Discovered: A 1909 Article Describing the T206 Craze

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Posted By: Scot Reader

I have removed the full-text of the article in an abundance of caution over distribution rights.

The full article citation is:

Charlotte Observer, "The Small Boy's Mania," August 9, 1909

Thanks.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Scott, thanks for that. Wonderful article.

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Posted By: leon

Fantastic article Scot....thanks for sharing it....

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Posted By: dstudeba

Wow that article was great, thanks!

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Posted By: Matt

Scot - very cool; thanks for sharing!

My Trade/Sale Page

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Yes. Fantastic article!!

I guess when I go back in my time machine I'll have some real competition.

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Great article --Thanks for sharing.

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Posted By: Bill Stone

by the way I have never heard the phrase " a frying-sized kid" before.

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Posted By: Tyler

Incredible Scot, thanks for sharing. It's cool to think that just maybe a card in my collection, at one time, was flipped in the air by a kid trying to win it for his collection. In my case the card was then stepped on, picked up, folded and placed in pocket, but still a cool thought.

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Posted By: Doug

Great stuff, thanks for putting it up!

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Very unusual writing style.

"the small boy congregates..."

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Posted By: Scott M.

Hi Scott,

That is a great article. Thanks for posting it!

Notice how the article mentions that the images of Cobb and Wagner are very desireable. I guess the boys spent a lot of time looking for that elusive Wagner card

Scott M.

p.s. - I have a couple of similar types of articles that I've been meaning to work into some type of web page but would be appropriate to post in this thread. I'll try to add a couple of them this evening.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Interesting that the author noted that kids went after the pictures of Ty Cobb and Hans Wagner. What made him think that Hans Wagner even existed, since it is unlikely he ever saw one.

And I always assumed there was a collecting mania, based on the enormous number that have survived.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Scott and I posted the same thought at the same moment.

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Posted By: J Hull

That's awesome, Scot. Thanks for sharing it.

Maybe there was just a presumption in the minds of the boys that there would be a Wagner card. I guess it's clear that without even trying the ATC had a chase card from the very beginning.

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Posted By: Doug Moore

Scott:
This is awesome, terrific find! I guess we can see our beloved T206 set was popular from the get go.

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Posted By: robert a

Scot,

This is an amazing little article. I knew zeenuts were played with and thrown around with the winner taking all, but not t206. Also neat that it mentions Hans Wagner. Wonder how many kids were disappointed after not receiving one of his cards? I always figured men who smoked would give the cards to their son and I'm sure some did if they weren't assaulted by the kids waiting at the cigar stand. Looks like kids were able to buy the cigs too.

Thanks for posting it.

Rob

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Posted By: PC

The article explains why so many T206s survived:

(1) there were a lot of them printed -- because of the demand due to kids wanting them; and

(2) adults didn't simply toss them in the garbage with the pack wrapping -- again, because kids wanted them.

So, we can thank the youth of 1909-11 for saving so many of these cards. Although, I cringed a little when I read about them "flipping" T206s.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

Excellent find Scott, thanks for sharing!!

Marty

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Posted By: Scot Reader

It is interesting that Wagner is mentioned. Perhaps the author picked one player from each league for mention by name to stress that both American League and National League players were featured. Hans would have been an obvious choice for the Nationals given his established credentials as well as the fact that he was having a steller year in 1909, leading the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs batted in. The Pirates were also headed for a World Series title that year.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

A real illumination. Just brilliant to read an actual contemporary commentary.

And how about "Nearly every man under 20 years can remember the time when he yearned for the largest collection of the pictures and many of those old pictures are still to be found in unused trunks and forgotten corners".....

Can you believe that 'attic finds' of collections existed even back then????

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Posted By: Shawn Chambers

What a great snapshot of the times!

Does anyone know when the oldest newspaper article mentioning cards and collecting was published?

Shawn

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Posted By: J Hull

Reading that reminded me of something I'd come across a while ago that dovetails nicely.

Not all parents were pleased that their boys were buying cigarettes. It also happened to be illegal pretty much everywhere.

From the St. Lucie County Tribune (Florida), October 15, 1909:

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

JAMIE H

I think the law varied from state to state, back then. In Georgia kids could buy cigarettes at age 14.


TED Z

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

SCOT....great find......

It's refreshing to read that 10 year kids were just as excited to acquire BB cards 100 years ago....as we were
in the late 1940's....'50s....'60s....'70s....'80's, and early '90s. I don't know if this has been true since the late
1990s (due to the high price of BB card packs, since).

