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leonROCHESTER “CITY”, NY: A BREEDING GROUND FOR THE RARE AND UNUSUAL BASEBALL TOBACCO ISSUES?
PART 1 OF A TWO-PART SERIES ON TOBACCO MANUFACTURING IN ROCHESTER, NY AND ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO EARLY BASEBALL CARD COLLECTING
If asked to identify a geographic area for tobacco production and manufacturing in the United States during the late 1800’s, the majority of the population would probably point to the Piedmont area of Virginia as being the mecca for the activity. Few, if any, would suggest Rochester NY. However, “Rochester city”, as it is referred to on the 1890 census conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, was the 22nd largest city in the United States with a population of nearly 134,000, and did in fact host two significant tobacco manufacturers of the late 1800’s; the S.F. Hess & Co of the Premium Tobacco Works, and Wm. S. Kimball & Co. of the Peerless Tobacco Works. Together, these two manufacturers produced five of the most sought after and visually appealing baseball related sets of the late 1880’s. Kimball produced a myriad of sets including the 1887 N184 Kimball Champions set which featured four baseball subjects; Burch, Darling, Henderson and O'Neill. S.F. Hess also produced multiple sets including four sets dedicated to baseball in 1888; the N321 California League (color), the N333 Newsboy League, the N338-1 California League series, and the N338-2 Big League series. The following article is part one of a two part retrospective look at the S.F. Hess and Kimball brands, and their respective contributions to pre-1900 baseball issues.
PART 1 - THE S.F. HESS & COMPANY
The year, 1838; the place, Rochester, NY. It was at this time and place when Solomon F. Hess and his partner, Simon V. McDowell, first decided to embark on a new venture in the budding business of tobacco, cigarette, snuff and cigar manufacturing. By 1867, the S.F. Hess & Co. had begun occupying the famous Talman Building at 25 Buffalo Street (which is now 25 E. Main). The Talman Building has a history almost as colorful as the N321’s Hess would later produce. Although other various addresses appear at various times on the illustrations and billheads of the Hess Company, it was the Talman Building that was the company’s most famous place of occupation. The building's historic significance relates to its age, being constructed circa 1840. From 1847 through 1863 Frederick Douglass had his office and published his newspapers in the Talman Building. Harriet Jacobs's anti-slavery reading room was located in the building and even more interestingly, the Talman Building was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Today, the Talman Building is owned and occupied by a local Rochester law firm.
In 1888, one-half century after S.F. Hess’s founding, four of the most desirable and hardest to acquire baseball issues would be inserted by S.F. Hess & Co. into slide and shell packs of Creole Cigarettes, their most popular brand of the time. Hess also produced and distributed other various picture cards and subsets. For example, Railroad Cut Plug, another popular Hess brand, featured “poker puzzle cards” that were redeemable for cash! Also during this same time period, more specifically somewhere between 1881 and 1894, the Hess Company incorporated. In 1890, S.F. Hess & Company sold its cigarette brands and business to the American Tobacco Company along with its Allison Machine lease. The American Tobacco Company made the purchase to protect its exclusive control of the Allison Cigarette Machine. Wm. S. Kimball was also involved with the Allison Machine as he was a financial backer of the Allison Machine Company. Joe Parker, a well respected cigarette and tobacco historian, has suspected that Kimball was pressured by James B. Duke, owner of the American Tobacco Company, to convince Solomon Hess to sell the S.F. Hess cigarette brands and lease to the American Tobacco Company so that the ATC could gain control over the Allison lease. It is important to understand that James Duke’s principle motivation for the purchase of Hess cigarette brands was not to gain control over the S.F. Hess Company per se, just the Allison Cigarette Machine lease. The Hess cigarette brands would be worth considerably less without a machine to make them with, so the purchase of the Hess brands was probably price demanded to allow the Allison Company to buy out the Hess lease. The purchase of the S.F. Hess brands Allison Machine lease was made through the Allison Machine Co. at a cost of $50,000. After the sale to the American Tobacco Company, Hess continued to manufacture cigars and tobacco until at least as late as 1905. There is an 1894 record (note that this is three years after the sale to the American Tobacco Company) that lists the corporate officers of the S.F. Hess Corporation as:
•Solomon V. Hess - President
•Simon V. McDowell - V.P.
•Wm. J. MeKelvey - Sec'y
•F. Judson Hess - Treas.
