What Are These Called?

[Tsaiko]

Leon, I saw the description on google, but missed the listing on your site - I see it now. Nice card. So there's no history on these?
If there's only a few of these, promotions, the target audience must have been narrow - maybe regional, even outside of Chicago?
Buy a suit and get a free giant baseball card??
Someone must know something, I've googled every combination I can think of and have come up with squat.

milkit1 - Nice find! Leon says his Walsh is 11x18 and though mine looks identical to his, mine measures 11x13, so there is obviously some variations in size as well as wording.

Interesting.

[milkit1]

The variation is in the tagline at the bottom of the Lobert/Kling. They say different things. Very weird!

[bmarlowe1]

Tsaikos really nice picture was taken at West Side Grounds in Chicago in either 1906 or 1907. That is definitely the left field line seats in the background - the section that begins just beyond 3rd base and extends out beyond the foul pole. (Milkit1's Frank Chance photo is 1907 - that one is game action).

That is Kling at first based with a catchers mitt and it does look to be staged - note the vast expanse of empty seats.

[Tsaiko]

Thanks and good eye bmarlowe1. This is what a real play looked like there.
I guess Kling is blocking the stairway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pi...rld_Series.jpg
Full View:
http://www.ticketcity.com/images/wor...rld-series.jpg

Well if you guys don't know anything about these, I'll continue researching.

Maybe these were made special for "Big Jim" Colosimo to be hung in his brothels It would be nice if there was an interesting history behind these.

[Leon]

My best guess is that these were given to retailers (think Boston Garter but not as nice) to help advertise/sell the line of clothing. By showing a player(s) it would give an implicit endorsement of the product, not unlike any other advertising sign....card . They seem to be too big to be anything but an advertising sign, imo....It would be nice to find a mention of a player getting a few bucks for letting their likeness be used for promotion.

[Tsaiko]

Sounds like a plausible scenario Leon. The only reference I can find on W.D. Schmidt is a link to your personal collection, lol.

Maybe the players didn't get paid and W.D. Schmidt got batted out of business
Or maybe their suits were as bad as their ads

The truth is out there - waay out there.

[triwak]

Very cool large cards!