T206 Back Stamps

[frankbmd]

Provenance



I'm the fourth owner of my Waddell, that I purchased from Soutter who got it from the son of Nelson Tisdel.

[darwinbulldog]

A couple of reasons they might seem more common on T206s:

1) Even if the stamping rate is the same across issues, there are just so damn many T206s out there that there are many thousands of stamped ones and most of us have seen well over 100 of those by now.

2) Many stampers would be more hesitant to stamp a T205, T207 or any other issue that provides a player bio or other reading of interest than a card whose back is blank or otherwise identical to those of many other cards in the same set.

[Sean]

The stamp never bothered me, as long as I wasn't buying the card for the back.


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[Exhibitman]

It is akin to what people did with bookplates in books; just IDs it as from your collection. Heck, I knew some kids who used to write their names on their cards. It isn't like they were worth anything back in the day. I love this card:




To me it is a blank-backed scrap from an OPC sheet but to Carmine 40 years ago it was a valued part of his childhood collection. Or this folk-art card:



Someone took a 1940s Coney Island card of Sullivan and created a custom mount for it. It is part of the charm of collecting old items to see how the wear they accumulated reflects how they were owned and used over the years. Someone went to a lot of effort to make this card; they actually made a whole set like this.

[toppcat]

One explanation could be through the mail trades and "on approval" batches of cards being sent around. It would be a way to ID who the cards belong to while being circulated for such purposes. Not the sole reason but certainly one once you get into the post WW2 years.

[Jobu]

There was also a rumor at the time that stamping one's T206 would lead to a great career as an author.

[Rhotchkiss]

Great responses and thoughts. Thanks to all who posted. I think it may certainly be from when people would send cards all over the country and needed to designate which ones were theirs; and I think the explanations why stamps on t206s are more common than others makes sense. Keep on with the thoughts/theories, and please post your back-stamped cards (not just t206). I don’t have any.....

[Rascal1010]

The only 2 that I have in my collection are this pair of Mordecai Brown Portraits. I have found nothing on the WM McNUTT CALAIS, ME, but was told the one stamped with the ornate D J was formerly from the collection of actor David Janssen. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I guess until I can prove different, this "three fingered Brown" will remain a fugitive.

Either way I think the back stamps are cool, and make some really nice presenting T206 cards very affordable!