What was the deal with Goudey and Lou Gehrig?

[darkhorse9]

Posted on another forum but moved to here....



He was certainly prominent in the 1934 set with his face and quote plastered on almost every card, until the high numbers when Chuck Klein also showed up in the same spot. It seemed like Gehrig and Goudey were really tight that year.

After that Gehrig is almost nowhere to be found in Goudey product (except for the 1936 Canadian World Wide Gum set) despite the fact that he played heavily until 1938.

Was Gehrig a holdout due to money? He always had the reputation of being the generous sweet guy. maybe he was a lot more money hungry than people made him out to be.

[Rollingstone206]

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[Peter_Spaeth]

It's also puzzling why Ruth is absent from the 1934 set.

And despite being missing from 35 and 38 Goudey, Gehrig IS in the 36 WWG set.

[t206fix]

The only Gehrig I own, it's a beater, but I love it.

[conor912]

His name plastered on every card is the exact reason I don't collect '34G.

[Rollingstone206]

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[BengoughingForAwhile]

You could just buy card #37 ;)

Or cards #68,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90, or 91. ;)

[BengoughingForAwhile]

His name plastered on every card is the exact reason I don't collect '34G.

Chuck Klein says hi! :)

[darkhorse9]

I'm wondering if there wasn't some sort of fall out during that 1934 set. That would explain Chuck Klein showing up and Gehrig disappearing. Maybe Gehrig felt he wasn't getting paid enough.

[Rollingstone206]

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[DaveW]

There's a good article written by Marshall Fogel after interviewing several of the Goudey workers and family that explains some of this. It's at:
http://www.psacard.com/Articles/ArticleView/3886/the-history-of-goudey-gum-company

In part, it says:
"The 1934 Goudey set best illustrates the company's early struggles in the 1930s. (The set in PSA 8 easily qualifies for a value of over $100,000). The first 37 cards in the set have a significant amount of depicted star players. After card 37, with a few exceptions, most of the players, to use an old expression, were in the major leagues "for a cup of coffee." Twelve cards in the set are the so-called Klein's card followed again by the Gehrig cards. Putting these facts together, the 1934 set was being invented at the same time as it was produced after card 37. The Klein cards may mirror a dispute between Goudey and Gehrig. The dispute may have settled and the rest of the Gehrig cards were produced.

Some type of crisis occurred after card 37. As it appears, Goudey Gum representatives grabbed any rookie or minor league player and put his face on a card. Babe Ruth doesn't appear in the 1934 Goudey set, but, he does appear on the 1935 Goudey set. Ruth and Gehrig, due to a personal dispute over remarks supposedly said from either Gehrig's mother or Gehrig's wife about Ruth's daughter and step-daughter, rarely spoke to each other until the last days of Gehrig's life.

Since Gehrig was the main voice of the 1934 Goudey set, it would have been unworkable for Gehrig to give a quote about Ruth. The Klein quoted cards were dedicated only to National League players."

[ullmandds]

Thanks for posting that that is very interesting!9

[The Nasty Nati]

Wow definitely interesting stuff.

[Rollingstone206]

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[Iron Horse]

Love the 1934 Goudey set. Lou's best card and certainly one of top 15 cards in the hobby i feel. :)

[Rollingstone206]

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[Iron Horse]

Here's that 7 ;)

[kamikidEFFL]

I am currently building the set and I have to say nice to read the information on why they did what they did. Love the goudey sets