T206 Wagner-Theory

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Posted By: Mark L

As I understand it, the Wagner family explained that he objected to the card because he did not want kids buying cigarettes to get his picture. This claim is consistent with a contemporary article cited in Scott Reader’s erudite work on the t206: There is Oct. 12, 1912 Sporting News article which says that Wagner asked the ATC to withdraw the card because “he did not care to have his picture in a package of cigarettes." There is a further anecdote floating around that that Wagner reimbursed Pirate secretary John Gruber ten bucks for the money that Gruber had made (but subsequently lost) selling Wagner’s photo to the ATC. I’ve heard that Gruber framed the check. (don't know why he would). Anyway, I don’t see anything in this general account that is manifestly untenable. What evidence do we have against it? It is true that Wagner smoked cigars. Maybe he was even willing to put his picture on a cigar band. Of course, he chewed tobacco. But the account given out by the Wagner family doesn’t claim that he was anti-tobacco but only that he didn’t like seeing kids chasing baseball cards in every pack of Piedmonts. And since he was the biggest star in baseball from 1909-11, he might have imagined that kids were buying packs for his card in particular. If Wagner were famous for being a miser or a shrewd businessman, I would find the cynicism a little more reasonable. But c’mon, he was famous for being friendly with kids. Doesn’t someone say in Glory of Their Times that after a Pirate game Wagner could be sometimes be found playing baseball with the neighborhood kids? Anyway, I'd like to see the incriminating evidence, the smoking gun, as it were, that indicates that the old story is unlikely.