Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #139 (November 2015)       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: T216 Kotton Tobacco
3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. 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 2015

27Internet Sirius Sportscards (see website for details).
27-29White Plains, NY White Plains "Thanksgiving" Show (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet Small Traditions Holiday Premium Auction (see website for details).
28San Leandro, CA San Francisco Bay Area Show (see web page for details)

December 2015

2Phone/Internet Mile High Extra Innings Auction (see website for details).
3Phone/Internet Bussineau Sports Rarities Fall Auction(see website for details).
4-6King of Prussia, PA Philly Sports Card & Memorabilia Show (see website for details).
5Phone/Internet SCP Auctions (see website for details).
5Phone/Internet Small Traditions Auctions (see website for details).
9-10Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).
10Internet Beckett Auctions (see website for details).
10Dallas, TX Heritage 1952 Topps Auction (see website for details).
11Phone/Internet Worthridge Auctions (see website for details).
27Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).


2. Set Profile: T216 Peoples Tobacco

The relatively obscure cards identified in the American Card Catalog as set T216 are generally associated with Kotton cigarette or tobacco brands. While Kotton is the predominant brand, it was only one of three used by the Peoples Tobacco Company of New Orleans. Cards issued under their two other brands, Mino Cigarettes and Virginia Extra Cigarettes, are even more obscure.

The T216 cards were distributed over a period of about five years beginning in 1911. Labeling for player's teams were updated during that period, including changes resulting from the formation of the Federal League in the 1914 and 1915 seasons. All three major leagues of the period (American, National and Federal) are well represented in the 74-card set.

The player poses used for all of the cards in the Peoples Tobacco set overlap entirely with those in caramel sets E90-1 (23 cards overlap), E92 (39 cards overlap), or both (12 cards). The corresponding caramel set for each T216 card is noted in the T216 Player Checklist. T216 Peoples Tobacco cards are also closely associated with cards from the E106 American Caramel and D303 General Baking issues.

The T216 cards measure 1-1/2 by 2-5/8 inches, roughly the same as T206 and other tobacco and caramel issues of the period. The player's last name, position, team and league are printed in dark brown ink on the white border below the photo.

The Peoples Tobacco set contains multiple poses for some of the most prominant players of the period including Cobb and other Hall of Famers. It contains four versions of the card for Honus Wagner (two different poses with position variations for each). Curiously, according to lore, Wagner had his card retracted from the T206 set because of his objection to promoting tobacco on baseball cards.

Not counting variations in the labeling of player position and team, the T216 Peoples Tobacco set contains 74 cards. Altogether, with 30 variations in labeling, there are 104 cards in the set.

It should be noted that the card for only one player (Art Devlin) has been added to the T216 checklist in more than three decades.

Examples for each of the T216 back variations are shown below. A total of five back variations are known representing three different brands of the Peoples Tobacco Company. Of these, cards promoting Kotton Cigarettes ("Factory 4") are the most frequently encountered, followed by Kotton Tobacco, Mino, and Virginia Extra. The Kotton Cigarettes (factory not listed variation) are exceedingly rare and are only found printed on a paper thin stock. T216 cards with blank backs have also been reported in the hobby.

Kotton Tobacco
-
Thick Stock
Glossy Front
Kotton Cigarettes
"Factory 4"
Thick Stock
Glossy Front
Kotton Cigarettes
No Factory Listed
Thin Stock
Non-Glossy Front
Mino Cigarettes
-
Thick Stock
Glossy Front
Virginia Extra
-
Thin Stock
Non-Glossy Front

The T216 cards that are printed on thin stock also have a less glossy sheen, unlike the lacquered surface appearance that is readily noticed on the thicker and more common cards in the set.

A T216 Peoples Tobacco Checklist that cross-references T216 cards with those in the E90-1 and E92 sets has recently been added to the Old Cardboard website. The checklist also includes the player's position, team and league as printed on the cards.



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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 Checklists have been added for:
1914   T216   Peoples Tobacco

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.

W (Strip Cards)
W501 Strip Cards
1925-28 W512/W513
1920-21 W514
1931 W517 Strip Cards
---
W600/W601 Sporting Life
W602/W603 Sports Exchange

Postcards
PC754 HOF Plaque PCs
PC765 Deitsch Postcards
PC773 H.M. Taylor Pub.
PC775 Grignon Cubs
PC786 Orcajo PCs
PC798 Baseball Comic PCs
1919 PC799 Reds Champs

(more custom searches
by major card group)



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

Mike Berkus, RIP. We were saddened to learn of the passing of Mike Berkus earlier this month. Mike was a hobby pioneer and co-founder of the National Sports Collectors Convention ("National"), now in its 37th year. He will be remembered and missed by many vintage collectors who knew him. May he rest in peace.

Vintage Christmas Reminder. Looking for that "perfect gift" for Christmas. For only $20, you can give a lifetime subscription to each of your vintage collector friends. You can place your order using PayPal on the Old Cardboard website at www.oldcardboard.com/subscirptions.com/subscriptions.asp. Please also send Brett an email with each recipient's full name, snail-mail and email address so we can update our subscriber database accordingly. We wish all our readers a Happy Holiday season and prosperous 2016!


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.