S74 White series silks

[BobC]

Ron,

There are no white version S74-1 silks of:

Graham - Cubs
Raymond - Giants
Scanlan - Superbas

As for Harry Smith with the Rustlers, that is a typo they have left in the Standard Catalog for as long as I can remember. It should actually be for Tony Smith with the Rustlers, even though it was Harry Smith that actually played for the Rustlers. For whatever reason they printed white version S74-1 silks of Tony Smith with both the Superbas and Rustlers, though Tony Smith never played in Boston during his short-lived major league career. They made the same mistake in the Standard Catalog checklist for the colored version S74-2 silks where they list a Happy Smith playing with the Superbas. In reality it is Tony Smith shown playing for the Superbas that actually exists in the colored version of the silks.

As for Steinfeldt with the Cubs, I think you really meant to ask for a scan of Steinfeldt with Rustlers. White version silks of Steinfeldt with the Cubs do exist, it is Steinfeldt with the Rustlers that does not exist in the S74-1 white version silks. Steinfeldt played for Chicago in 1910, when the white version silks were supposedly first issued. He then started and played a very nominal 19 games (his last season in the majors) with the Boston Rustlers in 1911, the year the colored version S74-2 silks were supposedly issued. Steinfeldt colored version S74-2 silks also exist but, only with him shown playing for the Rustlers, which makes sense based on the years he played for the two different teams and the different years the white and colored version silks were supposedly issued.

I have ad-backed versions of the S74-1 white silks of Tony Smith with the Rustlers and Superbas, as well as an ad-backed silk of Steinfeldt with the Cubs. I don't have access to a scanner right now but, can post copies tomorrow if you'd like. I'm pretty confident you already have copies of these silks with the ad-backings attached though.

There is also a question as to the existence of a white version S74-1 silk for Tommy Leach, which I also believe does not exist but, is sometimes still listed in S74-1 white version silk checklists. It has always been my theory that the mistake for these several players supposedly existing as white version silks is due to S74-2 colored versions of these same players being printed on material that is basically the same color and type of material used for the S74-1 silks but, the cigarette brand name and factory designation at the top and bottom of the colored silks has frayed off. This would then make them look like S74-1 white version silks without the ad-back still attached. I would speculate that early creators of the S74-1 checklists mistook these severely frayed S74-2 silks for these several players as evidence that they were issued with advertising backs attached at some time. Not the case though and why the Standard Catalog checklist for S74-1 silks now lists these various white version silks for Graham - Cubs, Leach, Raymond, Scanlon and Steinfeldt - Rustlers as being of questionable existence. They actually don't exist.

BobC