Ca. 1907 Nap Lajoie - Nickel Theatre Trade Card

[Leon]

I received this email potentially dating the card to the original 1907 date that is written on it.

Leon,

As a Cleveland type collector, I too have never seen your card, but I think I unlocked the puzzle. At first it looked like maybe a Philadelphia one, since he played there before Cleveland, but I found a Nuckel Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lajoie was from Woonsocket. Rhode Island’s favorite son at that time. The Nickel Theatre was a new name in 1906, matching your card hand date.

So I believe it is legitimate and a trade card traceable to Rhode Island.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6599



Thoughts?
.

[oldeboo]

Originally Posted by Leon

I received this email potentially dating the card to the original 1907 date that is written on it.

Leon,

As a Cleveland type collector, I too have never seen your card, but I think I unlocked the puzzle. At first it looked like maybe a Philadelphia one, since he played there before Cleveland, but I found a Nuckel Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lajoie was from Woonsocket. Rhode Island’s favorite son at that time. The Nickel Theatre was a new name in 1906, matching your card hand date.

So I believe it is legitimate and a trade card traceable to Rhode Island.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6599



Thoughts?
.

I saw that too and it might be right. I was thinking somewhere around Philadelphia or in the vicinity of his hometown above anywhere else.

I agree with the above mentions that this could potentially be connected to a moving picture that Lajoie was in, most likely produced by Siegmund Lubin. Lubin was one of the early pioneers in the film industry and was anchored in Philadelphia. Some of his baseball moving pictures focused on the success of the Athletics, so they probably had the most demand in the Philadelphia and surrounding rural areas. If the card was given out around his hometown, it may have been connected to a showing as well. It could also have just been a promotion not related to a moving picture he was in.

The 1907 date aligns with the rise of nickel theatres and the distribution of souvenirs by theatres. From the best I can tell, nickel theatres were not much of a thing until 1905, then really hit their stride by 1907. I would feel pretty confident about the 1907 date on the Lajoie card.

Check out the Lubin postcard example below. I’m not saying they are connected at all, but there are some interesting qualities.

Intriguing item.

[Leon]

Thanks for all of the info, guys. I just learned the only tidbit he had, from the person I got it from. He said it came from an estate in Brockton, MA. ...not too far from where we are talking about..

.

[oldeboo]

Originally Posted by Leon

Thanks for all of the info, guys. I just learned the only tidbit he had, from the person I got it from. He said it came from an estate in Brockton, MA. ...not too far from where we are talking about..

.

Here are more cookie crumbs back to the Rhode Island area as well. Another example of this card was owned by a fellow originally from Woonsocket. There certainly aren't a lot of these out there, but a few of them seem to have been hiding in the bushes up in New England.

Clipping is from The Atlanta Constitution 11 Oct 2001

[WillowGrove]

Ok that is great nugget of research Trey.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by oldeboo

Here are more cookie crumbs back to the Rhode Island area as well. Another example of this card was owned by a fellow originally from Woonsocket. There certainly aren't a lot of these out there, but a few of them seem to have been hiding in the bushes up in New England.

Clipping is from The Atlanta Constitution 11 Oct 2001

That is great, Trey. Thanks for finding it. Certainly is more legit with more than one example known. Although maybe this is that one? It is postcard size but they aren't really postcards. I call them trade cards...semantics maybe.
.

[Rhotchkiss]

Great find Trey!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by oldeboo

Here are more cookie crumbs back to the Rhode Island area as well. Another example of this card was owned by a fellow originally from Woonsocket. There certainly aren't a lot of these out there, but a few of them seem to have been hiding in the bushes up in New England.

Clipping is from The Atlanta Constitution 11 Oct 2001

Did nobody answer Don? We have the "Q" where's the "A"???

[oldeboo]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Did nobody answer Don? We have the "Q" where's the "A"???

I missed that part, huh? It wasn't anything that interesting. The answer basically said that it's hard to catalog postcards and value is partially determined by quantity, quality and condition. Lemke put a value of $200-$300 on it. The clipping is below.

[JLange]

I don’t want to read into this too much, but I am bothered by the misspelling “Nepoleon”. By 1907, Lajoie was 2 yrs into his player-manager role in Cleveland. He arguably had the greatest name recognition on the team just from that, but by this time the team was also being referred to as the “Naps” as well. Who misspells his name in that situation? Sure mistakes happen, and it could absolutely be just that, but come on, man…they’re the Naps, not the Neps! For this reason alone, and with no other info backing it up, I don’t think this item is from Lajoie’s time in Cleveland. My vote is that this hails from his Philadelphia years, before 1902.