Altoona Tribune initial distribution date determined.

[nolemmings]

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:


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:


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.

[sreader3]

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

[nolemmings]

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?

[Leon]

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...

[Vintageclout]

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?

[ethicsprof]

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