Victorian looking F stamped on back of t206

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Posted By: Ed McCollum

Can't remember who it was, but someone had posted over a year ago about T206s with a victorian looking F stamped on the back, and who the previous owner supposedly was. One is now on eBay...

http://tinyurl.com/6dyu59

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Posted By: JC

It might have been better if this auction had not been outed, as the seller obviously has no idea what that stamp represents.

Here is the story as it was told to me many years ago. In 1941, the daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald sold all of his personal belongings at auction in Baltimore. Included in the sale was his boyhood baseball card collection consisting of over a thousand cards. The baseball cards were sold as one lot and the winning bidder was Harold Shigley. Not only did he win the cards, he was also high bidder on his jewelry, typewriters, some of his furniture and many other items. As a child, Fitzgerald had stamped every card on the back with that black "F".
In the 1960s, Shigley traded away the Fitzgerald cards due to their mostly poor condition. I contacted his grandson a while back and he said the only one he kept was a T206 Jack Knight. Obviously, they have made their way into many different collections since then.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Is that an April Fool?

Fitzgerald doesn't seem the type to collect baseball cards, and he went by Scott not Francis.

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Posted By: JC

What does Fitzgerald's last name begin with?
I first heard about this back in the mid 1970s and also read about it in an early hobby publication. Yes, Fitzgerald was a big baseball fan as a child and teen. There should be some biographical information to that effect.

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Posted By: Zinn

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Posted By: brian

F Scott wrote about how he desperately wanted to be a better baseball player when he was a kid but had more success writing and acting in plays. after the Black Sox scandal he became a hater of professional sports and wrote "baseball is a game for idiots played by morons"

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Posted By: barry arnold

If it's fitzgerald, he sure collected some beaters.

best,

barry

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Posted By: Jason L

"Collecting some beaters is better than beating some collectors!"

I think, if I have held onto all my cards into my old age, one of my last projects will be to write or stamp something on the back of all of them and see what kind of mystery project I can create for collectors of future generations...seems like an adequately egotistical thing to do, eh?

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Posted By: barry arnold

Jason,
at least by doing so, you would make sure the folks inheriting our
heirlooms would get their stuff graded no better than a 10 or 20 (by SGC!)

all the best,

barry

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I wasn't saying I thought the story was wrong. I'd just never heard it before.

I'd buy a card if I thought if belonged to Fitzgerald.

I agree my "S" not "F" argument was seriously dumb.

The PSA/SGC pedigree label/entombment would be perfect for cards that can be proven belonged to Fitzgerald.

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Posted By: Steve Murray

You're the best David. I know the temptation to edit it was overwhelming.

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Posted By: Anonymous

I think if I ever want to sell my worst looking
beaters, I'm going to have to get one of those fancy
"F" stamps.
Those 6 beaters have been listed for less than a day and
bidding is already at $67!

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

For those who don't know, the seller of this T206 lot is Andy Strasberg. He's one of the best hobby people you'll find, and has been collecting cards & memorabilia (that I know of anyway) since the mid-'70s. He was the Marketing Director of the SD Padres back then, and I'd see him at all the shows around San Diego.


Steve

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Posted By: brian

does anyone know what the final bid was on this lot? The link no longer works and I forgot to check back on this auction.

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Posted By: Anonymous

The link worked for me & the winning bid was $67.

Hope this helps,
Jantz

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Posted By: brian

Thanks Jantz. Last night it wouldn't work for me, but it did just now.

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Posted By: Jeff O

That is an interesting story, and one I haven't heard before. I had actually been looking at my T206 backs earlier today as a result of another post and ran across a back with an "F" indentical to this one - and mine is also an El Principe back. The differnce is that the example in the auction appears to have been removed from a scrapbook (or attacked by a dog...) - mine doesn't have the same back damage.

I'd be curious to know if anyone else has any of these F backs, along with the brand and back condition.

Jeff

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Posted By: Dave S

Guess SGC wasn't real fond of the "F"...

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Posted By: Andrew S.

Dave and Jeff, congratulations on having cards that once belonged to F. Scott Fitzgerald!

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Posted By: Dave S

I just noticed the beater Kling card in that Ebay lot has similar pencil(?) markings on the upper corners and lower center as my Chase does. Does yours have the same marks?

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Posted By: Rob

looks like Mr Carter got his hands on some of Fitzgerald's cards ...




Rob

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Posted By: Jeff O

Nope, no pencil marks on mine. BTW - the front is Ewing.



Jeff

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Does anyone know what hobby publication this story was in?

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Posted By: brian

looks like Mr Carter got his hands on some of Fitzgerald's cards ...


That is strange. What year did Lionel Carter stop collecting T206? And I wonder if he can remember where he got that card?