Does Pre-war mean pre-1939?

[Leon]

Hey Anson
Nice article. I feel the point you make is salient concerning the start of the war, when taken in the context of the world. I guess it matters that we are discussing pre-war baseball cards and most collectors are really only thinking US.....right or wrong. The 1941 date seems like the correct one to use in that instance.

Originally Posted by Cozumeleno

That's my article, so I'll chime in.

First, since there's some confusion, as a point of clarification, my definition is pre-1940 cards (i.e. 1939 counts while 1940 doesn't). I realize there are some 1939 issues that technically came after the 'start' of the war but trying to separate those out is virtually impossible.

There's no consensus on it as we see here. My pre-1940 date hinges on the fact that these are called 'pre' war cards. A 1940 card, in my opinion, shouldn't be considered pre-war because war was already occurring. And using dates of when paper rationing started, when cards declined, etc., never really made sense to me. They're called pre-war not pre-paper shortage, etc. I can respect differing opinions on that. I'd just disagree a little there. I mean, if there was no paper shortage at all, does that mean we don't have a pre-war era?

I can understand a 1945 date more than I can 1941, to be honest. I interpret pre-war as before the war began but others may interpret it as when the war ended. Again, I don't agree but I can understand that. But 1941 won't ever make sense to me because pre-war cards encompass more than simply U.S. issues. If we're using a country's (in this case, the U.S.) entry date into WWII as the determining factor that means pre-war dates would differ depending on the country someone is in. To me, the era should be the same no matter where you live and having pre-war eras with different dates around the globe seems like it would be far too confusing.

All of that said, I realize there's no consensus, nor will there ever be. But that's my story and I'm sticking to it

[insidethewrapper]

This is the way I look at various card issued dates :

19th Century
Early 20th Century ( 1900-1945)
Mid 20th Century ( 1946-1980)
Late 20th Century - Modern Era ( 1981-1999)
21st Century ( 2000 - Present)

[Cozumeleno]

That's fair, Leon, and thanks for the compliment. The majority of the cards in the context here are certainly American baseball issues. While I'm not a fan of having different pre-war eras for different types of cards, if a separation of sorts was justified, it would probably be for American baseball.

Given that my site includes football, basketball, and hockey, as well as numerous international issues (I catalog any set that has even a single baseball, basketball, football, or hockey card), I sort of have to look at the overall context. That said, I can understand why only collectors of American baseball issues would define the period a little differently.

Originally Posted by Leon

Hey Anson
Nice article. I feel the point you make is salient concerning the start of the war, when taken in the context of the world. I guess it matters that we are discussing pre-war baseball cards and most collectors are really only thinking US.....right or wrong. The 1941 date seems like the correct one to use in that instance.