Comprehensive Exhibit Supply Co (ESCO) Information

[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.

[smtjoy]

Hey Jimmy,

Great advice from Adam, use SCD for most and you will be fine. I will say when buying the 4 on 1's dont just follow what the flip or listing says but look at the card and you id it because so many are listed/graded wrong.

The 1923 are really the only issue I had a hard time figuring out but you dont see many of them and plenty of people here who can help you out.

Good luck and enjoy the new sets!

[thegashousegang]

Thanks for the extra advice guys. I think the only issue left is if I do not plan to collect some year's sets - for example, if I want a nice example of a player that appears in a few sets I might want to buy the best looking one instead of choosing the earliest issue. Without scans of all of them, I guess I have little choice than to play the waiting game until one is for sale...or just get whatever pops up (besides the fact that some years are extremely tough to find at all). I guess that's just part of the fun of collecting, right!

[deadballera]

a couple of Arbuckle exhibits...