Turning away from the historical overview of the S.F. Hess & Co. and focusing back on the year 1888, it is now time to delve into the production of the four infamous baseball sets of the S.F. Hess & Co. Each of these four baseball issues will be briefly explored, in turn. I have chosen to discuss the four sets based on their ACC designation and not necessarily in the chronological order in which they were manufactured and distributed by the S.F. Hess Company. Subsequently, the first of the four sets of focus in this article has been given the ACC designation N321, but is affectionately called “Hess California League (color)”.
This set was a regional issue and depicted minor-league players only from the California League. Produced in 1888; there are 40 total cards in the set, each measuring approximately 1-1/2” by 2-7/8". There is no question that the N321’s are one of the most beautifully designed and attractive issues of the era and are as nearly rare as they are striking. The cards, themselves, feature color lithograph line drawings of the players underneath the player’s name, position and team. Above the player’s picture appear the words “California League”. The bottoms of the cards feature an advertisement for Creole brand cigarettes. They are pasted to a cardboard backing. The backs are blank.
There are also a series of proofs for the N321 series that have surfaced. Although very similar in design to the production N321s, these proofs had been pulled from production before the final printing run. They are printed on thin paper as opposed to the thicker cardboard and are missing the Creole advertisement across the bottom border. Each of these proofs are probably one of a kind.
The N321’s were inserted into packs of S.F. Hess & Co.’s Creole brand cigarettes. Although three different styles of Creole Cigarette packages were produced and are known to exist today, it is believed that the more “ornate” style slide and shell package was used for distribution of this set. A private collector on the west coast has discovered an “ornate” style Creole cigarette pack that contained two N321 cards placed inside assumingly by their original owner. Subsequently, it is inferred that this package design was used for the distribution of the set.
The cigarette packages, themselves, are brilliantly designed and adorned in green and red with black outlining. The brand name “Creole” appears in an Old-English type script above a circular image of a young lady smoking. Below the photo are the words “Straight Cut Cigarettes” appearing on a “gold-ish” color background. Finally, the bottom of the outer shell contains “S.F. Hess & Co.” written in script font above the city designation, Rochester N.Y. which appears in all caps.
This “ornate” style Creole cigarette package is very rare and highly desirable among baseball ephemera and cigarette pack collectors. Over the past five or so years, only a handful of these cigarette packages have been offered for public sale. When offered for sale, final realized auction prices have seen very good condition “ornate” style Creole packs sell in excess of $500.00.
The next S.F. Hess & Co. set this article will explore has been given the ACC designation N333, but is more commonly referred to as the “Newsboys League” series. Like the N321, this set totaling 46 cards was also produced in 1888 and measures approximately 1-1/2” by 2-7/8”. The cards feature newspaper boys from eight different northeastern cities who represented their respective newspapers in local leagues. The eight cities from which the newsboys are featured include Albany, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Rochester, and Syracuse. The cards, themselves, are very difficult to locate and are one of the more rare sets produced during the 1880’s.
The N333’s are similar in design and construction to that of the Old Judge cards of the same era, featuring a portrait-type photograph of the newsboy in his baseball uniform glued to a cardboard backing. The words “Newsboys League” appears above the photo of the ballplayer. Below the photo is an advertisement for S.F. Hess & Co.’s Cigarettes. The backs of the cards are blank.
Although the exact brand of S.F. Hess & Co. cigarettes in which the Newsboys League is unknown, it has always been assumed that like the N321 and the N338’s (to be discussed next), the N333’s were packaged inside boxes of Creole cigarettes. As previously mentioned, Creole was the most popular brand of the Hess Company during the late 1880’s and this lends credence to the belief that Creole cigarettes were used for the distribution of this set. Likewise, it is also unknown which style of Creole cigarette package would have been used for the distribution (again assuming that the Creole brand of cigarettes were used for the distribution of this set).
The final two S.F. Hess & Co. sets to be discussed in this article are subsets to what the ACC has designated the N338 set. These two sets are often referred to as the N338-1 “Hess California League” set and the N338-2 “Hess Big League” set. Other than the checklist of players included in each of the following sets to be discussed, the key distinguishing difference between the two subsets is the semi-circular "California League" label found on all of the cards in the N338-1 set. Both of the N338 sets are relatively difficult to find, but the California League subset is one of the rarest of all nineteenth century cards, as reflected in the value of the cards.
