Need advice on a pre-WW1 type collection

[BobC]

An S74-2 colored silk to go the white S74-1 silk
Colgan's Chip disc - regular version (And you can try to find separate Tin Top and Red Border versions as well.)
Nattional Game card
Polo Grounds Game card
T222 Fatima player photo card

[familytoad]

How about a N43?
Ornate…

M116 with the blue background is nice too…

[Vintagedeputy]

A Colgan's square proof and H818 would be cool..

[NiceDocter]

A Rose postcard if you can find a common would really stand out.

[FrankWakefield]

A nice bunch of cards, there.

E cards? E90-1,-2,-3. E102. E104.

T222 Fatima?

[nolemmings]

Many good suggestions, but I think to capture the diversity of what was going on back then, you will need a representative sampling of minor league cards. A C46 has a neat design and could show a Canadian team, a T210 is colorful and captures the South, and of course a Zeenut covers baseball in the West (one with a coupon would be great to show that redemption feature).

Even if you believe the e90-96s are too similar or repetitive, it seems incomplete not to have a card from one of the sets as representative of the caramel card collector. I also agree that a postcard is essential, and a Rose would be a great choice.

As for oddballs, I would find a Sporting News supplement, an m101-6 (great photography) and maybe a Piedmont stamp. I also would add a D304 Brunners Butter Krust, as it has a different look, and a 1917 bakery card, which served as a model for the 1921 issues in both size and style. Finally maybe a t213-2 Federal Leaguer with its distinctive blue typeset.

[phlflyer1]

One of these in lower grade should fit your price point and would make an attractive addition to the already great range of examples that you have.

These used to be thought of as being issued by a tobacco company but were somewhat recently identified as a gum/candy issue from a company named H.D. Smith & Co.

Edited to add that I see that Mark already has a "Scrapps" card on his radar. I think it would be a great addition!

[darkhorse9]

I like the N43 idea. Hopefully I can find a low grade at an affordable price.

I might consider a Scrapps tobacco also for another 19th century card. T222 would also fit well.

A WG1 would be fun, but I've never seen one in the wild.

I'll probably pass on all the E90 and related. They're just too similar to each other. Same with the Polo Grounds and other Game cards

A Dietsche postcard is a good idea. I'd almost rather get one that was used and postmarked rather than graded.

The idea is to have a wide variety of looks to interest even non collectors p who couldn't tell an E90 from an e93