Scott: Great ad ! Is that from the Detroit Free Press ? It's a 20 card set but they only listed 19 players ( they omitted - Fred Payne in the ad) to make 20 .

Still looking for the 1909 issue to see if it lists the Team Photo as part of the set. Let us know if you or others find anything from that year.

That is a neat ad!!

It appears Dietsche advertised in the Detroit Free Press greatly in 1907 and very little in 1908 and not at all in 1909. I did findone ad that "may" be referring to the Dietsche set, but who knows ? Little advertising in 1909 and therefore very little product sold it appears.
Attachment is from DFP Sunday October 3, 1909.

Been some questions about the Dietsche Postcards so I bumped this one up again.

Thanks All!
 

Jim (and others),

Superb material here! Thanks so much for sharing it-

Tim

Time to update this thread with my latest find fresh from the National.

Here is what I believe to be a partial 1907 RPPC showing the first incarnation of the 15 card initial set with the Cobb Fielding pose.

Attachment 324883

The back looks like this. The other RPPC back is the one off of the well-known 1907 team pose RPPC shown below for comparison.

Attachment 324885

Attachment 324882

Here is the back of another copy of the Detroit team RPPC, listed online, showing the AZO four diamond box.

Attachment 324884

My guess is a collector bought the advertised Dietsche set when it first came out, including the Fielding Cobb, before the Batting Cobb was available. He wrote the names and positions of the players, arranged them in a group of 15 with the manager Hughie Jennings in the center and overlaid the Detroit Tigers 1907 over the Jennings postcard. He then photographed them, created the RPPC and sent it to a woman (note the "Miss" in the address portion on back). Somewhere along the way the likely blank white front excess was trimmed away.

The back of the subject postcard has the same back as the 1907 team RPPC as shown above. The AZO four diamonds stampbox was only printed from 1907-1909. The AZO four triangles from 1904-1918. My guess is 1907 as it is very unlikely he would have bothered to do this at a later date.

At the very least this is one of the earliest examples of a baseball collector at work. I have never seen another example of a photo of an early card collection. At best, I'll kiddingly suggest it is a 1 of 1 version of the 1907 Ty Cobb Fielding RPPC. Whatever it is, I'm excited to find it!

Now here is where I'd love some help. Can anyone find me one of the 15 cards depicted in the RPPC with an exact match for the handwritten name and position? Do these copies still exist, I'd love to own one or at least see it and check if it has a postmark on the back.

nice pickup...I almost snagged that!!!! it's a cool piece...even just 1/2 of its original size...a cheap way to pick up a rare cobb rookie!!!!!

Found this period postcard showing the Dietsche storefront, thought I'd share it.

Attachment 335369

Cobb Rookie PCs
 

I am very happy to be able to post again in one of my favorite threads! I just acquired the H.M. Taylor "Tyrus Cobb at Bat" postcard shown below. As Kevin stated above, his outstanding research has turned up the earliest postmark on any H.M. Taylor to be October 10, 1907. As you can see, my Cobb is postmarked October 12, 1907 at 7:30 pm in Detroit. Earlier that afternoon, the Tigers lost to the Cubs in Game 5 of the World Series by the score of 2-0, giving the Cubs the "sweep" by winning four games and tying one. Game 5 was only the second game played in Detroit in the series.

It has been generally accepted that the H.M. Taylor series was issued/sold from 1907 - 1909. The postmark clearly dates this one to 1907. But also look at the different font of "Post Card" and the H.M. Taylor notation on the bottom, which does not include the words "Rights reserved by" as most I have seen do. In fact, the only other Cobb I can find with the same back is on the tremendous vintageball.com site (it is not postally used).

There are a few different backs known for H.M. Taylor PCs, but this leads me to wonder about the correlation between the years of issue and the printing on the back. My hypothesis is that the back shown below, postmarked October 1907 here, was the first style used in the early printing of the H.M. Taylor postcards. Could it be that only ones with this back should be considered one of Cobb's "rookie" postcards? Are postcard collectors now going to collect backs like T206 collectors? :)

I would love to read your thoughts, comments, and further research!

Kris, great card. Do you have scans of any other backs of the HM Taylor Cobb? Mine is sitting at the bank and I don't think I can get there before Friday to check.

Backs
 

Thanks Jeff. Here are the Cobb backs I have found by Googling.

Kris, I do not think that the font of the wording "Post Card" on the reverse is going to help us date these cards. Here are three distinct fonts, all used in October of 1907.

Another Variation Back
 

Here's another variation back of the Taylor Postcards from 1907-09 ? Can a PC expert tell the year of this type ? The team photo was used on several postcards, in newspapers on the 1907 WS Program ( see photo) etc. The dog sometimes is looking straight and other times looking to the left)

Not sure where the 07-09 date range originates from, I believe they were ALL produced in 1907.

