Gypsy Queen in Sloate auction

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Posted By: MW

There are other Gypsy Queen cigarette cards with a similar format that include actresses, celebrities, prizefighters, and possibly, a few PCL baseball players (those familiar to West coast fans). Jefferson Burdick divided these specimens between two separate issues – N171s and N174s. The McDonald could be an “outlier” from this group. It is quite possible that Burdick had not encountered any baseball players from these series. If he had, they would have been designated as part of the N172 series – similar to the PCL cards that are known. Pictured below are two representative cards from the N171 and N174 series.

It is not uncommon for some 19th century tobacco issues to feature two or more formats and still have the same ACC designation. Examples include: Lone Jack (Ruby Cigarettes), Gilt Edge Cigarettes, William S. Kimball & Company, Virginia Brights Cigarettes, and (obviously) Old Judge. Since all of these brands as well as N171s and N174s employ different lettering styles and positioning of text, it is not surprising that the format of the 1888 James McDonald differs from that of other known Gypsy Queens. Also, these variations might explain the possible inclusion of this card as part of the N172 series.

Just as Gypsy Queens are a scarcer variety of Old Judges, this California League Gypsy Queen could be a tougher variety of the Old Judge PCL sub series.

What is curious about this card, however, is that the font above “Gypsy Queen” does not match any other font from either the N171 or N174 Series. Also, Jay’s observation about the “Goodwin and Co.” font is correct – it is more condensed than that of other Gypsy Queen cards but otherwise similar. The light background is also slightly unusual for this pose – especially considering the facial contrast. Finally, the mixing of typeset serif and sans serif fonts is unique among Gypsy Queens. It is also rarely (never?) found on other N172s. Perhaps all these peculiarities contribute to the singularity of this card.