W502 Back Mystery

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Gil:

I think it's a reasonable deduction to think that the W502s are closely related to the E210s as well as all the different F50 issues. They all look the same, and they all have similar checklists.

The W502 checklist seems to be a combination of the checklists of the E210 type 1 and 2. The W502 checklist has 60 cards plus two variations, and all but 12 of them are identically numbered to the E210 Type 1 set. The Type 2 checklist resembles the W502s even more closely.

Add this to the mystery: up until this morning I had never seen a 1931 W502. Thanks to .20 listing day, there is a big grouping of them listen on eBay this morning - all have "One Bagger - Hold What You Got" backs, and some of the backs face right, and some face left. Same back printing characteristic as the 1928 W502s and the E210s.

At least in the case of the Tony Lazzeri, the image is the same on the 1928 and 31 W502s.

I'm beginning to think that, in order to figure this out, I've almost got to examine the W502s, E210s, and F50s together. I'll bet they were all manufactured by the same company between 1927 and 1931. The differences in the checklists are subtle, but they're there.

I'm also beginning to wonder if the blank-backed W502s are W502s at all, and not some other issue that is, as of yet, uncatalogued (to my knowledge - I guess I really should buy a catalogue). I mean, if it's got a Yuengling's back we call it a Yuengling's. If it's got a York Caramel back we call it a York Caramel. If it's got a Tharp's back we call it a Tharp's. If it's got a "One Bagger" back we call it a W502. If it's got a blank back, and the checklists are virtually all the same, how do we know it's from the same set as the other W502s? Why don't we call it a blank-backed Yuengling's?

Either way, I'm having a lot of fun piecing together information about these. Keep it coming, I promise I'll share it with everyone!

-Al