Old Judge - 2500+ poses & growing, but stable at 521 subjects

[insidethewrapper]

Joe- Were all 521 subjects available to the public in cigarette packs ? It seems odd that some of the cards are only available in quantities of 1 or 2 if they were all inserted into packs. Are some from uncut sheets or proofs ? If so, should they be included in the set ?

[Joe_G.]

Hello Mike,

It is my belief that all the subjects were available from packs of cigarettes but far from equal quantities. In the case of California League cards, they may have been a late 1889 addition (longer/later season) and/or Goodwin & Co. may have been unsure about popularity of cards featuring players unfamiliar to most in the East and Mid-West. FWIW, I also believe there were more than 19 California League subjects. Another 5 would round out a 24 card sheet.

It is also believed that many of the Old Judge cards originate from "team sheets" with some teams from given years more difficult than others. For example, the Chicago Maroons are tough while the St. Louis Whites not so much (both 1888 only issues).

Furthermore, there are a number of possibilities that may account for the random tough subject / pose / variation. Consider the 1889 production of McVey who can be found with Milwaukee, Denver, and St. Joseph. With each team change a new 24 card sheet was produced quite possibly with a new assortment of players. Similarly, when an error was realized such as a Strauss/Struck or a "no name", production from that 24 card sheet halted and some of the players may not have made it to the replacement sheet. Of course I have no proof of any of this but believe it to be a reasonable explanation.

[Joe_G.]

A bump back to the top after reviewing Lew Lipsets 19th Century Encyclopedia from 1983. At the time of printing some 27 years ago, the N172 checklist was missing the following four subjects:

Jocko Flynn - Omaha (Fb)
Leighton Gibson - Philadelphia Athletics (Fb)
James McDonald - Oakland (Fc)
Harry O'Day - Sacramento (Fc)

A pair of 1888 Fb cards together with a pair of 1889 California League cards. As Jay shared previously, the last entry was Harry O'Day, September of 1996.