Dating of The Reccius Cigar Card of Honus Wagner

[Rhotchkiss]

Jay, I don’t Know exactly what my bid was, it was whatever was the next increment and I think it started at like $250k. I knew I wouldn’t win it at that price and wanted to put in placeholder just in case I decided to go after the card (like I do with tons of items each auction).

I think the card is very special and I would love to own it/one. But it quickly went well beyond what I was willing to pay

[Peter_Spaeth]

It's very hard to follow all the address changes, but is there anything actually showing Reccius on Elliott Ave. in the late 1890s?

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It's very hard to follow all the address changes, but is there anything actually showing Reccius on Elliott Ave. in the late 1890s?

It seems two or three of his addresses were at or very near the ballpark where Louisville played its professional games. Also, it seems Henry Reccius was not simply an obscure cigar maker with few ties to baseball. Although it won’t solve the mystery of when this Wagner trade card was issued (I believe like most here that it was not at any time in the 19th Century) here are some random facts I found in old newspaper accounts in case someone wants to build on them with further investigation:
1. Henry was the groundskeeper at Eclipse Park in Louisville from 1876 through at least 1888, and was both elected and re-elected manager of the ballpark. The ballpark was located at 28th and Elliott, and Henry’s address in 1891 was “Elliott near intersection with 27th Street”. Also, he moved back to that same address or neighborhood in 1901– the 2608 Elliott address found on the trade card.
2. The Eclipse ballpark burned September 27, 1892. This may explain why Henry relocated that year. It also could have damaged his cigar-making business, since his listed address for 1892-1893 and 1895 has him working for someone else-- R.N. Newell and Bickel.
3. R.N. Newell appears in the Louisville papers somewhat often up to 1889, but not thereafter. Other than some barebones ads, the news focused on how the company was being sued, its assets attached, and finally sold at auction in 1889, so it is unclear what remained or was reorganized for Henry to list that company as associated with him in 1892-1893 .
4. CC Bickel was a widely known cigar manufacturer, with its most popular brand “Daniel Boone”. In 1893 it filed trademark infringement litigation over use of the "brand, head, face and features of Daniel Boone” by Joseph Steinberg on his cigar boxes. This would have alerted Henry to be careful in using Honus Wagner’s likeness on his own products, if he was not already aware.
5. A new Eclipse ballpark was built in 1893 at the SW corner of 28th and Broadway. Henry’s address is 2803 West Broadway for 1901-1903, again near or at the ballpark location. However, that ballpark was also destroyed by fire in August, 1899, i.e. before it was his listed address, and rebuilt at a different address by 1902.

As already noted, the Reccius family was big in Louisville baseball. Henry’s brothers John William (likely called Bill since the baby of the family also went by Johnnie) and Phil both played for the N.L. Louisville Colonels– their numbers can be found in Baseball Reference, and John William managed the Eclipse team when it had Tony Mullane and Pete Browning. Brother Frank Reccius played minor league ball for Milwaukee and was a minor league manager. After leaving the big leagues, brother John William managed a semi-pro team in town called the Reccius team, and they played at Reccius park on 28th and Garland. He owned a sporting goods store in town, and other Reccius family members played minor league or semi-pro ball.
A news story from 1902 says that Phil Reccius had “for about five years” been a cigar salesman for his brother Henry, meaning that Henry Reccius cigars were available at least as far back in 1897, for what that’s worth. Sadly, the story revolved around Phil being sent to an asylum after pulling a gun on a store owner who had put Henry’s cigar box on the bottom of the stack and who then declined to display it in a more prominent spot. Several instances were noted of Phil’s erratic behavior, alleged to have stemmed from getting hit by a batted ball in the early 1890's that knocked him unconscious. Less than a year after being placed in the asylum he was dead at age 41.
As most here know, the National League contracted four teams including Louisville after the 1899 season, when team President Barney Dreyfuss sold the release of Wagner, Clarke and a dozen or more remaining Louisville players to the Pittsburgh club. The city would get an American Association team in 1901, but of course Wagner was by then long gone.
Again no mystery solved, but I found the history interesting and maybe someone here can dig deeper.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Great info, thanks for posting, Todd.