Altoona Tribune initial distribution date determined.
 

One of the most satisfying things about collecting prewar cards, at least for me, is researching the players and the cards themselves. Today, after poring over several weeks of scanned archived editions of the Altoona Tribune, I am happy to say that I found the ad that first announced the availability of these cards, on June 12, 1916:
http://photos.imageevent.com/imoverh...e/atribune.jpg

There had been a short blurb of only a few lines in the June 9 edition telling readers to be ready for a special announcement that next Monday, so it seems this ad had not appeared before and the cards were thus available on the 12th for the first time.

The following day the paper heralded that these cards were a rousing success:
http://photos.imageevent.com/imoverh.../huge/alt2.jpghttp://photos.imageevent.com/imoverh...s/huge/alt.jpg

Interestingly, both the ad and the account mistakenly stated that among the cards the kids would/did receive was Matty, who was not in the set. Anyway, another part of the puzzle solved.

Great research, Todd. Thanks for sharing. Does the June 1916 release date for M101-4 Altoona jibe with your prior research on the set? Scot

Hi Scot,

Yes it does. Initial distribution of M101-4 in April, 1916, and possible exclusivity with TSN by August, so this certainly fits in the window.

There's still intrigue for me with regard to these boys getting 20 free cards (assuming they didn't do what was necessary for the whole 200). There seems to be evidence of these cards being released by other advertisers to their patrons in groups of 20 also, yet the relatively sparse data on Altoona Tribunes does not favor one particular set or group of players being more common than any other. Maybe someone just randomly assembled groups of 20 from the set number of 200 and handed them out that way?

Nice Job Todd. Unraveling the origins of our cards is a lot of fun. Love this kind of stuff.

Edited to add, I love the language of the bygone days. It says some of the "brightest and healthiest" boys came for the offer. Good stuff...

Altoona Tribune
 

What I find EXTREMELY interesting is that both newspaper articles mention "Christy Mathewson" as being one of the two-hundred photos/subjects! Does this actually mean Matty was included in the Altoona set or was this a simple oversight within the ad??? Other than the ultra-rare 1915 UNC black & white blank backs that include 2 different Mattys (similar in appearance to M101-4/5 issues), to the best of my knowledge, no 1916 M101-4/5 or related Matty has turned up. Comments?

todd
 

great research with such substantive and corroborative results.
many,many thanks for all of your most diligent efforts.
I do agree that research is one of top reasons this hobby is so captivating.
all the best to you,
barry

Thanks for the kudos.

As for Matty, I agree it's odd he is mentioned twice as being in the set. He was not--no card of him has surfaced, and existing complete sheets of m101-4 and m101-5 do not show him as included. Maybe Mendelsohn promoted him as being in the set, although his name does not pop up in the only known advertising flyer. Maybe it was assumed he would be included, although he was pretty much done by then, with 1916 his last year on the mound. Of course, it would have been awesome had he been part of the set--Plank too. I doubt it was for lack of an image that he was left out. I still suspect Mendelsohn at least knew about the B&W uncatalogued set from circa 1915, if not playing a part in its development. That set includes the Matty you referenced, which pose Mendelsohn then used in his uber-scarce M-Unc set from 1917, seen here:
http://photos.imageevent.com/imoverh...FM%20Matty.jpg
Seems likely to me that at least this image was available to ol' Felix if he wanted Matty in the set. Still and again, there's no evidence that Matty ever made the final cut.

Great research Todd! Keep it up!

Interesting they would advertise that much about Matty being included when he was not. Any chance the 20 cards they gave out were the M-Unc do the players match up with what is listed (not sure if any of the players/teams are confirmed only 1917 and later too). It says a set of 20, how many different M-UNC's are confirmed?

Maybe some day we will have the pieces to put together? It would be great to find out what these 1915 W-Uncs actually are....as well as this other E-Unc...Archer played from 1904 - 1918....

That's fantastic, Todd.

The detective work is also my favorite part of the hobby. Great work! Thanks for sharing it with us.

-Al

Great thread!!