Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #24 (April 2006)      www.oldcardboard.com

Please Note: If images are not loading in this email, click here. 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. Nadja Caramel Producer Identified (95 Years Later) 3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website 4. Collector from "Down Under" Reproduces Lawson Card Game 5. Book Review: Red Legs and Black Sox by Susan Dellinger 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 Show and Auction Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.

OC eNewsletter Sponsor

April 2006
28	Phone/Internet	Lelands Sports and Americana Auction (see website for details).
29	Phone/Internet	Robert Edward Auctions Spring Auction (see website for details).
May 2006
5-7	Ft Washington, PA	Ft Washington (Philly) Card Show (see website for details).
6	Internet/Phone	Heritage Sports Collectibles Signature Auction (see website for details).
11	New York/ Internet/Phone	SCP Auctions with Sotheby's (see website for details).
12	Internet	CubanBaseballCards.com Hall of Fame Negro Leaguer Auction (see website for details).

2. Nadja Caramel Producer Identified (95 Years Later) (click image to enlarge printed portion) Except for perhaps a handful of collectors of the "Nadja Caramel" sets (E92 and E104), details about the sponsor of the set have until now been generally unknown to the vintage baseball card hobby. But thanks to a recent "find" by Old Cardboard subscriber Leon Luckey, we now know a little more about the company that produced the set and the factory in which the caramels were made. Luckey has provided an image of the box (see example at right) that clearly links the brand to the Blanke-Wenneker Candy Company of St. Louis. Collectors have for some time suspected that the sponsor was based in St. Louis. After all, there are 12 cards in the E92 series that E92 "Nadja" and Back have Nadja backs but are not found with backs for any of the other E92 sponsors. And all 12 are cards for players that were members of one of the two St. Louis clubs. The other sponsors of the E92 set are Croft's Cocoa, Croft's Candy and John H. Dockman & Sons. The Nadja brand is also the sole sponsor of the 1910 E104 "Nadja Caramels" card set, although some cards in the E104 series are found with blank backs. Luckey's post on the Network 54 Vintage Baseball Card Forum about his find of the Nadja box also resulted in the posting of an early picture of the Blanke-Wenneke factory in St. Louis (see image below). The picture was provided by collector Shawn Adkins, who found it in an obscure book about the early history of the Gateway to the West. The text that accompanies the factory image reads: "Blanke-Wenneker Candy Company, Manufacturers of all kinds of Candies, Chocolates, Cocoa and the Famous Nadja Caramels. The Company occupy the entire building, numbered from 608-616 Market Street, with 128 feet front and 145 feet deep, employing 400 people, and it is the largest independent plant of its kind west of New York." Note: The 1909 E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman set is profiled on the Old Cardboard website along with a checklist and image gallery of the complete 62-card set. The checklist identifies which cards were produced by each of the four sponsors. The 1910 E104 Nadja Caramels set is also profiled on the website, along with a table that compares the key features of all three E104 subsets. OC eNewsletter Sponsor 3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website We are continually expanding the Old Cardboard website with more set profiles, checklists and set galleries. Recent (past 30-40 days) additions include: Set Profiles have been added or significantly expanded for: 1952 Parkhurst (Frostade) Set Checklists have been added for: 1907 PC775 Grignon Chicago Cubs 1907-09 PC773-2 H. M. Taylor Co. 1912 T227 Series of Champions 1914 E224 Texas Tommy (Type 1) 1914 E224 Texas Tommy (Type 2) 1923 V117 Maple Crispette 1935 UM7 Rice-Stix Shirts Set Galleries have been added for: 1907 PC775 Grignon Chicago Cubs 1907-09 PC773-2 H. M. Taylor Co. 1912 T227 Series of Champions 1914 E224 Texas Tommy (Type 1) 1914 E224 Texas Tommy (Type 2) 1923 V117 Maple Crispette 1935 UM7 Rice-Stix Shirts Check back often to check out the latest additions. There are now thousands of card images on the Old Cardboard website and the list continues to grow. