Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
eNews Issue #57 (January 2009)      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. Book Review: The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin ...
3. Latest Updates to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. Old Cardboard Magazine Issue #18 Set for Distribution This Week
5. 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 Show and Auction Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.

OC eNewsletter Sponsor

January 2009

24Phone/Internet 19th Century Only Auction (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet SCP Auctions (see website for details).
28Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
29Phone/Internet Historic Auctions (see website for details).

February 2009

4-5Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Winter Auction (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Memory Lane Auction (see website for details).
12Phone/Internet Goodwin & Co. Auction (see website for details).
25Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
28Willoughby, OH Fusco Auctions (see website for details).

2. Book Review: The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company (1886-1890)


Frontispiece
Taking on a project to bring new perspective to any nineteenth century topic is a challenging task requiring tedious research, untiring patience and access to vast resources. In their newly published book, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company (1886-1890), authors Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson pulled it off. The result is a stunningly comprehensive study of the most popular and most important baseball card sets of the nineteenth century.

In the Foreword, Hall of Fame Announcer Ernie Harwell pretty well sums it up: "Whether you are a serious collector, a baseball fan, or just someone who appreciates the historical beauty of the early printing art, you are in for a treat." Harwell, who celebrates his 91st birthday later this month, should know. He collected Goodwin & Company cards in his youth and part of his collection of baseball cards and memorabilia can now be viewed in the Harwell Room, named in his honor, at the Detroit Public Library.

The nine by eleven-inch compendium spans nearly 500 pages and is illustrated with thousands of card images, tables and charts. All full color images are reproduced to the highest standards of quality, making the volume a virtual museum of nineteenth century baseball cards produced by Goodwin & Company. The convenient size makes it ideal for either a coffee table display or for storing on the shelf of a reference library.

Key sections of the book include background information on the sponsor, the baseball leagues of the period that are represented in the set, production processes and more. The Table of Contents provides more complete listing of its key sections. They are:


Page 21 (Gallery of Goodwin N167 Cards)

  • Foreword by Ernie Harwell
  • History of Goodwin & Co.
  • 1886 Old Judge Issue
  • 1886/1887 Old Judge Cards
  • Gypsy Queens
  • 1888 Old Judge Cards
  • 1889 Old Judge Cards
  • Old Judge Cabinets
  • 1890 Old Judge Cards
  • Old Judge Production
  • Old Judge Rarities
  • Old Judge Reprints/Reissues
  • Other Goodwin & Co. Baseball Issues
  • Goodwin & Co. Advertising
  • Overview -- Old Judge at a Glance
  • Player Biographies
  • Appendix 1: Script Series
  • Appendix 2: Short Number Series
  • Appendix 3: "0" Numbered Series
  • Appendix 4: Photographers Used By Goodwin & Co.
  • Appendix 5: Two-Player Cards
The heart of the book is the extensive section titled "Player Biographies" that spans more than two-thirds of the total pages. Here, short biographies are provided for each of the 521 subjects covered in the Old Judge set.


Page 186 (Card Images and Short Bios for
Roger Conner [HOFer] and Dick Conway)

An example page from the Player Biographies section is displayed at left on which the cards and biographies for Roger Connor and Dick Conway are provided. Connor is one of 27 players from the Old Judge set that are now members of the baseball Hall of Fame, and is identified as such in white letters over a red panel.

In this typical page layout, all known poses for each player are displayed along with a tabular checklist keyed to a card numbering system developed by the British Cartophilic Society. The player's team and league as depicted on the card is also listed in the table.

Because each player entry displays card images of all known poses, the section serves as an impressive photo checklist of cards for the entire set.

Overall, the book is without doubt the most comprehensive ever published on any vintage baseball card set (actually several closely related sets all produced by Goodwin & Co.). Browsing it is eye candy for the reader and a "must have" for any collector's vintage card library.

The book is self published and available from the authors for $125. For further information or to obtain a copy, contact Richard Masson at 1158 26th Street, #537, Santa Monica, CA 90403.


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3. Latest Updates 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 Profiles have been added for:
1910   P13   Luxello Cigar Pins

Set Checklists have been added for:
1888   N135   Duke "Talk of the Diamond"
1888   N154   Duke Presidential Base Ball Club
1910   P13   Luxello Cigar Pins
1910-12   M116   Sporting Life (sortable master checklist)
1911   T332   Helmar Stamps

Set Galleries have been added for:
1888   N135   Duke "Talk of the Diamond"
1888   N154   Duke Presidential Base Ball Club (missing 2 known images)

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 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. Old Cardboard Magazine Issue #18 Set for Distribution This Week

Issue #18 (Winter 2009) of Old Cardboard magazine has now been distributed.

The cover highlights the lead article in the issue: "1910-12 M116 Sporting Life: A (Mostly) Pastel Treasure," written by veteran Old Cardboard author Tim Newcomb. In addition to a description of variations in both the fronts and the backs of the cards within the set, Newcomb provides never-before-published detail explaining the dates of issue for each of the set's major series. Further, he makes strong arguments supporting his rationale for assigning one of nine levels of scarcity for each card in the issue. These rarity ratings are provided in a 399-card M116 Master Checklist now accessible on the Old Cardboard website.

In a second featured article ("1930 W554: Engaging Action Poses Showcase Eighteen Period Superstars"), first-time Old Cardboard author Paul Griggs provides little known information about this relatively obscure set that has been largely undocumented in the hobby for nearly eighty years. A gallery of the complete 18-card set is also provided which is heavy on Hall of Fame players. In total, thirteen of the eighteen cards in the set feature players now in the baseball Hall of Fame, including examples for both Ruth and Gehrig. Several known printed backs are also pictured for the mostly blank-backed set, along with a discussion of the close relation between the W554 poses and those found in the R316 Kashin set and other issues of the period.

Author Rob Dewolf rounds out the issue with an article on a 1952 regional set featuring Cleveland Indians players. Titled "1952 F337 Num Num Potato Chips: Pics and Bios of Cleveland Indians," the article provides an overview of the set as well as background information about its sponsor. A complete 20-card gallery of the fronts and backs of all cards is also displayed along with an advertisement used to promote the set and comparison images produced for the 1950 Num Num set two years earlier. (BTW, author Dewolf is also the champion of the Old Cardboard Poker Series for 2008 organized exclusively for collectors of vintage cards and memorabilia, and says he is planning a repeat performance for 2009!)

The above 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.

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

Tiered Buyer's Premium Announced by Huggins and Scott Auctions . Beginning with their upcoming Winter Auction that ends February 4-5, Huggins and Scott Auctions will be implementing an innovative multi-tiered buyers premium. The more an item sells for, the less the buyers premium for that item will be. The sliding scale will begin with a 17-1/2 percent for items selling under $1,300, then be progressively reduced to as little as 5 percent for the biggest-ticket items selling for a hammer price of $50,000 or more. Josh Wulkan, Vice President at the auction house, explains it this way: "Huggins and Scott gets a bit from both sides, but the more an item sells for, the less the auction company needs. Bidders and consignors should find this new idea extremely appealing." For details, visit the Huggins and Scott Auctions website.

2009 Vintage Collector Hold'em Schedule Announced. The monthly schedule and other details of the Old Cardboard 2009 Texas Hold'em Series can now be accessed on the Old Cardboard website. First tournament will be held January 24. All vintage card collectors are invited to participate and we wish all the best of luck.

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.