The following is a summary of vintage card events coming up in the next 60-90 days. For the most current listings of additional vintage card shows and auctions, see the Key Events Calendar, accessible directly from the home page of the Old Cardboard website.

All cards were distributed during the Great Depression. They were wrapped individually in packs with gum, sometimes along with other incentives for purchase, mostly by young boys. The packs sold for one cent each.

The Batter-Up issue is the first and one of a very few sets in which a silhouette of the player was die-cut into the top half of the card. This allowed collectors to create a free-standing figure by folding the card in half at the middle (see example of the Pie Traynor card at right).

Many of the R318 cards found today were at one time purposely folded by their owner to form a free standing player. To facilitate folding, the surface of the card was machine scored by the manufacturer. As a result, in more extreme cases, cards are encountered without the top half (folded part), that became detached due to repeated folding.

Based on card size and tint color, there are two distinct subsets in the R318 series.

The first "Low Number" subset contains cards numbered 1 through 80. The Low Number cards measure 2-3/8 by 3-1/4 inches and are printed in one of six color tints. Each card has a white text block near the bottom that contains the "Batter-Up" set title along with the player's last name, team and playing position. The card numbers are also found in the lower portion of the image but not inside the text block. They appear in a hand-lettered style.

The second "High Number" subset contains cards numbered 81 through 192. High Number cards are cut 1/4 inch shorter in height and are printed in one of four much more muted color tints. The labeling block is similar for the High Numbers except full player names are provided inside the panel along with the card number in typeset lettering. Cards in the High Number subset are somewhat more scarce than their Low Number counterparts.

The six color variations of the Low Number subset are shown below:

Batter-Up Low Number Subset's 6 Color Variations
Black & White	Purple	Blue	Green	Red	Browntone

Note that, within the Low Number subset, cards #1-40 are found printed in all six colors while cards #41-80 are found printed in only four of these colors. Red or green tinted cards are not known for Cards numbered 41 through 80.

Similarly, examples for each color tint in the High Number set is shown here:

Batter-Up High Number Subset's 4 Color Variations
	Black	Blue	Green	Browntone

All High Number cards were printed in all four colors.

The set includes several dozen Hall of Fame players including set keys Jimmie Foxx, Dizzy Dean, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby and others. Noticeably absent from the issue, however, are two superstars of the period, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

In total, 35 of the 80 players in the Low Number subset are also represented on the High Number cards.

Each of the two Batter-Up sub-sets was produced at a different time, with the low-numbered cards distributed in 1934 followed in 1935 and 1936 by the High Number cards. The high-numbered cards are more difficult to find today and therefore command a premium about 50 percent higher than their low-numbered counterparts.

Three different Batter-Up wrappers were used to package the cards (and the gum) over the three years the set was produced. Fortunately, the wrappers provide important clues about when the cards were distributed and the corresponding promotions used with each subset.

1934 Batter-Up Wrapper Used w/Low Number Cards 6-1/4 by 6 inches (W x H) Coupon Redemption Promo

1935-36 Batter-Up Wrapper Used w/High Number Cards 6-3/8 by 6 inches (W x H) Maranville "How To" Promo

1935-36 Batter-Up Wrapper Used w/High Number Cards 6 by 6 inches (W x H) Photo Art Premium Promo

The first wrapper (shown at left above) was used in 1934 to distribute gum and cards in the Low Number subset. The wrapper describes several coupon redemption awards ranging from patches (40 coupons) to baseballs (100 coupons) to baseball shirts (175 coupons) to complete uniforms (275 coupons). One coupon was printed on each 1-cent wrapper. A note on the wrapper states that the coupon was void after October 15, 1934.

The other two wrappers, noticeably different in appearance from the first, are printed with 1935 copyright labels. Rather than a coupon redemption program, however, each of the 1935 wrappers describes details of its own separate promotion.

The middle wrapper describes details of the Rabbit Maranville "How to .." booklets promotion. The booklets were distributed by the "storekeeper with every piece of gum." The 20 booklets in the series are familiar to many vintage collectors today and are designated as Set R344 in the American Card Catalog.

Batter-Up "Large Photo Art Picture" (Foxx)

R318 Batter-Up Regular Issue (Foxx)

In addition to the "How To" booklets, National Chicle issued a Premium "Photo Art" series of selected players using poses from the Low Number subset.

An example of one of these very rare premiums is shown here for Jimmy Foxx, along with his same pose from the Low Number Batter-Up regular issue. As also indicated in the images, the premiums are considerably larger (5 x 8 inches) than the regular issue cards (2-3/8 x 3-1/4 inches).

Only six players have been confirmed for the Photo Art premium cards, and only one or two examples are known for each of the six players. For a more detailed description of these Batter-Up Premiums, visit eNewsletter #73 on the Old Cardboard website.

It is not clear today whether the High Number cards with the Maranville Booklet promotion or the Photo Art Premium promotion was first. Because the Photo Art premiums are so rare to current collectors, they may have been part of a final promotion that fizzled and was discontinued by National Chicle soon after it was launched. We welcome input from any of our readers that may be able to provide additional insight on which promotion came first.

Note: A Set Profile for the R318 Batter-Up Regular Issue including a Checklist and Gallery of all 192 cards can also be viewed on the OC website.

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3. 1896 Dance Invite Among Earliest BB-related Postcards

Postmarked in December 1896, the postcard illustrated below is no doubt among the earliest of all baseball-related postcards. It is also among the more interesting.

Base Ball Club Dance Invitation Highlights Early Post Office Practices

The card predates by nearly a decade the earliest baseball postcard sets known to vintage collectors today (including any of the postcard sets identified in the American Card Catalog).

As seen on the front of the card, it was an invitation to the Second Annual Ball of the Marine City [Michigan] Base Ball Club held at the community's city hall on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1896.

Admission to the dance was just 50 cents and included live entertainment by "Arnold's Silver Orchestra." Supper, however, was extra and apparently optional.

But while the front of this early postcard is interesting, it is the card back that is perhaps most historically noteworthy, for each of several different reasons.

Base Ball Club Dance Invitation Postcard Back

The first notable feature of the postcard back is that the stamp is printed directly on the card. At the time, the U.S. Post Office enjoyed a monopoly on postcard production and distribution and sold the cards directly to the public for one cent.

The purchaser of a USPS-issued postcard did have the choice of buying cards with pre-printed postage featuring the portrait of one of two American leaders: Ulysses S. Grant or Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson is shown in this example).

To be precise, a commercial printing company was allowed to compete and produce "Private Mailing Cards" (a.k.a. Souvenir Cards) to consumers. The consumer, however, was required by Congress to pay twice the going rate, or 2 cents, for the privilege of sending the "private" cards. That restriction remained in effect until May 19,1898, when all postcards could be mailed at the rate of one cent.

Secondly, the postcard back is printed without any space reserved for writing a message. A reminder is also provided on the card back stating that "this side is for the address only." Known today as the "undivided back" era of postcards, the practice ended March 1, 1907, when the Post Office allowed private citizens to write on the address side of the card. Thus, the "divided back" cards remain the norm that we know today.

The third feature of the postcard back that seems to stand out is the address itself. This card is addressed simply to "Joe [not clearly readable last name], City." There is no street name, no street number and no zip code (a system introduced in 1963). Even if Joe was the star of the baseball team and well known throughout the city in 1896, we can only imagine how that might work in a typical U.S. city today!

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