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input to editor@oldcardboard.com. 4. Collector from "Down Under" Reproduces Lawson Card Game After collecting and researching the 19th century Lawson Card Game for several years, subscriber Tony Fatseas from Sydney, Australia has now completed a quality reproduction of the boxed set. Such a recently produced set may not appeal to some of our readers. However, we believe that many will find this commemorative edition of the first baseball card game to provide an opportunity to play the once-popular game as it was played one hundred and twenty years ago. More importantly, it can be played without the risk of damaging a set of the original cards, even if a complete set of the obscure cards was available. In producing the commemorative edition, Fatseas paid careful attention to detail, resulting in a reproduction of significantly higher quality than most modern day reprint playing card sets. The colors are vibrant and, importantly, all cards and the box are clearly marked with a 2004 production date, thus reducing the possibility of future abuse by unscrupulous sellers attempting to pass them off as original. Fatseas' edition (pictured above) includes the 36 game cards, 2 quick-reference rules summary cards, a detailed 20-page rules booklet, a box and a box sleeve. He is offering the set to Old Cardboard readers for a very reasonable $20 (including shipping from Australia). Contact Tony directly at tonyfatseas2@yahoo.com.au to order your set. Unlike most of our readers, Tony is a vintage game collector and first encountered a Lawson's game along with several other non-baseball card games. "I was really excited as it was the oldest looking baseball game I have ever seen," he recalls, "so I decided to start investigating its history." In the process, he has now identified seven distinct versions of the game, including two that were "branded" and distributed exclusively for the promotion of specific sponsors (the Boston Herald and the Boston Loan Co.). As Old Cardboard staff first became acquainted with Tony, we asked the obvious question: Why did someone from a country who's national pastime is cricket become interested not only in the Lawson baseball card game, but also in the history of America's national pastime? Tony's response: "That's easy. I prefer baseball to cricket and always have. But the two games share a common history anyway." We welcome Tony to America's national pastime. Maybe someday that interest will turn him into an avid vintage baseball card collector as well. 5. Book Review: Red Legs and Black Sox by Susan Dellinger The 1919 World Series "Black Sox" scandal has long held the interest of baseball historians as well as vintage baseball card collectors. This year, as the Chicago White Sox celebrate as reigning World Champions after a long "curse" that began with the infamous scandal, there seems to be an even stronger interest in the events surrounding the 1919 World Series. One book about these events, that resulted in the permanent exile from baseball of eight the White Sox players, was just released. It adds a particularly interesting perspective in that it for the first time reveals details of the events from the perspective of the Cincinnati Reds. The book, entitled Red Legs and Black Sox: Edd Roush and the Untold Story of the 1919 World Series (Emmis Books, Cincinnati, 2006) was written by Susan Dellinger, granddaughter of Hall-of-Famer Edd Roush and star of the Cincinnati team. In researching the book, Dellinger conducted interviews over the course of thirty years with Roush and several members of the 1919 Reds team and their families, including Greasy Neale, Bill Rariden, Heinie Groh, Slim Sallee, and Rube Bressler. As a result, it not only provides important insight into the people and events surrounding the 1919 World Series, but serves as a biography with an insider view of the life and personality of Edd Roush himself. Although the Chicago White Sox suffered the brunt of public condemnation after the 1919 World Series, Roush's W514 Strip Card (name misspelled on card) the Reds were negatively impacted as well. For eighty-five years, the Reds' World Series victory has been tainted by the idea that, had the series not been fixed, the White Sox would have been that year's champions. That thought rankled Roush throughout his life, and his granddaughter's book presents a convincing argument that the Reds would have won the Series even if the White Sox had been playing at the top of their game. It is also interesting to note that Roush, the Reds batting star and centerfielder from Oakland City in southern Indiana, was the last surviving player from the 1919 World Series. He died in 1988 just six weeks short of this 95th birthday. The book provides a fascinating look at the life and career of the Reds' Hall of Famer and a new perspective on baseball's darkest days. It is a must-read for any baseball fan interested in finding out more about the 1919 World Series. 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. 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