3rd uncatalogued set - 1941 Montreal Royals Team issue?

[Leon]

Recently I mentioned that I picked up cards, in the last few weeks, which were from 3 different uncatalogued sets. I have shown the Ty Cobb Lucky Strikes card, the 1941 Reds Team issue and now these three cards from 1941. They are 4 x 6, are on very heavy cardboard stock, and were being sold as a World Wide Gum issue, however I doubt that is true since most companies which put out cards would want to advertise their companies on the cards. These have blank backs and no advertising. I have a feeling they were probably some kind of team issued 1941 Montreal Royals set. They resemble the 1932 postcard set which has the frequently seen Carl Hubbell card. Any ideas?

[VintageBall]

Another set similar to the 1932 Giants (and this one) is the 1932 Buffalo Bisons set (w/postcard backs).

Here's one of 'em:

http://www.vintageball.com/files/1932_Bisons_Schalk.jpg

Robert S

[Leon]

Thanks Robert......since I don't collect postcards the set I showed is of particular interest. If they had postcard backs I wouldn't have nabbed them unless for resale. I do appreciate you showing that one though. It sure does resemble the '32 Giants postcards and the cards in the original post.

[nolemmings]

It seems that these would have been produced only during a relatively small window of time. Graham's first year in Montreal was 1941, Head's only year there was that season and Bell left for Baltimore in 1941 to play 40 games for the Orioles. Since they are all shown wearing Montreal uniforms it would seem the photos themselves would not have been taken until Spring Training in March at the earliest and maybe even after the regular season began. Since the minor league season would have ended by early September, Bell likely left the Royals for Baltimore in mid-July, and they likely had no reason to distribute his card at that point, in which case these cards would have an approximate run date of April-July, 1941.
Cool cards in any event.

[Leon]

It seems that these would have been produced only during a relatively small window of time. Graham's first year in Montreal was 1941, Head's only year there was that season and Bell left for Baltimore in 1941 to play 40 games for the Orioles. Since they are all shown wearing Montreal uniforms it would seem the photos themselves would not have been taken until Spring Training in March at the earliest and maybe even after the regular season began. Since the minor league season would have ended by early September, Bell likely left the Royals for Baltimore in mid-July, and they likely had no reason to distribute his card at that point, in which case these cards would have an approximate run date of April-July, 1941.
Cool cards in any event.

Nice summation Todd. I did some quick searches and found the only year they all played together was 1941. That was what I used to date them. It just amazes me that in this day and age I can find 3 different sets, within a few weeks of each other, which no one on this board has seen before (or at least anyone that would chime in, which is quite a few collectors). best regards

[Chris Counts]

I looked up Graham's stats and it turns out he's one of the greatest power hitters in minor league with 384 career home runs. I remember him from his 1950 Bowman card ...

[tjb1952tjb]

Jack Graham was "Peaches" Graham's son (T206).
An interesting article:

http://www.thediamondangle.com/archive/oct01/graham.html