Baseball Tradecard Questions

[aelefson]

Hi-
I recently acquired the baseball themed tradecard scanned below and I was wondering if someone could help answer a few questions I have regarding it. Despite the huge scan the card is 3 inches tall and 4.25 inches wide. Is this a known baseball themed tradecard? I ask this because of how white mine is but I realize it was probably just stuck in a well preserved scrapbook for 120 years. Are there any other baseball tradecards that show the umpire in a cage like this one? Any photos that depict that or is it just for comic effect in this image? Assuming it is a legitimate 19th century baseball tradecard it is now one of my favorites. Please show your own favorite baseball tradecard as well.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[jcmtiger]

Have never seen this card, but looks new.

Joe

[drc]

I've not seen it before. The bird cage was for comic effect. A fair number of 1800s trade cards were intentionally comical.

If it didn't contain wood pulp, the paper could remain white all these years. Wood pulp is what makes 1900s newspapers turn brown and brittle, and it wasn't used in early paper. Counterintuitively, 1800s paper can be whiter and brighter than 1950s paper.

[barrysloate]

Currier and Ives issued a number of baseball lithographs that depicted African-Americans using less than flattering stereotypes. Among them were umpires wearing birdcages over their heads for protection. The notion that umpiring was a dangerous avocation goes back to baseball's earliest days.

That is a nice trade card and from the scan looks real to me. But you have to examine the paper in hand to be sure.

[aelefson]

Thank you for everyone's help! Having it in hand, it does appear to be real but I will double check it with a blacklight and a loupe later this week. My small amount of googling thus far shows that the company produced organs and their name is found on other tradecards of the era. And thank you to David and Barry for the historical insights. I doubted the cage was ever actually used but I had no idea there are other images out there. I might have stumbled upon a new area to collect (images showing the umpire in a cage).
Thanks again,
Alan

[drc]

Just going by your scan, I would guess it is genuine.

[oaks1912]

The card is listed in Frank Keetz' Baseball Advertising Trade Card checklist, under single cards with titles. He indicates that this is the only baseball image in a multi-sport set

[aelefson]

Thanks Mark! I really need to get a copy of that book. I will order one this week.
Alan

[oaks1912]

Alan.....Not to sound like a billboard for Frank Keetz, but he has compiled checklists for comic baseball postcards as well. They are not intended to be price guides , but contain, collectively; thousands of man hours of research and decades of collecting experience. The cost for each book is about the same price as a single trade card or postcard in nice condition and is among the best of reference books currently available in the hobby today

[barrysloate]

I have both books and have used them countless times for reference. Highly recommended.