Your Information Resource for Vintage Baseball Cards
  eNews Issue #144 (April 2016)       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. Featured Card: 1890s Trolley to the Polo Grounds
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.


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April 2016

27Internet Sports Card Link (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Small Traditions Spring Premium Auction (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Robert Edward Auctions (see website for details).
30Phone/Internet Goldin Auctions (see website for details).

May 2016

5Phone/Internet Mile High Auction (see website for details).
7Phone/Internet Memory Lane Spring Auction (see website for details).
12-14New York, NY Heritage Platinum Night Sports Auction (see website for details).
19Phone/Internet Sterling Sports Auctions (see website for details).
19Phone/Internet Huggins & Scott Auctions (see website for details).


2. Featured Card: 1890s Trolley to the Polo Grounds

One of the most elaborate and unique baseball-related advertising cards of the 19th century is displayed below. The highly detailed lithograph measures 11-1/4 inches wide by 5-1/4 inches tall.

As seen on the card, a prominently displayed sign extends the full length of the trolly and promotes a "Base Ball Match This Afternoon" at the Polo Grounds between New York and Cleveland. Other signs on the trolly carriage indicate a "New Route to High Bridge" and state that the fare is 5 cents.

The card is printed on medium heavy stock and has a glossy finish. A view of its back (see below) clearly shows that it is both diecut and embossed. Because some of the diecut detail is cut thin and poorly supported, examples today are often found damaged with some parts (especially the driver's whip) sometimes missing.

Very little is known today about the origins of the card or its producer or distribution. However, it can be reasonably dated to the early 1890s based on the following:

  • The New York Giants first full season at Polo Grounds II, located around 155th street near High Bridge and about 35 blocks north of Central Park in midtown Manhattan, was in 1890. The team had earlier played at Polo Grounds I, which was located just across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park.
  • The Giants and Cleveland "Spiders" were both members of the National League throughout the 1890s.
  • Electric powered street cars began operation in New York City in 1887 and soon replaced horse drawn trolleys (as depicted in the advertising card) on many routes. Thus, the horse-drawn trolley that served the High Bridge Route was likely discontinued by the mid to late 1890s.
The High Bridge Route in Perspective

The High Bridge (destination of the High Bridge trolley) was completed in 1839 as a Roman style aqueduct to carry water over the Harlem River to the residents of Manhattan from a resevoir about 40 miles to the north. The bridge survives today as the oldest bridge connecting to the island of Manhattan. It was re-opened to the public as a footbridge just last year (in June of 2015) and is now listed as a historic landmark.

The adjacent drawing (at top left) shows a view of High Bridge with the Polo Grounds as they existed in the 1890s in the foreground. It was drawn by well known New York artist Joseph Pennell. Note: the middle section of about five stone arches of the original bridge were replaced in 1928 by a single steel span to better facilitate larger boats navigating the Harlem River. The tall structure to the left of the bridge is a water tower built in the 1870s. It is not directly related to the aqueduct system, but was used to provide stable water pressure for residents in upper Manhattan. It is not functional as a water tower today, but survives as a historic landmark.

The photo at top right was recently taken and shows the High Bridge as it exists as a pedestrian footbridge today. As seen in the photo, the High Bridge water tower also survives today as a prominent landmark in upper Manhattan.

The map below the images helps provide geographic perspective and relative locations of the High Bridge, High Bridge water tower and site of the Polo Grounds.

The inset at the lower left corner of the map shows the location of the High Bridge between the burroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.

Note that the blue line in the map traces the route of the Croton Aqueduct from above the High Bridge into midtown Manhattan and most likely closely parallels the route of the High Bridge trolley. Additional information about the High Bridge and the Croton Aqueduct can be found here.

High Bridge Links to the Earliest Days of Baseball

Coincidentally, one of the engineers that helped in the design and development of the High Bridge was Henry T. Anthony. Collectors and researchers of 19th century baseball memorabilia may also know Anthony as a member of the New York Knickerbockers, one of the first teams to play baseball under rules similar to those used today. The team was first organized in September of 1845.

The photo at left pictures five players of the Knickerbockers team, including Henry Anthony. They are (top row, left to right): Alfred Cartwright (not a member of the team), Alexander Cartwright (often referred to as "the father of baseball") and William Wheaton. (bottom row) Duncan Curry (elected first president of the team), Daniel "Doc" Adams and Henry T. Anthony.

In 1828, Henry Anthony entered Columbia College and graduated with honors four years later. After that, he worked intermittently as a civil engineer at the Erie Railroad, Croton Aqueduct Project, Hudson River Railroad and as a clerk at the Bank of New York.

In 1839 Henry became interested in the new art of photography, which he learned along with his brother Edward. Not long after Edward established a photography firm, Henry joined the firm in 1852 (while still actively playing for the Knickerbockers and serving as the team's treasurer). The E. & H. T. Anthony & Company eventually became the largest distributor and supplier of photographic equipment in the United States during the 19th century. It became the Ansco Company (for Anthony & Scovill) after merging with the camera operations of Scovill Manufacturing Company in 1901, and continued operating under the Ansco name until 1967.

It is also interesting to note that Ansco, named in part after baseball pioneer Henry Anthony, sponsored a 1949 set of Cuban Baseball cards. The set includes a card of "Rifleman" TV star Chuck Connors, who played for the Almendares Base Ball Club of Havana, Cuba at the time.


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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 Galleries have been added for:
1899-1900   M101-1 The Sporting News Supplements

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, images of cards missing from our galleries, error corrections and suggestions. Please send all feedback 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.

F-Cards
1916 Tango Eggs
1928 F50 Ice Cream
1935-41 Wheaties
1937/38 Dixie Lids
1952-54 Dixie Lids
1937/48 Kelloggs
1947-50 Hage's Dairy
1952 F272-3 Wheaties
Num Num Chips

M-Cards
Sporting News Record Book
M101-2 Sporting News
M101-5/4 Sporting News
M101-7 Sporting News
M113/4 Baseball Mag. Posters
M116 Sporting Life
M120 Det. Free Press
Blum's Bulletin Poster
M110 Sporting Life

(more custom searches
by major card group)



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

Issue #33 of Old Cardboard now Distributed.   Issue #33 of Old Cardboard magazine has now been mailed and should be received soon by all subscribers. Please contact Brett to check your subscription status if you have not received your copy by the end of this week (April 30). We thank all readers for your continued suppport for Old Cardboard.


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.