Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #133 (May 2015)       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. 1893 Just-So Tobacco Checklist Expands
3. Latest Additions to the OldCardboard.com Website
4. 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 Key Events Calendar on the Old Cardboard website.

Have an event that needs to be on the OC Calendar?
Email editor@oldcardboard.com.


OC eNewsletter Sponsor

May 2015

29Phone/Internet Giovanni Sports Auctions (see website for details).
29-31Houston 29th Annual Tristar Houston Summer Show (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Small Traditions Auctions (see website for details).

June 2015

3Phone/Internet Clean Sweep Auctions (see website for details).
4Phone/Internet Legendary Auctions (see website for details).
6Internet Albersheims Auctions (see website for details).
10Phone/Internet Hunt Auctions (see website for details).
11Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).
12Phone/Internet Goodwin & Co. Auction (see website for details).
14Internet Only Wheatland Auction Services (see website for details).
20San Leandro, CA San Francisco Bay Area Show (see web page for details)
25Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).
25Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
27Phone/Internet Small Traditions Auctions (see website for details).
30Internet Sports Card Link (see website for details).


2. 1893 Just-So Tobacco Checklist Expands

Image courtesy Legendary Auctions
A recently discovered promotional poster for the 1893
Just So Tobacco set has helped to confirm that a sixteenth card for the set was produced, and strongly suggests that the set checklist is now complete at sixteen cards. As seen in the image at right, the historic piece is in considerably deteriorated condition.

The poster, produced nearly a century and a quarter ago, became known to the vintage card hobby for the first time last month when a "walk-in" couple brought it to the Strongsville, Ohio card show. The "walk-ins" are described as "antiquers" who acquired the piece thirty years ago as part of an estate sale. Until recently, they had little idea of the historic value of the artifact.

As detailed in Thomas Slowey's article about the set printed in Issue #27 (Spring 2012) of Old Cardboard magazine, the Just So Tobacco set is among the most obscure of all nineteenth century baseball sets, with a total of only about 25 examples from the set known to today's collectors. All cards are of players that were members of the Cleveland Spiders, a National League franchise from 1889 through 1900.

As an indication of the set's obscurity, only six examples were known to the hobby in 1983 as described in Volume 1 (N-Cards) of Lew Lipset's Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards. The set was also apparently unknown to Jefferson Burdick, as it is not listed in the American Card Catalog.

In his article in Old Cardboard, Slowey speculates that another player or two may have been included in the set. Based on the team roster and player stats, Slowey named outfielder Jimmy McAleer as a likely candidate. Indeed, the poster confirms that McAleer was included in the set. Further, because the other fifteen players on the poster match exactly the fifteen players previously reported by the hobby, it is highly likely that the set checklist is now complete at sixteen cards.


McAleer

Young
We have created a "faux" card for J. R. McAleer (derived from his image on the poster; see card image at far left). Also shown for comparison is an example of the key Cy Young card from the Just So Tobacco set.

As seen in the card images, each of the Just So cards feature the player's portrait in uniform. The player's name is printed in all capital block lettering just below the Cleveland label on his jersey.

A promotional message along the lower border urges the customer to "Chew or Smoke Just So" tobacco. The card backs are blank.

The poster artifact is now being stabilized to protect against further deterioration and hopefully add at least another century and a quarter to its life. It has been consigned to Legendary Auctions for sale in their June 4th auction.

A Player Checklist and Set Gallery for the 1893 Just So Tobacco set have been updated on the Old Cardboard website to reflect this latest discovery. As indicated above, the checklist and gallery are now considered complete at sixteen cards.

Note: To complete the Just So Tobacco gallery, we need card images for #7 Davies and #9 Hastings. Please assist if you can.



OC eNewsletter Sponsor


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:
1888   A36   Goodwin Champions Album (N162)

Set Checklists have been added for:
1893   Just So Tobacco (expanded to include J. R. McAleer)

Set Galleries have been added for:
1893   Just So Tobacco (expanded to include "faux" card of J. R. McAleer)

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.

E1-Cards
E91 American Caramel
E92 Nadja/Croft's/Dockman
E93 Standard Caramel
E94 George Close Candy
E95 Philadelphia Caramel
E96 Philadelphia Caramel

E2-Cards
E120 Am. Caramel
E121 Am. Caramel
E122 Am. Caramel
E136/137 Zeenuts
E145 Cracker Jack
E254/270 Colgan's Chips

(more custom searches
by major card group)



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

E93 Sponsor Information. Caramel card collector Erik Varon and others have uncovered several interesting artifacts related to the origins of the Standard Caramel Company of Lancaster, PA. These include (1) a period photo of the company's expanded factory completed in 1910--the same year that the E93 cards were distributed, (2) an announcement of the expanded factory's opening, and (3) an advertisement of several of the company's products printed later the following year. These and photos of the factory as it exists today can all be viewed in a recent thread on the Net54 forum.


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.