Turning first to part one of the subset of the N338’s, the third set that will be the focus of this article has been given the ACC designation N338-1, but is often referred to simply as the “Hess California League” set. Again issued in 1888, this unnumbered set of 17 sepia toned cards takes after the N321’s previously discussed as this was another regional issue by S.F. Hess & Co. Once again, the players depicted are all members of the California League. In fact, some of the photos used in the N338-1 are identical to the litho line drawings of the N321 set. The card composition features a photo pasted onto a cardboard backing and measure 1-1/2” by 2-7/8”. This issue is commonly regarded as the most expensive and rarest of all Pacific Coast League cards.
The card design, itself, is slightly different than both the N333 issue discussed above and the N338-2 to be discussed next. The N338-1 feature a picture of the player in baseball attire, below which appears the words “California League”. In some instances, the words “California League” appear above the photo of the ball player. Under this text are the player’s last name, position, and team. Lastly, the text “S.F. Hess & Co.’s Creole Cigarettes” appears in a wave-like design in all caps. The backs of the N338-1’s are blank.
As evident from the advertisements that appear on the bottom of the N338-1’s, these cards were packaged within a slide and shell cigarette pack configuration of Creole Cigarettes. However, where it is believed that the N321’s were distributed in the more “ornate” style package, the N338-1’s were probably distributed within a more plainly styled Creole pack design. This design is still beautiful in its own respect, but features a less-stylized front than that of the previously pictured Creole cigarette pack.
This “less ornate” styled Creole package design features the Creole brand name across the top third of the pack in a somewhat script-like red font. Below the name appears the same younger woman as before smoking a cigarette. However, the woman no longer appears within a circular frame and is less colorized, despite the fact she retains all design features of the more “ornate” Creole packet, including the red sash and pearl necklace. Below the woman is the word “Cigarettes” in all caps in front of a gold bar that stretches the length of the front portion of the slide. This pack no longer features the words “straight cut” to the above left and right position of the word “Cigarettes”. Finally, the bottom of the slide features “S.F. Hess & Co.” in the same script front, as well as the manufacturing designation of “Rochester, N.Y.” in all caps. The font is much bigger in this “less ornate” styled pack than seen on the “ornate” Creole pack.
This type of Creole cigarette pack is as equally rare and desirable among collectors as the more “ornate” styled pack featured earlier. Although slightly less aesthetically pleasing, these Creole packs are almost impossible to locate for sale on the public market. A few have recently been sold and traded privately in a scattered price range of between $300 and $600, based on condition.
The fourth and final set to be explored is the sister to the above described N338-1 set. This set has been given the ACC designation N338-2; however is more commonly known as the “Hess Big League” set. Although not as rare as some of the previously discussed S.F. Hess & Co. baseball issues, this set is the most desirable among collectors since it is the only of the four sets to feature major league players. Issued in 1888, this unnumbered set of 23 players depicts 16 representatives of the New York Giants, 2 of the New York Mets, 2 of Saint Louis, and 1 from Detroit.
The N338-2 feature a sepia-toned photo of the player enclosed in a dark oval background. Below the photo appears the player’s name. Underneath that is an advertisement for “S.F. Hess & Co.’s Cigarettes” in a wave pattern. As with the N333 Newsboy series, the N338-2’s does not specifically advertise the Creole brand cigarettes. The cards are printed on a pressboard-like paper stock and measure slightly smaller than the three previously discussed Hess sets, having an approximate size of 1-1/2” by 2-3/4”. The backs of the card are blank.
Despite a lack of advertising for the Creole brand of cigarettes, it is believed that the N338-2’s were packaged inside of Creole Cigarettes, most likely in the “less ornate” styled design. This hypothesis stems from the fact that the N338-2’s are simply part two of the N338 subsets, making it likely that the same type of package and distribution were used for both the N338 -1’s and -2’s.
It has now been nearly one hundred and seventy years since S.F. Hess & Co’s founding, and over one hundred years since production of the brands ceased. However, the company and it’s four famous sets; the N321, N333, and N338-1 and 2’s continue to add to the colorful history of not only early cigarette manufacturing and production, but also the great era of pre-1900 baseball card collecting. In the next issue of Old Cardboard Magazine, the Rochester, NY “sister” company of the S.F. Hess & Co. will be explored in Part 2 of this two part Rochester series; The Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
03-25-2008, 09:15 PM
N321 S.F. Hess California League
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