Also, the 10 year old's enterprising actions of spending their nickles to buy a pack of Piedmont's, remove the
T206 card and then sell the cigarettes for a profit so they could buy more Piedmont packs.

Reminds me of us kids getting empty soda bottles and redeeming them for nickles to buy BOWMAN, LEAF, and
TOPPS BB card packs....back in the late 1940's and early 1950's.



TED Z

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Posted By: jay wolt

Cool article.
It reminds me of this post card I have

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Posted By: 1880nonsports

sumptin Ted. I thought they were buying the packs for a nickle - removing the cards - and selling the packs at a DISCOUNT of 2 or more packs for a nickle. I think they were actually in effect "buying" the cards not the smokes - like buying the cards and throwing away the gum........

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Posted By: 1880nonsports

(nice PC btw Jay)

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Posted By: barry arnold

many thanks, Scot.
great history and great fun!!!!
there's still nothing like these wonderful baseball cards.

best,
barry

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Wow..that was a great read. Thanks for posting it.

I used to buy cigarettes for my dad when I was 9 or 10 at the gas station a block away from our house. I have no idea what the law was then, but they always sold them to me.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Hey Scot,

Thank you for posting that, and congratulations on finding it!!!

FW

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

Me too Dan.

I know I must have bought hundreds of packs of smokes for my dad.. he smoked, Camels without the filters forever..

Marty

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Posted By: Anthony S.

They used to have a cigarette machine at the Safeway down the street from my parents' house, so one day when I was 8, I bought a pack of Marlboros and smoked half of it in the bathtub while reading MAD magazine and ashing into a dixie cup. Not well received by my folks.

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Posted By: Paul Carek

Made my day, Scot! Thanks very much.

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Posted By: bz

Historic newspapers are truly the only time machine that we have. They were printed at the moment, and captured that moment to convey to us now.

This article is a great example of this! Great piece!

If you feel this is interesting, then imagine reading colonial newspapers that report the Boston Massacre, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, or the victory at Yorktown! Those are even more amazing considering we get to travel to the birth of our nation. Hard to believe, but those papers are alive and well(quite scarce)...you fellas would enjoy them immensely.

Going back to a previous debate, notice how it says baseball "pictures" and not cards, in the article. So what really is considered a card

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Posted By: Paul Carek

Which raises an interesting question: when did people first start using the phrase "baseball cards?"

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Posted By: Chris Counts

Now that the article has been removed, where can I find it?

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Posted By: Steve

Me too, the link you provided got me no where.

Hyperlink please?


Steve

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Posted By: boxingcardman

I can't find it.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Robert Klevens

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Posted By: Bill Williams

Reading that reminds me of the little old ladies that used to get into fights over beanie babies when i worked in a retail store

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Posted By: J Levine

Didn't some of the early ads for the t206 cards picture Wagner...maybe that is where the author got the idea.

Joshua

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Fantastic article. I was hoping the closing would reference the 19th century baseball "pictures". Interesting how the knowledge of Ty Cobb cards at a particular location helped them sell more product.

Thanks for sharing!

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski

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Posted By: Art M.

Scot,
Great article, thanks for posting! Just amazing.
Art

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Posted By: PC

Those postcards are really interesting too ... puts a visual to the article.

Think about being a "city kid" of 10 in 1909. There was no TV, no radio, no video games, no bikes, no skateboards, and probably not much sports equipment. And little to no disposable money. What did they do with their time? Apparently, they ran the streets hounding grown men (most of which were smokers, because they also needed something to do) for cigarette cards.

A cigarette card must have been a big deal to a kid back then (heck, cards seemed like a big deal to me back in 1975). They must have gone absolutely crazy for T206s. No wonder so many survive 100 years later.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

What is a 'frying-sized kid' ?

Marty

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Posted By: George

I think the origin of the term was that "fry" means "small fish." This led to the term "small fry," which was used as a sort of endearing term for young boys. I do not think "small fry" was typically appled to girls. I think the writer of the 1909 article was trying to be cute by using "frying-sized kid." I do not think he was a Jeffrey Dahmer type.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

I haven't heard the term small fry in forever but I know that i heard it before.

Marty

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Posted By: Red

1903 date or postcard number at bottom on front and 1912 postmark date.

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

Nice postcard Red!

Marty