Who is the Cracker Jack expert?

[FrankWakefield]

From looking at the images I think the cards are authentic. A black light REALLY does help resolve any doubts you might have. And holding the cards help. 1914 cards are virtually paper. 1915 cards are thin cardstock.

CJs that got flour-pasted into scrapbooks survived well. They can be found today, fairly clean, with decent corners. Cards that were carried in grimy hands, pants pockets, and the like are sometimes in the condition of those you posted. Some 'clean' cards have been bleached a bit. I'd think if those cards were merely soaked, a bit of the dirt would loosen without any color loss. They'd look less worse, but not really very good.

I think those are real. If you only look at CJs in slabs you're less likely to see cards in the condition of those you've posted. If you look at all CJs, or just raw CJs, you're more likely to see them.