R329 Gehringer	R329 Gehringer Back
	(displayed at approximate actual size)

By just about any standard, the obscure Clopay Foto-Fun set of blue-toned cards is unusual.

Despite some statements to the contrary, the R329 set's hobby number is not listed in the American Card Catalog.

It remains unclear today where the R329 hobby number was first used. It is clearly mislabeled, according to ACC guidelines, where the "R" prefix indicates that the cards were distributed with candy or gum. The Clopay cards were not.

We have learned in recent years that the cards were sold as novelties and (with one exception noted below) were sold as stand-alone products and not associated with any other products or promotions.

R329 Clopay in Frame (center panel removed)

Frame Back (with directions for developing)

The paper-thin R329 cards were distributed inside a cardboard package that included a photo negative along with sheet of photographic paper.

When the perforated center panel on the front of the package was removed (as in the example at left), the photo paper was exposed to bright sunlight through the negative. As a result, the image of a baseball player emerged.

The opening for the perforated center panel measures 1-11/16 by 2-5/16.

Full directions for processing the image were provided on the back of the cardboard package (click on the back image at left for an enlarged and more readable view). The photo image was "set" and prevented from further exposure by washing "thoroughly in water for 1 minute."

The cardboard package was designed with an ornate printed border that served to assist in the developing process and to provide a framed display for the picture once it was developed.

	(front)	(back)
	Wrapper for Four Sheets of Extra Photo Paper

With additional photo paper, the negative could be re-used to produce as many images as the purchaser desired.

Additional photographic paper was also made available by the company. As illustrated in the images at right a photo pack was distributed which contained 4 sheets.

As seen, the back of the photo pack also cautioned the consumer to "store in a cool dry place to prevent spoilage."

After developing, the 2-1/4 by 2-3/4 inch photos were mounted inside the 2-3/4 by 3-5/8 inch frame. Today, the photo contrast varies based on the original developing and age, but most are a deep blue and white in appearance. The players full name, position and team are also printed as part of the photo development process. All card backs are blank.

R329 Frame Back (Type 1)

R329 Frame Back (Type 2)

The R329 frame backs are printed with two known variations. Type 1 provides the directions in a numbered 7-step process and has a one-line tag at the bottom that reads "FOTO-FUN, 1231 Dayton St., Cin. O."

The other printed back variation (labeled here as Type 2) provides directions in 6 steps with a two-line tag at the bottom reading "FOTO-FUN, Clopay Sq., Cin. O." on the first line followed by "Pat. Pend. Made and Printed in U. S. A." Examples of each back are shown here.

As illustrated in the framed R329 card above, the front of the cardboard wrapper in which the Clopay cards and photo film were distributed included a perforated window at the center that was removed as part of the developing process. The wrapper also included a perforated tab at the top that was removed by the purchaser to form the frame used to display the developed card. The complete wrappers below are both shown with the removable window and tab still intact. Both are extremely rare.

Two versions of this perforated tab are known. As seen, one (most common) is blank and the other (much more scarce) contains the printed ad for "Poll-Parrot Shoes: for Boys and Girls."

Complete Unopened Wrapper without Ad on Tab

Wrapper with Ad on Tab for Poll-Parrot Shoes

The layout of the wrapper fronts raises another question that has long puzzled collectors of the set. Was the Foto-Fun series intended to be used as a media for advertising by other sponsors or was it intended to be sold directly to consumers as an independent novelty product?

That question was answered, at least in part, by a remarkable discovery in 2012 of a box used in the distribution of the Foto-Fun packs. The box along with more than 30 unopened Foto-Fun packs was found by collector Dan Mckee at the auction of the contents of an old general store in the Pittsburgh area.

As seen from the printing on the side of the box (shown below), the set was said to include an assortment of 100 leading players of the period. More importantly, the packs were marketed under the Foto Fun brand. Thus, if the Cincinnati-based company did intend to "wholesale" its product for distribution as promotions by other sponsors, the Foto Fun cards were also marketed directly to the public by Clopay.

Counter top Box Used in the Distribution of the Foto-Fun Packs

The box also confirms that the Foto Fun packets were sold for 1 cent each. A complete unopened packet today would probably sell in the range of $250-$350.

This obscure series of self-developing photos is listed in the American Card Catalog as set W626. The set falls within a "General Issues" category of "Early Album Cards" and includes both sport and non-sport subjects.

While there are several known series (outlined later in this article) that fit the W626 definition, the hobby has focused primarily on one series. The example Wes Ferrell card illustrated here is one of the twelve known baseball subjects found in the recently expanded checklist for that set.

