5. 1920s W542 "Sports Drawings" Strip Card Set
The relatively obscure W542 "Sports Drawings" strip card set is no doubt near the bottom of most vintage baseball collector's want lists (and that's assuming that the cards ever made the list at all). Of the ten cards known to be in the set, only two (shown here) relate to baseball. The others represent various other sports including boxing, tennis, golf and hockey.
The set's main claim to fame is its listing in the American Card Catalog. The ACC listing describes it under the Strip Card section as "Sports Drawings (10 seen) 1-1/2 x 2-5/8, Anon. (1 Training, 2 Cricket, 3 Tennis, 4 Boxing, 5 Athlete, Etc.)." According to the 40+ year old reference, value is four cents per card!
Partly because "baseball" is not indicated in either the title or the set description in the ACC entry, the set has gone virtually unnoticed among vintage baseball collectors. Perhaps the key reason for the W542 set's lack of popularity among collectors, however, is that it is devoid of real player images or even labeling of any player names. In that sense, the set is very similar in design and format to the W552 Baseball Positions Drawings, which may be more familiar to some vintage collectors.
On a more positive note, the W542 cards do have plenty of color and a certain attractiveness (if not charm) to them. Further, the cards give type collectors an inexpensive way to help complete their vintage baseball type sets of ACC-listed baseball issues. The cards shown here (plus the eight additional cards needed to complete the 10-card set) recently sold on eBay for under $35.
Note: A summary page for the W542 Sports Drawings Strip Card Set has been added to the Old Cardboard website.
6. Follow-up to Last Month's "Name That Place" Contest
(click on image to magnify center portion)
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We never cease to be impressed (if not absolutely amazed) at the collective baseball knowledge of our readers. Once again, you have come through with detailed and well documented answers to our photo-challenges--this time to last month's "Name That Place" contest.
The first reply to the photo-challenge in our last eNewsletter (and winner of a set of Old Cardboard vintage Type-Card Gallery Prints) came in at 10:26 pm on September 13, the same evening that the eNewsletter was distributed. The response was from none other than our favorite baseball-card-collecting sports commentator, Keith Olbermann. Olbermann correctly identified the ballpark in the photo as the Polo Grounds in New York City.
By far the most detailed response, however, was that provided by Tom Shieber of Cooperstown, NY. Shieber's reply is summarized as follows:
The jerseys of the runner and first baseman match Chicago-NL (road) and New York-NL (home) jerseys of 1906 and 1907. Source: Marc Okkonen research as presented in "Dressed to the Nines" online exhibit sponsored by the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. [Editor's Note: based on Shieber's detective work and a closer look at the image, we have narrowed the date of the game to 1906]
The ballpark is the Polo Grounds in New York City. The key is the building at left and the foul-territory bleachers in front of the building. Compare with the picture below found on the Library of Congress web site. [Note: the LOC image is reproduced below. --Ed.]
According to retrosheet (www.retrosheet.org), the Cubs played in New York during the 1906 season on the following dates:
1906: June 5, 6, 7, 8; August 4, 5, 6, 8; and September 21, 22, 24
Polo Grounds, New York, New York (Cincinnati vs New York) Saturday, Aug. 13, 1904), attendance 24,625
Even when greatly enlarged, the quality of the first image above makes identifying the runner somewhat more challenging. The most credible guess so far came from Kevin Kearney of Glendale, AZ, who believes that the player is Frank Schulte. Schulte played outfield for the Cubs that season. For his "best guess," Kearney also has been awarded a set of Old Cardboard vintage baseball card Gallery Prints
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Frank Schulte's teammates (and other possible players that might be the runner in the picture) include Johnny Kling (C), Frank Chance (1B), Johnny Evers (2B), Harry Steinfeldt (3B), Joe Tinker (SS), Jimmy Sheckard (OF) and Jimmy Slagle (OF). The runner in the picture could of course also be from the 1906 Cubs pitching staff or a backup utility player on the team.
With the possibilities now significantly narrowed, we invite any of our readers to positively identify the player by use of a comparison photo. The person who sends the photo that most resembles the player in the enlarged image in the photo above (click on image to enlarge), also wins a free set of Type-Card Gallery Prints. To qualify, the digital image must be received not later than Halloween (October 31). Please send all entries to editor@oldcardboard.com.
Thanks again to all for some very interesting and informative feedback.
Some of baseball's finest artifacts and most historically significant memorabilia are part of private collections--without the public access afforded extensive collections such as those at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC or at the popular National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.
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