Posted By:
Hal LewisNo Leon, the card "could" be from 1900 or 1901 or 1902 or 1903 at the latest... but any of those would still make it his earliest card.
It just defies logic to me and everyone else that a Louisville cigar salesman would still be using Wagner as the "name brand" for his cigars AFTER the Colonels "deserted" Louisville after the 1899 season.
The Louisville Colonels had been playing there for 15 years... so the town was far from pleased when team owner Barney Dreyfuss up and left with his players to Pittsburg.
This was a sore spot with Louisville citizens, so using Honus Wagner as a "spokesperson" after 1899 would be like rubbing salt in the wounds of your customers.
I doubt there were too many vendors in Baltimore in 1984 selling "Baltimore Colts" products after Robert Irsay pulled the team out of town overnight in 1983.
