George Close Co. Information...

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Posted By: Shawn

In my usual fashion, I cannot help but dive into something (research wise) when a debate or question comes about. I just wanted to share some neat info I found while looking into the whole George Close debacle. Below is a short biography on George Close and even a faded picture. Also a picture of the candy factory. I am not sure if the picture of the factory is before or after the fire? I apologize if the info below is redundant or "common knowledge". Hopefully its useful to someone!

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Posted By: peter ullman

cool...George was quite a go getter...and I bet he loved baseball, too!!!

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Posted By: leon

Hey Shawn

Don't worry about being redundant. Many of us are getting older so redundancy is a good thing. There are a lot of collectors, including myself, that love to study different aspects of where our cards came from, how they were distributed, and how they were advertised. Unfortunately, I have a feeling one of the recently seen overprints might not have originated in MA......(not to scale and the return of the quarter)
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Posted By: Shawn

Thanks Leon,

I really like the candy tin... I actually saw it before listed on your web site. I to am really interested in the history of such examples as listed above. I will tell you that your "gipsy gum" wrapper has kick my butt though, I have never had such a problem with something that should be quite simple. I have a few leads and I will keep hunting.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

Wonderful stuff Shawn.
A couple things stood out for me; firstly I would dearly love to be remembered as a man of great 'sagacity'. Second, I was sure as I read of the many organizations he belonged to George would turn out to be a never-married wed-to-his-work kind of guy. To find out at the end he had surviving children and I assume a wife/wives for portions of his life, left me imagining that they probably saw very little growing up of their exceptionally driven pop.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Hey LEON, you said......

"I have a feeling one of the recently seen overprints might not have originated in MA...."



So, is my 1910 Sponge Cake overprint not an original ?





TED Z

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Posted By: Shawn

Ted,

What color ink is that overprint?

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Posted By: leon

It looks dark blue, is centered, and doesn't look like a piece of crap.....This one looks real to me.....

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Posted By: Shawn

It looks good to me also... One thing I have noticed that appears to be consistent on ALL the cards I have seen so far is that the divider line runs the length of the widest script. In other words, if "Oh You Fan" is the widest lettering across the card, then the divider line is the same length. Please do not hold me to this, its just what I have seen so far?

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Posted By: leon

I agree....and after studying the other overprint in question, much more, I do think there is a (slight) chance it's real. If it is real then we have the first one in black lettering and the first one that is not centered, along with being sold with a fake Old Put...and all eminating from Ohio.....but there is still a chance....The "made by" on the newer one is also much larger than any other "made by" on the other overprints.....I guess we will see what SGC says...if it's disclosed after the fact. I immediately thought this one Dan showed is good though...it looks like all of the other known ones in general characteristics. It has the right "look"....regards

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

The overprint is a very dark Blue ink....Devore is on the front of this E94 card.



So, what is your verdict on my George Close card.....is it legit ?

And, mind you, I acquired it in the mid-1980's.....were they "faked" back then ?

Also, can you guys fill us in on the faked overprints....what to look for, etc. ?

Thanks,

TED Z

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Posted By: peter ullman

ted...it looks legit for sure.

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Posted By: leon

Hi Ted
I took the liberty of cropping your overprint above and also adding most of the sloppy looking one, so you can see. Even if that OH YOU FAN is legit it's at least sloppy looking. SO to answer your question....Yours is as real as any I have seen...plus you acquired it when there was 0 motive to make a fake one. I guess the best way for me to explain why I think the new OH YOU FAN overprint is not good is the same as when you look at a fake T206. You just get that gut feeling, after seeing so many, that what you are looking at just isn't quite right. When you add all of the pieces of the puzzle together you come out with a tale. To reiterate my thoughts from the long thread on why I have an issue with the new OH YOU FAN card...

1. It just doesn't look right.
2. It was being sold with an obvious fake E98 Old Put.
3. It is in black ink and no others are.
4. It is off center and no others I have seen are.
5. It originated in Ohio...(Don't laugh...that state is a hotbed for fraud.)
6. It has no provenance for more than a few months.

Once again yours looks exactly like all of the exemplars I have seen....I feel very confident yours is good...take care

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Posted By: Jim Manos

I am still waiting on hearing from Bob at SGC(mailed to SGC friday) but I am also working on the name and phone number of the dealer that I purchased it from. The dealer was from Lansing, Michigan(not Ohio) and I am working on a name and phone number. The card was purchased in Columbus, Ohio at the Vets show in Sept of this year. I have been pre occupied with my 1 yr old with RSV at Childrens Hospital in Columbus. Now home doing well thank god.... The OLD PUT was not purchased or sold by me fyi(no clue on that card). The E94 was graded by SGC(submitted by me) and I will get word from them soon and keep you updated. Sorry, for the delays. Lastly, the R310 overprint cards that I now have back and am now selling on ebay at JMANOS1 with some other neat items(get that plug in) they were purchased from Mark Macrae as previously stated. I will update you as I find out more. Thanks again for your patients.

Regards,

Jim Manos

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

THANKS MUCH

TED Z