Uni & equipment experts, help date this card

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Posted By: Butch & Co.

Wondering if anyone on board with more expertise in the history of uniforms and equipment could put an approximate date on these cards, based on the unis and equipment in the illustrations (at least a "no-older-than" date).

Do the (apparently) short-brim cap, full-length and elbow-length shirtsleeves, half-button shirtfront, upturned collars, and catcher's mask, mitt, and chest-protector suggest a date for these cards more precise than the vague guess the guys at this screen ID can make?

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(Leon, if this is inappropriate for this forum, let us know and we'll move it to the memorabilia side).

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I would say c1910. The top card looks to be a rough take on Ty Cobb, but they put a "P" on the cap instead of a "D".

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Even if the catcher's gear is circa 1910, that doesn't make it a 1910 card. A card could have been printed in the 1940's with that image, or even in the 1980's.

Have you illuminated it with black light?? That would help date it.

And it does look kinda old. Right around WW I, probably?

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Posted By: Butch & Co.

Hi again -- thought we might have gotten more feedback on this already, but Dan and Frank, your insights are much appreciated.

Didn't want to prejudice any estimates by giving out too much information, but the cards are (of course) from a game set, produced by an obscure (haven't found a single thing about them) company that once dwelt in Washington DC. You'd think they might have put a "W" instead of a "P" on the batter's cap, but there it is. There is a Cobbiness to the image, now that you mention it...

Indeed the game could have been made at any point later than the images suggest, but we're quite satisfied -- based on the graphics, typography, and type of paper used for the box, cards, rules, paper playing field, and additional paperwork (and the obvious severe wear and tear) -- that the game is authentic to sometime around WWI, give or take a decade. We were just hoping the details depicted in the unis and equipment could provide a more precise "no-older-than" date.

Thanks again for the input!
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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Of course Frank is right that they could have used that design for any year, but looking at the Cobb like figure he has a collared jersey which would place it right around 1910 or earlier although Detroit is the only team that I know of to wear collared jerseys after 1911. I would guess with a pretty good certainty that Cobb was the model for that particular card.

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Posted By: J Levine

Umm...the bottom of the cards mention that a patent was applied for...if a patent was granted the company name and a patent search might nail down a good time frame. Of course, a patent might not have been granted but still worth a try.

Joshua

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Posted By: leon

I collect quite a few obscure baseball game cards and have not seen these before. I can only echo the thoughts from the others and concur with their comments.....Kind of neat cards though....and, imo, this was certainly not off topic.....best regards

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Posted By: Butch & Co.

Sincere thanks, guys, for the additional feedback.

Josh, true -- one of these days when we have a few weeks available some afternoon, we'll try searching through a couple of decades of patent grants and see if we can identify the game in there...

Leon, we've never seen a single other example of this game ourselves. The game is Inside Baseball -- interestingly, perhaps (assuming "1910s" is correct for its origin), it would be one of very few games from that era or earlier (there are a small handful, though) to have "Baseball" as one word. The manufacturer was the Washington Game Company of DC.

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