1946 Cleveland Browns "Sears" Team Set

[jp1216]

1946 Cleveland Browns "Sears & Roebuck" 8 card Team Set.

This set was on my want list for nearly 20 years. I saw it listed in a price guide when I was about 12 and was intrigued. Many years went by..... My goal was to pick up one - any player. Sure enough, the opportunity appeared to acquire the entire team set. I had to do it.

At the time, both the PSA and SGC pop reports had nothing listed. Being a SGC guy, I tried them first. They sent them back as either 'questionable' or 'not enough information'. I called and was told that they didn't feel comfortable authenticating the set without more information. I was OK with that. PSA was next and graded the set. First in the Pop Reports. Since then, 2-3 more complete sets have been added. Also, one or two uncut sheets have been sold at auction houses in the past few years.




Story I've been told is that they were given away at Cleveland area Sears stores as promotional items. A related item is a small Sears booklet showing the same player pictures and bios.




Years later a random eBay listing surfaces. Same size and nearly identical to the 8 card lot, but a different unlisted player. Old price guides listed only 8 players. This was something new. Player was Yonakor. Featured in the Sears Booklet and game programs in 1946. Seller was primarily a vintage guy with 100% feedback. No issues. I took a shot and won it.




Card is the exact same size, uses the same '46 image as the booklet and has the same team schedule on the back. Differences, however, are the card stock, print dot patterns, and slight font differences on the front and back. Different abbreviations and font locations. Subtle.

Scanned at 1200 dpi, the print dot patterns on the Yonakor card match the Sears Booklet and the game programs. The PSA 'authenticated' set has different diagonal lines.






Another difference - the union print stamp logo on the bottom. The new Yonakor card has a much MUCH clearer logo. The 'PSA' set has a grainier logo.




Just wanted to share this with the group. Puzzles me. One question was why HOF players such as Groza, Motley and Willis weren't included in the original 8 card team set. Maybe Yonakor was part of another 8 card sheet with those players. Produced the same year, but at a slightly different time? My PSA 'authenticated' set may very well be a phoney. I really don't know. These sets never appear, but have been listed for at least 25-30 years in the price guides.

[clamendo]

I liked these early sets, but it's kind of like the Frojoy Ruth's. I know some mint ones have surfaced, I also know the there are some counterfeits on thinner stock . For that reason, I have stayed away. That's probably why SGC wouldn't grade them. They are probably fine, but it's always going to be an issue when you sell. Hopefully, you hot them reasonably.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jefferyepayne]

Very interesting thread, Jon. One of those other sets is mine. I've often wondered why there were only 8 cards in this set and why other Browns stars were left out of the set.

The fact that the Yonakor has a different font pattern and card stock makes me wonder whether someone "manufactured" additional cards later out of the images in the booklet. Or perhaps Sears printed up more sheets later in the season on cheaper card stock but never distributed them.

Where did you get your set from? I know most of the other ones I know about all came from the same Browns collector who I believe obtained them from someone affiliated with the Browns.

A very interesting development. Other ideas?

jeff

[steve B]

That's really interesting.

The Yonakor is typographed for sure. You can see what's called squeezeout on the union logo. The inked type while printing under pressure pushes some ink out to the edges, making what appears like an outline to the printed area. If they used enough pressure there will be indentations in the cardstock. And the halftone is typical for typographed pictures.

The others are probably lithographed.
And the diagonal screen is odd, I tried looking it up, and the first thing I found was a patent from 1895 claiming the diagonal only screen produces poor results.
What's interesting is that it looks like the diagonal screen reproduced the picture much better, but did a terrible job at reproducing the union logo.

I think both are probably ok. (Not totally sure, but close) Because the diagonal screen is finer than the halftone. I'd think that if it was rescreened from an original it would show the halftone pattern. It doesn't, so if it was done as a fake or reprint whoever did it probably had access to the original photos.

Do the book pictures match the PSA cards? Reprints also usually have cropping differences.

How many players in the book? I'm wondering if Yonakor came with the book, or was a promotional item for the set. Something like the book and card available from the station or stores in advance of the set, then the set given out later, maybe one or two a week? That would maybe tie in with another promotion, in-store appearances or something like that. Checking the online newspaper archives might turn up some info, but the post dispatch only has back to 1988 online and all the others are membership things.

Of course, if you're in or near St Louis the library or historical society probably has them on microfilm for free.

Steve B

[jp1216]

Steve -

Thanks for the reply. Always looking for insight like that!

First, these are the CLEVELAND Browns. Not St. Louis. But worth looking at old newspaper etc ads.

The '46 Sears team booklet has about 33 or so players included. Yes, Yonakor is in there using the same picture. Same union print logo on the back of the booklet. In between the clarity of the PSA 'authenticated' set and the new Yonakor card. Blotched and hard to make out.

During the '46 season, the same 33 or so players appeared in game programs. All but a couple used the same image. No mention of the same union printing company in these game programs, but near the back there is an advertisement and store front picture for a local printing company that refers to itself as 'The official printing company of the Cleveland Browns'. But over the years - times change. The address given is now a near downtown nightclub (gay bar to be exact). Store front hasn't changed in 100 years, but the inside has.

My feeling is that the original 8 card set is due to 8 cards fitting on a sheet. A couple uncut sheets from the same original seller have been sold at auction in the past 5 or so years. Maybe more players were printed on different sheets??? HOFers Motley and Willis were black players. Could've been on a sheet with Yonakor and not widely produced. Lou Groza should've had a card too.

I'll try to do some better picture comparisons between the PSA, Yonakor, booklet etc. I also have saved pictures of another 8 card '46 Browns set that closely matches this Yonakor card. Notice the 2nd line on the front beginning with 'away..'

Thanks for the insight guys!

[jp1216]

Picture of uncut sheet:



Picture of Yonakor from the '46 Sears Booklet:



Union Print Logo from the back of the Sears Booklet:



'46 Game Program showing Yonakor:

[steve B]

Originally Posted by jp1216

Steve -



First, these are the CLEVELAND Browns. Not St. Louis. But worth looking at old newspaper etc ads.

DOH!

I plead that it's almost baseball season

Steve B