Terrific pickup, Kris--a hearty CONGRATS!

Sincerely,

Larry

Taylor Cobb
 

Thank you, Larry!

Jeff P., I admittedly know absolutely nothing about the printing process of the time (or anytime for that matter), but it just seems odd to me that the publisher would use different backs on the same card fronts if they were all printed at the same time. Especially during a likely very short time period during the 1907 World Series, which it seems all H.M. Taylors appeared/were used for the first time. I would think that type of change would happen in a separate production run. Which I would also guess might not happen until the next season. Why keep printing them during the off-season following the Tigers’ quick demise in the ‘07 Series?

All pure speculation!

I agree with your rationale that it is unusual if they were all printed at the same time that they would have different backs that does not make sense. I suppose it’s possible the photos were sold and then whoever bought them printed the back on there but if this were the case you might think there would be blank backs out there. Are there?? Otherwise it seems plausible they were printed a few different times possibly different years.

HM Taylor may have printed at different times during 07 but I've never seen any evidence suggesting that these were printed post 1907. The team card also has a variety of back variations, would think it would be unlikely HM Taylor was printing postcards celebrating the 07 team in 09.

Kevin's post clearly shows different backs printed in 07. You see PC back variations a lot in postcard issues.

All three of the different backs that I have pictured above were postmarked within a 7 day period in October of 1907. It seems to me that they were all made and distributed at the same time.

Never thought I'd be able to join this club, but I have... Still pinching myself. Let some of my excess/non core focus stuff go and some modern stuff go and been busy chipping away at these early Cobbs...

I think the Seamless is by far one of the coolest cards in the whole hobby and still believe I was able to get one. After getting my D381 Cobb years ago I never thought I'd be able to land another Cobb nearly as cool.

Congrats, Erick, that’s a great addition to your Cobb PC collection.

Erick,

All i can say is, "Wowsers!"

Congrats Erick, amazing pick up and a great addition to an-already amazing collection of Cobb PCs

Thanks a lot Jeff! Your collection is incredible.

And thanks to Ben! Thanks for deal on Dietsche

Congrats!

Hell of a PC

Thanks Ryan, you've been getting lots of amazing stuff, congrats to you as well, love that Rose PC.

That Tubes couldn’t have gone to a better home or a nicer guy. Congrats Erick. I hope you enjoy it for many years.

Thanks Mark,

Thanks a lot Orlando! I'm honored to own it!

Tubes
 

Congrats! Great card.

Congrats Eric! Great addition to your collection!

Congratulations on the Seamless. IMHO, that is the best of Cobb’s 1907 rookie postcards.

Jim,

You need to bring over some of those neat Cobb postcards, and I'll show you some neat Cobb autographs that I have.

Consider this an invitation.

Mike

Thanks Ethan and Paul!

Completely agree Kevin, besides the D381 I need for the set I'm working on, I can't think of any other Cobb I'd rather own.

These were advertised in the Free Press on October 8th and 9th of 1908. Anyone have any of these?

Attachment 346773
Attachment 346774

Congratulations Erick on the Tubes Cobb postcard!!! A badass card no doubt and super investment. Impressive Cobb collection you are amassing!!

Jc

Hey Jim/others...

Thanks for all of the info/research on the Cobb post cards. Much appreciated.

I have a number of the 1907 Cobb H.M. Taylor cards. Here is my earliest.
Oct. 9, 1907

Paul D.

Scott: Here's the 14 cards that are referred to in the Detroit Free Press in 1908.

http://www.oldcardboard.com/pc/pc773-4/pc773-4gal.asp

Thanks JC, That's the term I too think best describes the image!

were novelty cutlery postcards issued in multiple years?
 

tpg's state that these postcards were issued from 1907-1909. has anyone been able to verify that? if so, are they not considered cobb rookie postcards, which need to be limited to 1907 issuance?

1907 HM Taylor PCs
 

Jim - incorrect. If the production started in 1907, they are indeed a true “rookie card”. A classic example of this philosophy are many W600’s that were issued over several years and still represent rookie cards for many of baseball’s turn of the century players. I also believe the 1903/‘04 E107 Breisch Williams cards extended into the 1904 season. The key concept is the INAUGURAL production year.

agree hm taylor is a rookie issuance.

you clarified that novelty cutlery is 1909 issuance, so all good now. tpg's mislabel the year of this set.

Here is a cool companion piece to the LaFond floral horseshoe postcard that a fellow member discovered and was kind enough to pass along to me.

Attachment 348758


Attachment 348759

Note the LaFond name front and back and the 1908 Tigers game it was used to score.

Anyone else have any LaFond baseball memorabilia?

Jim, that game took 1:40 to be played.

Postmark date on Taylor Postcard
 

Can anyone read the date on this postcard.

oct 7, 1907

Docpatlv do you have any information about what museum that might be? I want to see if I can find any information about that jumbo postcard?