Who is the Cracker Jack expert?

[obcmac]

The one other thing about these cards is that they are a bit thicker than other 1915's. Find any cj that is dirty, with heavily rounded corners...and I will bet you that it's from 1915, has no caramel stains, will show a heavy line of dirt at one edge and will be noticably thicker that other 1915's. I can send mine out as loaners if you want to compare.

[fkw]

I cant ever recall seeing a fake E145-2 with the back upside down.

I know someone can make a homemade fake like this, but all the doctored reprints Ive seen have the back NOT upside down.

Cards in condition like the 2 you pictured are common, missing corners and dirt. and they are the easiest to tell if the back is upside down too

Dont know about the thickness variations though, I do know that E145-1 are slightly thinner than E145-2

[fkw]

PS. also I think the cards might seem thicker because well used and played with cards (dirty), the paper may "fluff up" a bit from handling IMO. The paper stock of CJs is a porous rough textured paper similar to a thin construction paper. Most/Many E145-2 will not have the staining because they were obtained as a complete set from company, while all E145-1 cards were obtained from the boxes of CJ.
Id think the higher grade/clean cards were stored in a way to keep them pressed and thus they might seem thinner??

Thats the only thing I can think of on why well used worn cards might seem thicker.


Another example.... Well worn R319 Goudeys always seem thicker than the sharp clean NRMT ones.

[fkw]

1914 E145-1


1915 E145-2

[FrankWakefield]

FKW, I agree with what you say about the reverses. Thing is with the scans way up there is that the reverse on the top left matches up with the card on the bottom right, as evident by the way that corner is missing. So I think these are 1915 cards that he's posted. The way the original scans are it's initially a bit deceptive.

[brianp-beme]

Interesting point about the rounded corners...I have seen plenty of well-rounded corners, but usually they seem to occur on cards that are thicker, like Goudeys. Does a thin issue (like the Cracker Jack cards) naturally round, or is it more likely to chip and break away with age, as I have seen in countless Cracker Jacks?

By the way the cards do look authentic...except the corners do strike me as odd.

Brian