Most Overlooked Decade in Hobby History?

[Butch7999]

Are game cards allowed at this party?

[Tom S.]

Haven't seen any examples from these sets yet, so I'll put these out there:

[Tom S.]

Some other types from the 20's:

[Tom S.]

Non-US produced cards count too :

[brianp-beme]

If you strip away a decade full of black & white, all you are left are strips of color.

Brian

[oldjudge]

Rhett is exactly right. The decade of the 1890s was the quietest decade of card issuance by far. What must have made it seem even worse to contemporary collectors then was that the second half of the 1880s was probably the greatest time for cigarette card issuance ever. Then, in early 1890, James Duke formed the American Tobacco Company, a monopoly that controlled over 90% of the cigarette market. Overnight, the need to insert cards to differentiate one cigarette brand from another was obviated. Really the only semi-significant card issue of the 1890s was the Mayo set. The only set encompassing most of Major League baseball was the amazing Whitehead and Hoag pins. So, if you love cards, you have good reason to hate James Duke.

[Cozumeleno]

Some of mine

[jerrys]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Rhett is exactly right. The decade of the 1890s was the quietest decade of card issuance by far. What must have made it seem even worse to contemporary collectors then was that the second half of the 1880s was probably the greatest time for cigarette card issuance ever. Then, in early 1890, James Duke formed the American Tobacco Company, a monopoly that controlled over 90% of the cigarette market. Overnight, the need to insert cards to differentiate one cigarette brand from another was obviated. Really the only semi-significant card issue of the 1890s was the Mayo set. The only set encompassing most of Major League baseball was the amazing Whitehead and Hoag pins. So, if you love cards, you have good reason to hate James Duke.

Yes, the practice of insert cards all but stopped when competition ended in January, 1890 when Buck Duke chartered the ATC - forcing his competitors to unite in order to survive. The 1895 N300 Mayo Cut Plug cards and in subsequent years the game and comic sets. Mayo fell at the start of 20th century.

However, during the quiet 1890s, Duke did go through the expense of issuing the 1893 N135 Talk of the Diamond & 1894 N142 Honest Cabinets Sets.

[Seiklis]

Few of mine

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Seiklis

Few of mine

]

Looks like the same bug that ate your Shaute ate my Ruffing...

[yanksfan09]

I love 20's black and white issues... Also the decade of Ruth's dominance!

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Butch7999

Are game cards allowed at this party?

I've been around the block a few times, but I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know what card issue this is. The only game cards I'm aware of from the 1920's are the Walter Mails Game Cards and the Major League Die-Cuts. Would you care to enlighten me (us)? What does the back look like?

[Butch7999]

Hi Derek, thanks for the question! Yeah, that's a pretty tough issue.
Baseball ~ The Modern Card Game, produced in 1921-22 by Schulz Amusement Card Co.

We've seen only a couple of examples, including just a lone complete set, in almost thirty years.
The card above is the only one we own. Here's another back-and-face, though:

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Butch7999

Hi Derek, thanks for the question! Yeah, that's a pretty tough issue.

Very cool! I have certainly never seen one of these before and now I don't feel so bad that I had never heard of the issue. It certainly isn't on any type-card list I've ever seen. Can I assume that each card has the same image/player on front? It looks just like a 1922 American Caramel E120 - Series of 240. Do you know who the player is?

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

Very cool! I have certainly never seen one of these before and now I don't feel so bad that I had never heard of the issue. It certainly isn't on any type-card list I've ever seen. Can I assume that each card has the same image/player on front? It looks just like a 1922 American Caramel E120 - Series of 240. Do you know who the player is?

Just looked through some E120 images...looks like it's Heinie Groh (of the New York Nationals)...but interestingly, the border drawings are consistent with those used for some of the Cincinnati Reds players in the set. And the photo appears to have a shadow under him (vs. the photo used in the E120 set). I personally think the shadow under Groh makes the image much more awesome!

[Butch7999]

Hi Derek -- correct on Groh, and yes, the card backs are all identical.
Funny thing with card designs in this era -- there seem to be at least a few unexpected crossovers.
The Major League Base Ball Game by Parker Brothers, which has a confoundingly confusing history
involving a variety of back and face designs for its cards, multiple name changes, and copyright issues
with basically identical games made by other companies, includes on its rules sheet, for no apparent reason,
photos of the Cobb and Ruth cards from the E120 American Caramel and/or V61 Neilson Chocolate sets.

By the way, we took a few minutes to run through our files, and besides the Mails game (just us,
but we don't consider the cut-out player-figures from the Major League Ball game "cards"),
1920s games with cards also include...

'Babe' Ruth's Baseball Game (Milton Bradley, 1929-36)
"Babe Ruth" Witch-E Base-Ball Game (Baltimore Novelty Co Inc, c1920)
Hall's National League Card Game ~ Baseball (Hall's Baseball Card Co, 1925)
Hatfield's Parlor Base-Ball Game (The Hatfield Co, 1914-21) /
Hatfield's Parlor Base Ball (Federal Specialty Co, 1926)
Knickerbocker Base Ball (Reinig Game Co, 1923)
Lloyd's Scientific Baseball (Lloyd's Scientific Game Co, 1927)
The Major League Base Ball Game (Parker Brothers, c1922)
National Card Baseball Game (National Card Baseball Co, c1923?)
New Card Baseball Game (National Card Baseball Co, c1922-23?)
Olsen's Base Ball played with Cards (Olsen Games Co, 1922)
PlayBall (Warren Manufacturing Co, 1922)
Psychic Baseball (M C Meyer, 1920s) /
Psychic Base Ball (Psychic Base Ball Corp, 1927)
Universal Baseball Playing Cards (Lewis A Bedard, 1929)
Waner's Baseball Game (Waner's Baseball Inc, 1928-1930s)
World's Champion Base Ball Card Game (The Champion Amusement Co, 1919-1920s)

At least eight of those are what we'd call "scarce" to "rare." If anybody sees any of 'em, we call dibs.
None of those feature player photos, although most (not all) have at least some baseball-themed
illustration.

There's also The National-American Base Ball Game (the "Lajoie game") by Parker Brothers,
which debuted prior to or during WWI but may have stayed in production and on the market
into the 1920s. And one or two Japanese games may possibly qualify for the list as well.
As always, if we're wrong on the dates for any of those, we welcome corrections.