Comprehensive Exhibit Supply Co (ESCO) Information

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by wrapperguy

My father, who turned 90 today, began collecting Exhibits and now has passed his love for postcard-style cards to me. I agree that the 1926s in particular are extremely tough, unless I am looking in the wrong places. We still need over 70 of them and never see one, and then when I do, it is one we already have. I have made significant progress on the 1923-24 set in the past few years and only need the Gonzales and Ruth. All the other Exhibits sets between 1921-1928 can be had with a little patience and money. Of the 4-in 1s, it is a terrific year if I can get one 1931-32 or 1933 knocked off the list. Tough to find particularly when you only need a few to complete the sets. The search continues and getting one still brings a smile to Dad's face.

That is so great that you and your Dad can share this.

[wrapperguy]

Thanks, Adam. It is special. Starting at the 1982 or 83 Chicago National, Dad and I went to a ton of shows together. Then, I started taking my sons to the shows to have their pictures taken with the autograph guests. It was costly then but outrageous today with the "Photo Opp Extra $20". Dad would hold one or both of my sons while I took the snapshot. They had their picture taken with DiMaggio, Mantle, Ali, Aaron, you name it. Had the photos enlarged and then sent them away for autographing. Had them personalized, again, costly but outrageous today with the "Personalizations Extra $15". It was awesome to have 3 generations of Schwarzes at the shows and looking at the photos brings back fond memories. Sorry to go off on a tangent to the thread.

[fkw]

This example shows IMO why these 4-in-1 cards were meant to be cut up into smaller cards like strip cards.

[Exhibitman]

Actually, Frank, nearly all I've ever seen are PC backed, which indicates an intent on the mfg part not to cut them up but to use them as postcards. There are also ESCO nonsports cards that have explicit cutting instructions on them, such as the Tenderfoot series or the poker chips, so it seems that the company was capable and willing to say when its products were meant for cutting.

Is the Judge "single" the same thickness as the 4 on 1 next to it?

[Exhibitman]

Here is the mutoscope variation on the PC backs from the 1950s:



As far as the PCL set goes, a full set was auctioned off a few years back at the National for approx. $35,000

[thegashousegang]

First of all, thanks to everyone in this thread - there's a lot of useful info for Exhibit collectors.

I've been collecting the 1921 set almost exclusively - and I'm now ready to venture into the rest of the 20's and 30's. Does anyone know of a site that has a full gallery of the Exhibits sets? VCP does a fantastic job of showing most of the scans (and Oldcardboard has some), but there are still some missing images I would like to see from some of these sets. Since there are some years that use the same image as a previous set, I'm trying to get everything straight in my research before I begin actively buying other issues. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Exhibitman]

I don't know of anywhere that has one. It is really only the 21-22-23 repeated players (like Ruth) that will mess with you since the 25s and 26s have year-specific typefaces, the 27s and 28s are different colors than the others, and the 1930s are all distinctive one way or another (but you will need a Standard Catalog) to sort them out; I still do & I've been collecting them for 20+ years). The old Beckett memorabilia book (and I mean old; 1980s) used to cover 21-22-23 in one omnibus listing which actually helps sort them out.

FWIW, I've grown convinced over time that the 21-23 issues flowed one into the other with some of the 1922s replacing some of the 1921s and some of the 1923s replacing some of the 1921s and 1922s. I think that's why you see some 1921's and 1922's more commonly than others and why you see some reused artwork but with different borders or different cropping in the 1923-4 issue--ESCO was trying to cut corners by issuing less than full new sets every year and was recycling its art but still claiming a new set. ESCO then seems to have realized that it could do OK with new cards and issued new sets (albeit with recycled images) until the [last] Depression, then recycled the images again into the 4 on 1s that it also seems to have redesigned every year with minor adjustments to tints and player selection. After the 4 on 1s burnt out we know for a fact that ESCO flowed one year's issue into the next from 1939-66; there is a scan on my site of a full sheet with a Salutations Ted Williams and a Rocky Colavito in Detroit gear (he was traded after the 1960 season for Kueen) on it, which means that some Salutations were issued until at least 1961.