2. Set Profile: 1954 Blossom Dairy Charleston (WV) Senators
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 Blossom Dairy Company Charleston, WV Senators |
Vintage collector Brian Van Horn recently sent us several example card images from a little known regional set distributed in Blossom Dairy Company of Charleston, WV.
The 22-card 1954 Blossom Dairy Company set features players from the Charleston Senators, a local team that played (with some interruption) over a fifty year span from 1910 until it disbanded in 1960 as an American Association minor league franchise.
The obscure set is not listed in the American Card Catalog. The cards today are very thinly traded but are estimated to be valued around $50 in "average" condition.
The 2-1/4 by 3-3/16 inch black-and-white cards are printed in a borderless format (see example at right). The player's full name is displayed in a white panel near the bottom of the card along with the sponsor's message: "Courtesy of Blossom Dairy Company." All card backs are blank.
A Set Profile and Checklist for the 1954 Blossom Dairy Co. Charleston Senators have been added to the Old Cardboard website.
The Charleston Senators were the first professional baseball team to play in Charleston, beginning play in 1910 as part of the Virginia Valley League. Other league affiliations included the Mountain States League (1911-1912), the Ohio State League (1913-1916), the Middle Atlantic League (1931-1942) and the Central League (1950-1951)
 Blossom Dairy Company's 1950s Art Deco Store Front |
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The Blossom Dairy Co., sponsor of the 1954 Charleston Senator's card set, operated from an Art Deco-styled building (see photo at left) that continues to stand today at 904 Quarrier St. in downtown Charleston.
The company delivered milk and other dairy products in the 1940s and '50s in the Charleston area.
The business also operated an on-site deli, which remained open long after the dairy operation ended.
After struggling through several changes in management, the deli operation continued until it too finally closed the middle of last year (July 2012).

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3. Latest Additions 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:
1886-87 Red Stocking Cigars
1934 R72 Schutter-Johnson ("I'm Going to be ...")
1954 Blossom Dairy Charleston Senators
1958 R414-13 Topps "Regular Issue"
1959 R414-14 Topps "Regular Issue"
1961 Phillies Cigar Mantle Premium
Set Checklists have been added for:
1886-87 Red Stocking Cigars
1928 W465 Exhibits (Pacific Coast League)
1948 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Cuban Postcards
1954 Blossom Dairy Charleston Senators
Set Galleries have been added for:
1886-87 Red Stocking Cigars
1928 W465 Exhibits (Pacific Coast League)
1940 Crowley's Milk
1948 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Cuban Postcards
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 website and the list continues to grow every month. We welcome and encourage feedback with checklist additions, card images, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all input to editor@oldcardboard.com.
Beyond the above pages recently added to the Old Cardboard website, we continue to expand and refine our eBay Custom Search Links to make finding vintage baseball cards on eBay easier than ever. The results of these searches are continuously changing, so check back often to find the most recent eBay listings. Samples of a few of these custom searches are provided below. Hundreds more are provided on the Set Profile pages throughout the Old Cardboard website.
4. Issue #30 (Fall 2013) Old Cardboard Magazine Preview
Issue #30 (Fall 2013) of Old Cardboard magazine is now at our printer and will be mailed around November 1 as scheduled.
The cover for this issue is derived from the Mickey Cochrane example of the M120 Detroit Free Press series of 18 premiums. The striking oversized premiums were issued throughout the Spring and Summer of 1935 and feature players that would become the 1935 World Champion Detroit Tigers. An accompanying article inside describes details of the set and how it was distributed. Included is a gallery of all 18 premiums in a very colorful two-page spread.
Several discoveries over the past few years have shed much light on the W555 set, erroneously classified as strip cards in the American Card Catalog. An article co-authored with Robert Adesso unravels many of the mysteries of the set that shares poses with four E-card series. A revealing multi-set gallery of all five series is also provided.
Sports publications collector and dealer Phil Regli shares his knowledge of Volume 1, Issues 1 and 2 of Sports Illustrated and the 3-page magazine fold-outs printed inside. The fold-outs, both printed in August 1954, feature one of Topps earliest baseball issues along with a dozen black and white Topps "fantasy cards" thrown in for added intrigue (including a fantasy card for Mickey Mantle, which was not included in the Topps regular issue). Images of the two 1954 fold-outs are provided in the article, as well as fold-outs of Topps cards printed in SI the following year.
Rounding out Issue #30 is an overview of the closely related W512 and W513 strip card series including a gallery of the two sets in the form of four 25-card sheets.
The above feature articles are in addition to the magazine's regular "Editor's Notebook" and "Collector's Dugout" sections and lots of informative messages from our sponsors. Subscriptions to the magazine can be ordered (or renewed) on the Old Cardboard website at www.oldcardboard.com.
5. News Briefs (A Digest of Recent Hobby Happenings)
1940 Crowley's Milk Gallery Now Complete. When we profiled the obscure 1940 Crowley's Milk set in Issue #70 (February 2010) of the Old Cardboard eNewsletter, we were unable to locate card images to complete a Gallery of the set. Thanks to Goodwin & Co. Auctions, we have now completed and posted the full Crowley's Milk Set Gallery on the Old Cardboard website. The full 18-card graded set sold last month in a Goodwin & Co. Auction. Final price including buyer's premium was $4,985.
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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