent larger than actual size to better read the printer's labeling.

As collectors of either set are aware, the W519 "Numbered 1" subset shares the same checklist as the W521 cards. The key difference is that the images on the W521 Cards are mirrored (reversed) from those on the W519 issue (as illustrated in the examples).

The W519 Set consists of three subsets. In addition to the 20-card Numbered 1 subset (W519-1-1), it also includes a very rare "Numbered 2" set (W519-1-2) believed to contain 10 cards, and a more common 10-card Unnumbered subset (W519-2).

All of the above sets and subsets are profiled on the Old Cardboard website along with newly added galleries for the W519-1-1 and the W519-2 subsets.

In its early years, the Hoboken printer was focused chiefly on the manufacturer of printed toy goods and is claimed to be the first American manufacturer of decals, or "children's transfer pictures." The company is also known to have produced boxing cards as well as childrens games and cutouts. According to Hoboken historical records, the company was founded in 1908 under the name American Transfer Pictures & Printing Company.

Ten years after its founding, the business was re-incorporated in 1918 as Decalco Litho Company, Inc. In the early 1920's when the baseball card sets were printed, the company was located at 611 Newark Avenue in Hoboken. It is not currently known to what extent it was involved in the distribution of the strip cards.

According to David Webster, Collections Manager at the Hoboken Historical Museum, the printer was quartered in a 25-foot wide brick commercial building adjacent to a train yard, and nearby companies were rather industrial (one was a foundry). As Webster indicated to Old Cardboard, "being next to a train yard, it was a very dirty area from locomotive smoke and a coal storage facility located in the next block--not very conducive for a printing establishment keeping a clean operation."

Based on records from Hoboken city directories, it appears that the company had ceased operations or moved out of the area by 1925, only a few years after the W519 set was produced.


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 Profiles have been added for:
1910   Red Border Notebooks

Set Checklists have been added for:
1886   H812   New York Base Ball Club
1910   Red Border Notebooks
1921   W521   Strip Cards
1935   U2   Diamond Matchbooks
1937   U3-2   Diamond Matchbooks
1949   Schumacher Service Station

Set Galleries have been added for:
1910   Red Border Notebooks
1920   W519-1-1   "Numbered 1" Strip Cards
1920   W519-2   "Unnumbered" Strip Cards
1935   U2   Diamond Matchbooks
1937   U3-2   Diamond Matchbooks
1921   W9316 Strip Cards

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, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input 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.

E1-Cards
E91 American Caramel
E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman
E93 Standard Caramel
E94 George Close Candy
E95 Philadelphia Caramel
E96 Philadelphia Caramel

E2-Cards
E120 Am. Caramel
E121 Am. Caramel
E122 Am. Caramel
E136/137 Zeenuts
E145 Cracker Jack
E254/270 Colgan's Chips

(more custom searches
by major card groups)



4. Negro League Collectibles Guide Released

Phil Garry has done it again. The avid Hall-of-Fame Rookie Card collector and researcher has now compiled the most comprehensive compendium to date about Negro League collectibles.

Phil's extensive multiyear project has provided knowledge and reference data about vintage Negro League baseball collectibles that has heretofore been virtually non-existent in any published format. The result is an 8-1/2 by ll inch 270-page volume filled with more than 1000 full-color images. It is titled simply "Negro League Baseball Collectibles Guide."

In organizing the guide, Garry first set out to identify every "significant" Negro Leaguer from the late 19th century through the early 1950's. In doing so, he first reviewed biographies of over 5,000 Negro Leaguers. From these biographies, a list of nearly 400 individuals were deemed to be "significant" enough to be included in the guide. Images for these players were then gathered and presented in the guide in two major sections.

The first section focuses on baseball cards which are part of previously catalogued sets. Because of the popularity of these players outside the United States, all of these cards are from sets produced by sponsors in outside the US such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Mexico. As Phil points out, many of these cards are extremely tough to find, so any opportunity to pick one up should be strongly considered.

The cards pictured in Section I are arranged in alphabetical order of player's last name. All player's deemed to be "significant" to the history of Negro League Baseball have been included. For each the more that 500 cards in this section, the year of issue and name of card set are also provided, along with pricing estimates for card examples in "average" condition.

Section II of the Guide features Negro League collectibles not included in baseball card sets presented in Section I. Presented in approximate chronological order, it includes photos (both team and individual players), cabinet cards, premiums, broadsides, postcards, albums, yearbooks, programs, uncut sheets and other collectibles. For those items that picture teams or multiple players, every individual deemed to be "significant" is identified by name. Pricing guidelines are also provided for each item in "average" condition.

A brief Section III is also provided which includes East-West All-Star game programs and ticket stubs. As Garry points out, the annual East-West All-Star Games played from 1933 through 1950 were far grander and more significant than the sporadically played Negro League World Series.

Three appendices are also included in the volume along with a comprehensive index of all players. Appendix I is the author's ranking of the "Top 100 Negro League Baseball Cards of All Time," based on the overall historical performance, player significance, market value, popularity and scarcity." Appendix II lists the 35 "Current Negro League Hall of Famers."

Finally, Appendix III: "Next Up for the Hall," provides Garry's evaluation of the 25 players, in descending order, that have the greatest likelihood of being selected for enshrinement in Cooperstown.

The "Negro League Baseball Collectibles Guide" is priced at $29.95 plus $5.95 USPS Priority Shipping. It can be ordered directily from the author, Philip Garry, at: 3100 Stevens Rd, Apt 3124, Wallington, NJ 07057. He can be contacted at vguerrerobb@yahoo.com.


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

Vintage Collector News from Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun printed an article earlier this month about vintage card collector and Old Cardboard subscriber Dan Mckee. It describes Mckee's long interest in the 1894 Alpha Photo Engraving set and how the sale of his unique set "earning enough on the deal to purchase his family's dream home in northern Baltimore County." The full article can be viewed on the Sun's website.

Ugliest Vintage Baseball Card Set. There has been some recent discussion on the Net54 Forum voicing opinions about which is the ugliest vintage baseball card set. Although subjective, there seems to be widespread agreement that one of the leading contenders for that unsavory award is the W9316 Strip Card issue from the early 1920s. In our view, the W9316 cards take the prize, well ahead of oft-mentioned runners-up such as the 1933 R337 Eclipse Import or the 1943/49 R302 M. P. & Co. You be the judge. All three sets are profiled, along with full set galleries, on the Old Cardboard website.


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.