4. Saga of the 1930 Ruth Goudey Calendar Card
Sparks were flying high and tempers were being tested on several recent and lively threads found online on the Vintage Baseball Card Forum.
The central issue in the debate was (and still is) a unique card that appears to be the first known relic from the Goudey Gum Company that references the company's now famous Big League Gum brand. The card was sold last Fall in an auction conducted by Clean Sweep Auctions (CSA), based on Long Island, New York. Sale price was $18,775 including a buyer's premium.
The controversial card measures 3-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches. Images of both the front and the back of the card are displayed here, reduced about 35 percent. As shown, the card front contains a black and white image of Babe Ruth framed inside a rectangle of stars and a white border. On the reverse of the card is a 1930 calendar with Ruth's name at top and an ad for Goudey's "Big League Chewing Gum" at the bottom. Summary information about the card was posted on the Old Cardboard website soon after the card was sold last year.
The high bidder for the card was Mark Haverkos, an Indiana veterinarian. After receiving the card, Haverkos began researching its origins. During this process, he became concerned that the card was not authentic and sought further expert opinion. Details of his efforts are documented in the forum thread and interested readers can refer to the thread for more information.
The forum threads can be accessed at:
Because the forum threads contain a total of nearly 300 posts (and growing), and because this is greater detail than many of our readers care to follow, we will attempt to summarize here as briefly as possible.
In trying to authenticate the card, Haverkos contacted several hobby experts including PSA, a leading authenticator and hobby grading service. The unanimous opinion from all of these sources was that the card was not genuine or original. Each gave their reasons. According to Haverkos, the evaluation from PSA was signed by Joe Orlando, president, and stated that the "alleged 1930 Goudey Babe Ruth Calendar Card is, in our expert opinion, not genuine or original."
Among the most emphatic opinions is one from Bill Mastro, founder and CEO of Mastro Auctions. According to Haverkos, Mastro's hand-written opinion stated that "I have viewed and held in my hand the supposed 1930 Goudey Babe Ruth Calendar card and it is absolutely a fantasy piece which was created within the last few decades."
Despite these strong and unanimous opinions and a long-standing CSA assurance that "We completely stand behind the authenticity of every item we sell" and that "Clean Sweep Auctions uses the strictest standards in the industry and does not sell any questionable items," Steve Verkman, president of CSA has so far refused Haverkos' demand for a full refund for the card.
Verkman's primary reason stated for not agreeing to an immediate refund is that he wants to have the card tested for consistency of age and printing with 1930 era examples.
Haverkos' and many of the posters on the forum (including some of the hobby's leading authentication experts) have stated that such testing is inconclusive because, at best, it only shows "consistency with old cardboard and early printing methods" but does not prove authenticity beyond a reasonable doubt. Further, they consider this argument irrelevant because, they say, Verkman's refund policy is based upon getting an opinion from a reputable card authenticator, which has already been provided.
Some (including Old Cardboard) also point out that if the card is later demonstrated and generally accepted by the hobby as authentic, it would have enormous historical importance and therefore be valued significantly higher than the price for which it sold in the CSA auction.
Based on the above, many forum posters agree that a full refund is not only morally and legally required, but that it should have been provided long ago, before the debate "went public" and has escalated to its present level. The general consensus is that further delays in providing a refund will continue to erode the seller's already damaged credibility.
The debate has raised a number of related important hobby issues that can be explored in more detail by reading the full forum threads. We will continue to follow the debate and report on the status and resolution in future eNewsletters.
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Follow-Up Note: Old Cardboard is pleased to report that the above dispute has been satisfactorily resolved with a return of the card and a full refund to Havercos made by Clean Sweep Auctions. As of August 2008, CSA's Verkman has declined to have the card age tested, stating that current testing technology is inconclusive.
5. OC Magazine Issue #11 on Track for April Delivery
Issue #11 (Spring 2007) of Old Cardboard magazine is headed to the printer and on track for distribution in early April--slightly ahead of schedule.
The cover for this latest issue highlights two articles that feature baseball card sets from the Roaring Twenties. The sets are from both the beginning and the end of the decade.
Leading off is an article that provides previously unpublished details about the 1920-21 W514 Strip Card set. The article by Ted Golden, entitled "Historic 1920-1921 W514s: The 'T206' of Strip-Card Sets," includes a rationale for the dating of the set. A comparison with the earlier T206 issue from a decade earlier is also made, along with discussions of the players in the set and the very rare printed backs found on some cards. A complete full-color gallery of the 120-card issue is included, along with detailed lists of known errors in card labeling and an alphabetical cross-checklist. It is by far the most detailed treatment of the set ever printed in a hobby publication.
The second article featuring a 1920's set is written by three-time Old Cardboard author John Esch. The article provides details of the 1928 Star Player Candy issue and includes a gallery of all of the known cards in the set. The card of Lou Gehrig, which as Esch points out, cannot be verified among today's most advanced and knowledgeable hobbyists and is absent from the gallery. Esch explores several of the remaining mysteries of the set along with examples of the second type of SPC cards that includes cards for only Gehrig and Babe Ruth. An image of the only known three-card strip from the set is included as well as an example card from a companion set of similar design featuring football players,
Rounding out the issue is an article by collector Robert Adesso that reports the results of his study of the 1911-14 D304 General Baking set and its five different backs. Adesso's article also includes a complete full-color gallery and front-back cross-checklist for the 25-card set. In addition, an Old Cardboard staff report covers highlights of the recent sale of the most famous baseball card ever--the T206 "Gretzky" Wagner. Included is a full-size high-resolution image of this highest-graded Wagner card as well as a plot that traces the value of the card over the past fifty years.
The above feature articles are in addition to the magazine's regular "Editor's Notebook," "Collector's Dugout," and "Old Cardboard Crosswords" sections. Abstracts for each of the above articles, including thumbnail images of the full-color page layouts, can be viewed 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.
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The message on the back of the D359 Rochester Baking cards is a little more detailed. It promises "a different card each day" to be packed with its Gibson & Perfecto bread brands. Thus, by buying a loaf of bread every day for almost three weeks, the customer could obtain the entire set of 18 cards. The completed set could then be presented at the company's office for the choice of a set of "Mail of all Nations Cards" or a Megaphone. It is further promised that "The smaller (D359) set will be returned."
