1916 Indianapolis Brewing Co Set

[timn1]

Too long ago to find in my email - probably 2002 or so - another complete or very-near-complete set of Indy Brewing surfaced on ebay, sold in single cards and small lots. I bought a bunch of them. The distinctive thing about this set was that it had been seriously water-damaged, so that the fronts had large areas of white where the ink layer had been obliterated. You can still find cards from this group occasionally in the hobby. For a while after that, almost all the Indy Brewing circulating were from this group, but eventually more undamaged ones surfaced.

I remember speaking with the seller (back when ebay didn't monitor those conversations so well ) and he said that he had gotten it from the family who had had it since 1916. It was water damaged when it was lent to a neighbor or friend, who then returned it by dropping it off on a doorstep. Then came a thunderstorm...

I wish I had written evidence for all this but unless my emails from that period suddenly reappear, anecdote will have to do. But it does lend credence to the idea that Indy Brewing cards were sold in set form.

Originally Posted by nolemmings

It is truly amazing that a near intact set of these cards is being sold, but maybe it shouldn't be. I have not been able to find out much about how these cards were distributed, but I did post the back of this "dope book" several years ago. The book was published by Felix Mendelsohn (note inset taken from interior page) and included a different photo and card number for Scott than what ultimately was issued in the Indy Brewing set.


What is still eluding me is whether the cards were available as something other than a complete set, and if so how. About half the Mendelsohn-related 1916 sets required you to do something once a week for 10 weeks, two others required you to perform some tasks to get the full set and the rest looked to be single card at a time projects. It seems that Indy Brewing would have been the easiest of these sets to complete, with just a one-time payment required. Even if the cards were not well promoted, it would appear that those who were interested would have the whole set. So why is this Heritage auction the first time anything close to a set has been offered? Spectacular find nonetheless.