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2. Analysis Shows 1886 Start Date for N172 Old Judge Set
For decades, the earliest of the popular N172 Old Judge cards were said to have been produced in 1887, based on a long line of hobby documentation and a widespread belief among many vintage collectors. According to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, major card grading companies, the Old Cardboard website and virtually all hobby checklists, the Old Judge cards have been listed as being first produced in 1887.
Not so, according to analysis by some of the set's most avid collectors. A few of the Old Judge photographic cards are believed to have been first issued in the Fall of 1886.
The case for the 1886 production date for the earliest N172 cards is documented in The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company , a comprehensive book released in 2008 by Old Cardboard subscribers and veteran collectors Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson.
Aside from the readers of that seminal volume, however, the 1886 production for some of the N172 cards seems to have been overlooked by others. Thus, the balance of this article focuses on some of the evidence that supports an 1886 issue date for the earliest cards in that venerable set.
The first photographic baseball cards produced by Goodwin and Co. belong to what we now call the "Script Series" cards (players name written in script). The earliest Script Series cards were focused on New York players from the National League Giants and American Association Metropolitans (Mets).
By studying the players present on the two New York teams, one can better assess start of production. Among the more popular script cards are the spotted tie portraits, sixteen in total, memorializing the 1886 New York Mets team. Charlie Reipschlager (example at right) is among the Spotted Tie members who would leave the team before the end of 1886. Reipschlager was sold by the Mets to the Cleveland Spiders on December 16th, 1886.
The New-York-based Goodwin & Company (producers of the Old Judge set) had a track record for being quick to react to all player team changes throughout its multi-year production of the Old Judge cards. It is therefore considered highly unlikely that they would have included Reipschlager in the Spotted Ties subset after his sale to the Cleveland Spiders.
Another player suggests an even earlier start of production date. Tommy "Dude" Esterbrook was purchased by the Mets from the New York Giants on October 20th, 1886, yet Esterbrook is not found within the Spotted Tie subset. Esterbrook was instead issued two Script cards as a New York Giant (based on the dark socks in the example; the Mets socks were lighter during that time).
While it is believed most Script baseball subjects were first issued in 1886, some would continue to be produced well into 1887. At least one player in the Script Series, $10,000 Kelly, was introduced in 1887 and features a team other than New York.
The above referenced book provides additional comprehensive discussion about the production dates for all cards in the Old Judge series and we refer the reader to that reference for a more thorough analysis.
Based on this compelling analysis that strongly indicates 1886 production date for a few of the Old Judge cards, we have modified the N172 Set Profile page on the Old Cardboard website to reflect the 1886-1890 range of issue dates for cards within the N172 set.
Note: The above analysis does not alter the 1886 production date of the obscure N167 Old Judge cards (all featuring New York Giants players) also produced by Goodwin & Company. The images on the N167 cards were derived from the same Joseph Wood photos used in a woodcut composite printed in the July 10, 1886 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, which serves to validate 1886 as the year of issue for the N167s.
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