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Posted By: ramram

By the late 1860's all of these big name teams were making tours all around the country, from the east coast to St. Louis and everywhere in between (except the south). So most of the wanna-be teams and fans new about these heretofore faceless players (much like those who collected the multitude of CDV's from Barnum's traveling circus and Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West show). So there was both local demand and a nationwide (almost) demand.

Looking at the different ads on some of the backs shown above, it's interesting to note that some seem to be more taylored to the local NY fan base while others are more directed to fans outside of the area. For instance, in the one Hal shows it mentions that P & S "supplies clubs throughout the country", "send for catalog", blah, blah while other cards are more of the "come visit us" type ad. I wonder if the "local" type cards were the freebies and the other type (with the player's names on the back and mentioning different reference guides) were the ones that cost money.

Rob M.