The ACC entry somewhat loosely describes the set as:

W626--Sun Pictures (W.S.N.Y.) in envelope, various subjects ............ .03

The set's hobby name, "Sun Pictures," refers to the title printed on the envelopes used to wrap and distribute the cards, as well as the technology using sunlight to develop the pictures. The identity of "W.S.N.Y." is not known by today's collectors. The ".03" indicates that the cards were valued at 3 cents each at the time that the last edition of the ACC was published (1960).

Envelope

Photo Paper (undeveloped)

Negative

Photo Holder

The self-developing cards were packaged and distributed in small envelopes. Each envelope contained a small sheet of the light-sensitive photo paper, a film negative and a cardboard holder used to align and hold the film and photo paper in place as the photograph was developed by exposure to bright sun.

W626 Variations Abound

The envelope wrappers are printed at the top with the title "Sun Pictures," followed with directions on how to process the images along with the name of the sponsor at the bottom.

At least six different sponsors or distributors are known for the W626 Sun Pictures set. As illustrated here, they are:

Type A: "144 Subjects" 2-1/4 by 3-5/8 inches	Type B: Leader Novelty 2-1/4 by 3-5/8 inches	Type E: A. Egleston About 2-1/2 by 4-1/4 inches
Type D: Eclipse Import 2-1/4 by 3-5/8 inches	Type C: P. F. Kahler 2-1/4 by 3-5/8 inches	Type F: Sun Pictures About 2-1/2 by 4-1/4 inches

Two different holders have been identified for the Sun Pictures kits. Each is shown in the examples here.

Type 1 Holder 2-3/8 by 4-1/4 inches

Type 2 Holder 2-1/4 by 2-3/4 inches

Type 1 holders are a little larger (than example shown here), measuring about 2-1/2 by 4-1/4 inches. These larger holders have two die-cut tabs (one at the top and one at the bottom) to hold the negatives and photo paper in place during exposure to the sun.

The second holder type (Type 2; pink example shown) has four tabs with two tabs on each side to hold the photo and negative in place during development.

While the example Type 2 holder shown here uses pink-tinted card stock, these holders are known in different colors. Type 2 holder sizes vary slightly, but average around 2-1/4 by 2-1/2 inches.

In addition to the various sponsors printed on the envelopes and the two types of holder formats, three variations of negatives are known for the W626 series. Each is illustrated here at approximate relative size.

Type 1 (Film Negative)

Type 2 (Film Negative)

Type 3 (Tissue Negative)

The Type 1 film negative is consistent with the size most commonly associated with W626 set in general and with baseball subjects in particular. It is the cards produced from Type 1 negatives that are Checklisted and displayed in the W626 Gallery on the Old Cardboard website.

Type 2 film negatives are more common than Type 1 but smaller in size and not part of the "mainstream" set of baseball subjects. One key exception is a film negative that is known for Babe Ruth, which includes a different pose (and different size) than that found on the Type 1 film negative. Ruth is the only baseball player known in the Type 2 negative format.

The Type 3 tissue negatives are also relatively common and roughly the same size as Type 2. However, they are printed on very thin tissue paper that is transparent (except for the shades of gray printed on the tissue) and allow sunlight to pass through and develop the photo positive.

In all cases, the negatives and cut photo paper are very near the same size.

The correlation among the several types of envelopes, holders, negative types and checklists of subjects is currently not clear. It is very unclear now, for example, which of the sponsor envelope types contain baseball cards, despite the inferences often made in the sale of unopened envelopes. We can confirm only that baseball players are found in the Type F: Sun Pictures kits and that the single known Ruth variation was extracted from a Type C: P. F. Kahler envelope.

Additional research is needed for this very scarce set. We welcome feedback from our readers to help resolve the mysteries that remain for the W626 Sun Pictures sets.

Based on the purchase of a large batch of 1936-38 BF3 Type 12 college mini-pennants, vintage sports collector John Patrick has expanded the BF3 checklist by nine mini-pennants. This brings the total for the BF3 Type 12 checklist to 123 colleges.

The nine 1936-38 BF3 Type 12 college mini-pennants recently added to the hobby checklist are displayed above. The subset now includes 123 schools.

Based on the relatively large number of new colleges represented in Patrick's recent find, it is almost certain that the BF3 Type 12 checklist is not complete and that more colleges will be identified for the set in the future.

Most of the college mini-pennants are relatively simple in design, although there are a number of variations in felt and print color as well as layout and fonts used. While most of the mini-pennants are sport-generic (apply generally to all sports), a dozen or so (about 10 percent) of the known examples display football-related graphics.