1866 Baseball Cards

[Kudbegud]

These belonged to my grandfather. The Wapellos, of Rock Island Illinois, were named after a local Indian Chief. Quite the hitting team, they once beat a rival, Union, 118 to 7 on August 25, 1866. Remember, no gloves in those days, so catching a fly ball could be painful. I was once told that these a better described as cabinet cards. I was also told the technical definition of a baseball card includes the players name or more being part of the manufacturing process. On these, the players name is hand written on the back along with his position. A couple have descriptions like "fast" and "very fast". One has a 2¢ US Bank Check stamp canceled in 1867. I would like to learn more about this and your opinions.
I have had these since the early 60's after my grandfather passed away. There are 13 cards. Overall card dimensions are 2 7/16 x 3 15/16 and the photo 2 3/16 x 3 7/16, which fits right in to D. Bergin's suggestion and the Wikipedia link from scooter729. They were sealed air tight in Seal-A-Meal plastic bags in the mid 70's and have remained so ever since. I photographed them this past week through the plastic so you may see some artifacts from that. The photos and an article from the April 12, 1943 Rock Island Argus newspaper about the team and the cards has been posted in my Photobucket album. Here's a link to that page: http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/...eball%20Cards/
My plan is to donate these to the Rock Island Historical Society. I think they would be a nice addition to the museum and be more accessible to be enjoyed by more people. I'd be very interested to hear what you think, what ever you can tell me and your evaluation of these cards. What value would you place on them so I can describe them fully to the Historical Society?
A sample:

[D. Bergin]

Look like CDV's. Those are incredible. Thanks for sharing.

[Kudbegud]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Look like CDV's. Those are incredible. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for looking. I'm ignorant of specialized card terms. A CDV is...???

[scooter729]

CDV = carte de visite. The photography method for such pictures of the 1860s era. Amazing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite

[Kudbegud]

Originally Posted by scooter729

CDV = carte de visite. The photography method for such pictures of the 1860s era. Amazing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_de_visite

Thanks scooter. Interesting.

[GaryPassamonte]

What you have are baseball carte de visites. 10 players in uniform, 3 in street clothes, and one unusual image that appears to show trophy balls.
The 10 player in uniform cards would sell for about $400-$500 each with the street clothes players less. The " trophy ball " card would be difficult to evaluate, but I would guess maybe a couple hundred dollars. The entire collection would be in the $4000. - $5000. range. If you change your mind about donating, I'd love to have them.

[GaryPassamonte]

These CdVs have landed in Legendary's National live auction.
Good luck Kudbegud!

[oldjudge]

That's a pretty amazing auction-great stuff throughout!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

That's a pretty amazing auction-great stuff throughout!

and not a darned thing I need for my collection...thank goodness...I can continue to drink beer that evening and not worry about the auction!!.....

[oldjudge]

Save a few for me. I'll be back after the auction

[Kudbegud]

Some follow-up;

The cards, team and auction were written up in the Quad-Cities newspaper today. He got the name of this forum wrong, which is embarrassing, because of the excellent assistance and education I received here.

Wapellos Article

[GaryPassamonte]

Doug,
Congratulations on the over the top price for your Wapello CdVs. The final price exceeded any expectations I had. I was at the auction and I will tell you that I did my part to help your cause. Unfortunately I was not the high bidder.

[M's_Fan]

Were they sold as a lot, and what did they go for?

[HBroll]

They were sold as a lot and went for $21,510 with buyers premium.