T-206 CIGARETTE BASEBALL CARDS Booklet By Richard S. Egan Jan '66

[Jerry G]

This thread is actually in response to a closed thread titled The making of - "Handbook To US Early Candy and Gum Cards" - Egan, 1969. In a letter to one of his contemporaries (Buck Barker, I believe) Mr. Egan made referrence to the T-206 booklet. Some speculated that he was speaking of the 1980 Heitman book, The Monster. Since Mr. Egan published this booklet in early 1966, it's probably what he was referring to.

I bought my copy from the Card Collectors Company in that same time period with my lawn mowing money. The complete tome is nine pages plus cover. He uses a fascinating coding system to categorize the backs (page 2) and player poses (page 3). The cards are numbered alphabetically by team and league. American League teams are first followed by National then the minor leagues. To the right of the player's name it shows the code of the possible backs and poses. The last page is a summary. The closing paragraph strongly suggests that the set may not be complete at 523 cards. He concludes, "...since the checklist was first printed in 1938 there have been no major additions."

[caramelcard]

Very cool Jerry. Had not seen that before.

Thanks for sharing.

Rob

[Jerry G]

I think it's a interesting look at our hobby pre-computers, internet and lots of other things.

[Jantz]

Interesting glimpse into the past of card collecting.

I especially like page 2 with the different backs. No Piedmont 460 factory 42, but its mentioned in the first paragraph of page 3.

Thanks for posting Jerry.


Jantz

[wonkaticket]

Very cool!

[FrankWakefield]

Great, Jerry. Thanks for posting that. Mr. Egan organized and listed those cards by team. I well understand why today many folks sort alphabetically. But if they'd spread those cards out on a table, sort 'em by team, and then within each team by series, they'd then begin to notice the style of the cards. For example, with the Cubs you'd see "Cubs" on the jerseys on the early cards, and "Chicago" vertically down the front of the shirt along the button holes on the later cards. Thanks again, Jerry.

[ethicsprof]

many thanks for sharing the 'tome'.
and for the note regarding the old lawnmowing days---around the mid-60's i was pulling in around 3 bucks for half acre lots. I bet the egan set you back around a hard day's mowing.
all the best,
barry

[Leon]

Thanks for posting those Jerry. Much appreciated. Let me help finish this off a bit as a kind board member, who wants to remain anonymous, sent me the soft copy of the booklet a while back. best regards.... (we have the other caramel booklet thread added to the archives now for future reference)

[bbsports]

I had the same booklet years ago. That's how I kept track of what T206 cards I had & needed. Since there were no card holders back in the early 70's, I use to keep my T206 cards in small stamp envelopes that were just a little bigger than the T206 cards.

[bh3443]

Many decades ago, I heard rumors that a Collins batting pose existed. If I recall the story, it was some type of proof card from this set.

Has anyone ever heard about this? I'm wondering if it actually exists or was a rumor or what!

Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks,
Bill

This book is great! Thanks for sharing!

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by bh3443

Many decades ago, I heard rumors that a Collins batting pose existed. If I recall the story, it was some type of proof card from this set.

Has anyone ever heard about this? I'm wondering if it actually exists or was a rumor or what!

Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks,
Bill

This book is great! Thanks for sharing!

It's probably somewhere on Tim's site - I thought the Collins Batting was in UberDem's collection. There is a proof page there that contains scans grabbed from various sites (un-watermarked), as well as their own scans (watermarked to protect from unscrupulous people grabbing them), but I couldn't find Olberman's.

[teetwoohsix]

Jerry (and Leon)-

Thanks for posting this- I really enjoy this stuff !! I'm always amazed at the detail.......I was also wondering about the T206 booklet that was refered to in the Gum issues Leon had posted- this makes sense now. Thanks again for posting this thread !!!

Sincerely, Clayton

[Abravefan11]

Originally Posted by bh3443

Many decades ago, I heard rumors that a Collins batting pose existed. If I recall the story, it was some type of proof card from this set.

Has anyone ever heard about this? I'm wondering if it actually exists or was a rumor or what!

Hi Bill,

Yes, the Collins proof exists. We have an image of it on the site that was shared by the current owner as well as the back story behind the card.

The Olbermann Proofs

Tim

[bh3443]

Thank you, gentlemen!
The story I heard way back is word for word what is printed!

[tedzan]

I found this statement by Egan in his closing paragraph very interesting......

"This is not in itself uncommon, in fact a set issued with caramels during the same period claims a 100 to the set, but today 117
are known and a few more are found periodically."

I'm sure he is alluding to the E90-1 set of 120 subjects. Therefore, it is interesting that in 1966, three cards in this set were not
yet known.

My 1st guess is Tris Speaker as one of the unknowns. A 2nd could be Mike Mitchell. The 3rd could be any one of the following....
Duffy, Graham, Stahl, Sweeney, or Walsh.


TED Z

[toppcat]

Great post-I had never heard of this before. The evolution of the pre-war checklists was almost glacial, this was 50+ years later and still there were gaps in E90-1.

[ethicsprof]

great choice of words!
glacial---yes, absolutely

best,
barry

[Jerry G]

I have taken the staples out and rescanned the booklet. If you are interested, send me your email address and I will be happy to send the scanned booklet to you.

jgalleano@msn.com

[FrankWakefield]

Got 'em. Thank you, Jerry. And thank you for sharing this great resource with us.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Jerry G

I have taken the staples out and rescanned the booklet. If you are interested, send me your email address and I will be happy to send the scanned booklet to you.

jgalleano@msn.com

Hi Jerry, I sent you an email (I think( with my email, but haven't received anything.

[Jerry G]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Hi Jerry, I sent you an email (I think( with my email, but haven't received anything.

Sorry for the delay, Scott. I sent out a group last night, but held yours out because I wanted to add a personal note concerning your website. Then, I forgot and went to bed. Sorry, man. Poop happens.

Anyway, you should have it now. Hope you enjoy the booklet.

[edhans]

Lew Lipset makes reference to the 117 different known subjects in his Encyclopedia. The "unknown" cards were Bemis, Keeler (red portrait) and Clarke-Pittsburgh. But in some of the bulletins that Leon has posted, one collector has the Bemis on his want list; so that subject at least, was known prior to 1966; just not to Mr. Egan or the British Cartophilic Society.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Jerry G

Sorry for the delay, Scott. I sent out a group last night, but held yours out because I wanted to add a personal note concerning your website. Then, I forgot and went to bed. Sorry, man. Poop happens.

Anyway, you should have it now. Hope you enjoy the booklet.

Jerry - thanks much! I have added it to my website, 1st page next to Cobb image.