Unidentified Baseball player: Trade Card 1930's ?

[cincicards]

Anybody here win this card?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280439309072&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[SethY]

You beat me to the punch! I was also wondering and going to post about this auction after it ended. Can anyone here help identify it?

[brianp-beme]

I forget the year (later 1920's?) but it is a Schapira Big Show Candy cut from a candy box. Pretty darn scarce.

Brian

[paul]

I sure thought that was a Schapira too. But the Standard Catalog lists Rousch as being misspelled "Roush". This card looks like it has the "c." Is the Standard Catalog wrong? Or is this a variation?

[Leon]

They are Schapira Bros. Big Show Candy Cards, 1921-22. They are quite well known and several collectors collect them. There have been a few good threads about them on this board before. The set was made up of actors and baseball players and maybe other people too. The boxes they came in are fun to collect. The "wagon" boxes would be made into a circle and thus the "Big Show" moniker was born (well, that and the writing on the box!!), with the wagon train moving along. They are listed as 1921-22 Schapira Big Show Candy, in the Krause SCD. regards

[Leon]

There has always been a bit of confusion when collectors describe the Schapira series'. (That is supposed to be plural, oh how I hope that apostrophe is correct, but I am only going about 50-50 on thinking I got it right.) Here is a larger version of a Schapira Bros. "Big Show" box with a regular smaller version Schapira Bros. Big Show box. I don't believe the large ones had the cards inserted into them. Prevailing thought has the cards being put into the smaller ones.

Then we have the other "Schapira Bros." candy box series that had an oval Ruth on one side, of which there are 2 slight printing differences known, and a different Ruth on the other side. Since the oval Ruth was on every box, but not so the other side, there are many more oval cards than the other styles. They are easily recognized as being different than the "Big Show" cards as the Big Show ones are photographic in nature and the Schapira Bros. ones are the sides of the candy box.

[Brian Van Horn]

x

[Brian Van Horn]

Y

[Exhibitman]

Is it just me or are those Big Show circus animals just creepy?

[Butch7999]

Well, we're pretty sure we see a relative of Joe Camel in there...

[ValKehl]

I believe the whiteish spot on the lower left area of the Johnson card on the left is the result of a piece of Big Show candy (the candies were round and small) being in contact with the card for too long, or perhaps in a moist environment. Fortunately, the candy stains/marks on the other Johnson card are on the back of the card.

[Brian Van Horn]

Well, from looking at the Johnson samples, the previous card to him in the cut was the Meusel.

[GehrigFan]

Any chance Leon gets to show off his Big Show Circus, you know it's gettin' posted! Those things definitely gave small children nightmares with those creepy hollow eyes.

[Anthony S.]

Cool. I'll use this thread as a Schapira guide.

[fkw]

Tough type card...

I used to have a card that had stains and pieces of the candy shell of about 8-12 of the candy pieces on the back of the card. If I remember right the candy looked round and was red in color.

Also Ive seen many of the cards will have horizontal creases thought to have been caused when inserted into the box. About 1/2 the cards Ive had had this creases like the card on eBay this week.