Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #13 (May 2005)          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. OC Set of the Month: 1888 N352 Consolidated Cigarette Co.
3. Latest Updates to OldCardboard.com Website
4. Auction Action



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 latest listings on all upcoming vintage card shows and auctions, see the Show and Auction Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.


OC eNewsletter Sponsor
May 2005
14Dallas Heritage Sports Collectibles Signature Auction #702 (see HSC website for details).
17Internet Prestige Collectibles Auction (Japanese Baseball Cards and Memorabilia; see website for details).
20-22Denver "New Show" (Contact: see NAXCOM Trade Shows events page).
25Phone/Internet Mile High Card Company Premier Catalog/Internet Auction (Contact: see website for details).
June 2005
3-5Los Angeles West Coast Sports Collectors Expo (Contact: see NAXCOM Trade Shows events page).
10NYC/Phone SportsCardsPlus/Sotheby's Auction (auction highlight is contract selling Babe Ruth by the Red Sox to the Yankees; see website for details).
21-22Phone/Internet Collectible Classics CCA6 Auction (see website for details).
22Phone/Internet Grey Flannel Auctions (multisport; highlighted by 1930s Ruth game-used uniform; see website for details).


2.  OC Set of the Month: 1888 N352 Consolidated Cigarette Co.

Now, in 2005, nearly 50 years after the last update to the American Card Catalog was published, collectors continue to discover (or more accurately, rediscover) examples from sets identified in the Catalog. The most recent are two examples, shown at right, from the N352 issue. The set is listed in the ACC under the heading "Consolidated Cigarette Co. Issues" as "Colored Relief Cards." As the Catalog indicates, the cards measure 2 x 3-1/4 inches. Additional notations in the ACC state that it is a sports series of 100 cards.

The cards are unique in that they are actually card blanks on which die cuts are affixed. Interestingly, the die cuts used are from the 1888 R&S Die Cut set, which are relatively common and well known to collectors of 19th century baseball cards. For comparison, an example of a "Boston" player from the R&S set is also shown (below right).

Only a faint frameline with ornate corners is printed in blue around the periphery of the card front. The Die Cut is mounted inside this frameline. There is no other labeling on an otherwise blank card front. In fact, from the two examples shown and two additional known non-baseball cards, both the fronts and the backs of the N352 cards are generic so that any die cut could be affixed to any card blank.

The card backs, also printed in blue ink, are titled "Fine Colored Relief Cards." As the card backs indicate, they were "Packed in 'PAXI' All Tobacco Cigarettes." Represented in the series are "Base Ball, Soldiers of England, Lawn Tennis, Athletes, Foot Ball, Ballet Girls, Jockeys, Fencing, representing 100 different subjects." Labeling at the bottom advertises the Consolidated Cigarette Co. located at the corner of Avenue D and 10th Street in New York.

The two N352 cards shown were recently found in Lew Lipset's "Harry Wright" auction that closed April 20-21. The lucky winner was...well, Leon Luckey, an advanced vintage collector from Dallas, Texas. Congratulations, Leon, and thank you for sharing the images with our eNewsletter readers.

Note:
1) For future reference, summary information (similar to above) about the 1888 N352 Consolidated Cigarette Co. set has been added to the Old Cardboard website.
2) All examples are shown here at approximately ninety percent of actual size.

3.  Latest Updates to OldCardboard.com Website

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

Set Profiles have been added or significantly updated for:
1888 N352 Consolidated Cigarette Co.
1909-10 German Baseball Stamps
1923 German Baseball Transfers

Set Checklists have been added for:
1888 R & S Die Cuts
1936 R344 Rabbit Maranville "How To ..."
1923 German Baseball Transfers
1941 Ballantine Beer Coasters

Set Galleries have been added for:
1888 R & S Die Cuts
1936 R344 Rabbit Maranville "How To ..."
1923 German Baseball Transfers
1941 Ballantine Beer Coasters

A special "thank you" goes to Jay Shumsky, a collector of the E285 Rittenhouse Candy set, for supplying Old Cardboard with scans for two more of the missing letters needed to complete the "Rittenhouse Candy" puzzle using the card backs. Both of the missing letters that Jay supplied were vowels ("A" and "E"). We still need the letters "H,""N" and "O" to complete the puzzle. Anyone have those letters?

We will continue to update the website with checklists and full set galleries for additional vintage issues, so come back often to check out the latest additions. Any assistance from website viewers in adding new checklists and scans for card galleries is most welcome. Please send input to editor@oldcardboard.com.

4. Auction Action

Activity in auctions for vintage baseball cards and memorabilia seems at an all-time high. In just the last few weeks, major auctions with unique and quality vintage material were held by MastroNet, Lew Lipset Auctions, Memory Lane and Robert Edwards Auctions and others. All of these produced very active bidding and sales results. The MastroNet April auction alone generated over $11 million in sales.

Likewise, Robert Edwards Auctions set a company record of $7.1 million in total sales. This included a 1914 Babe Ruth rookie card issued by The Baltimore News that realized $243,600. The sale shattered the previous record of $79,500 for the card, making it the second most valuable baseball card in the hobby. In addition, a 1910 Joe Jackson Old Mill Tobacco card with a previous auction record price of $15,000 sold for $92,000.

To the delight of many collectors (and investors), the auction action continues. Major additional auctions with significant vintage material end later this month for Heritage Sports Collectibles and Mile High Card Company. Geared mainly to the collector of vintage Japanese cards and memorabilia, the Prestige Collectibles auction also closes soon. See the Old Cardboard Show and Auction Calendar for the latest new additions. These will be followed closely by a joint Sotheby's/SportsCards Plus event ending June 10 in New York City--the second such event in six months.

Note: the 1934 V354 World Wide Gum uncut sheet shown here is among the key lots found in the Heritage auction. A unique piece, it includes all 48 of the "low number" cards in the set that is sometimes also known in the hobby as "Canadian Goudey's." Key players include Ruth, Speaker, Hornsby, Maranville and others. At the time this eNewsletter was prepared (only a few days before the May 14 auction closing), bidding for the lot was just $2,868 (including a 19.5 percent buyer's premium).

The Mile High auction is similarly stocked with rare and highly desirable issues including examples from 19th century sets such as Kalamazoo Bats, N173 Old Judge and Dogs Head Cabinets, N403 Yum Yum Tobacco, N370 Lone Jack Cigarettes and more. The auction closes May 25.

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 before 1950.  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.