1949 Exhibit Cards

[sealmark2]

Louis:

Send me your address and I will mail you a checklist I put together a couple of years ago. It just might be the most detailed around. If you want a copy I hope it helps. I sent it to at least one of the folks who have responded to your post but never heard back from them. Such is today's "hobby".

Mark K. Bowers
mkbow2@surewest.net

[fkw]

Oh Boy Adam 3 more......... Now I dont know, lol

Here is the SCD article from many years ago that I based my breakdown on, I have found a couple other errors with it in the past but overall its an OK article....

__________________________________________________ _______________________
The Post-War Exhibit Baseball Puzzle



By



Bob Schulhof



Sports Collectors Digest

February 12, 1993





The Exhibit Supply Co. of Chicago produced the longest running of baseball cards in existence, covering the interval from 1921 through 1966, making them very popular with collectors. While the price guides give values and checklists for each year through 1938, they lump everything after 1938 into just two “sets”. If there was ever a hoax on the collector world it is all those baseball card price guides that divide the later Exhibits into 1939-46 “Salutations” and 1947-66 everything else. Then you have a hard time explaining why Joe DiMaggio is listed at $15 while Ed Kranepool is spotted at $40. (This is only in books. I have seen people pay $100 for a Kranepool if they could find one!)



The fact is there was a set of 16, 32 or 64 cards issued each year from 1939 through 1966 with minor changes from year to year. This latter fact would make one think that all cards were of equal scarcity since Exhibit produced exactly the same number of each player in any given year.



After 1939, to make up each yearly set, Exhibit would review the previous year’s issue, keep some poses and players identical to the year before and add some new ones. While many Exhibit collectors collect by pose only and do not try to keep their cards in yearly order, some may wish to organize theirs by the year in which they first appeared. This practice of dropping some poses each year and adding new ones leaves a lot of room for variation in scarcity for a single player or pose since one pose might be a one-year issue, while another could have a run of five or even 10 years in the same form. The point is though, there is no such thing as a 1947-66 set! Even cards from the “Salutation” set are to be found merged in with the “1947-66” set.



The cause of the frustration is that Exhibit did not mark the cards with the year of production. They did give a clue to dating however, in that the post-war cards carried an identifying mark. “MADE IN USA” (all caps) was used from 1939 through 1950, “Made in USA” (upper and lower case) from 1951 through 1953, “PRINTED IN USA” (all caps) from 1954-1956 and “Printed In USA” (upper and lower case) after 1956. In the years before 1951 the “MADE IN USA” varied in size each year so that Exhibit fanatics can in fact close in on the year of issue of each card.



Even the great researcher Elwood Scharf (of the old Trader Speaks) was not able to unravel the Salutations produced from 1939 to 1945, all of which were produced in brown. We do know the 1939-41 sets were 16 cards and the 1942 sets were 32 cards. He lists as short runs and so hardest to find: Averill, Gehrig, Gomez, Hartnett, Klein, Kreevich, Cordially, Lombardi, Mulcahy, Very Best Wishes Newson (sic), Rizzo and Russell. The “Number 9” Williams was also issued in this period and was rated about “medium tough.” Paper shortages limited production, but Exhibits may have been the only baseball cards consistently available through the war years. These cards bore a large “MADE IN USA” of ¾ inch.



There were six cards to be found with ½ inch :MADE IN USA” which had to be replacements during 1942-1945 as they include Rieser and Pollett who did not have full years until 1941. In 1946, new plates were made and all cards given a red-brown color and a “MADE IN USA” of 9/16 inch. Fifteen pictures were repeats of what came before, while there were 14 new ones, and particularly Williams in a full-length batting pose, Feller in his follow through and a Greenberg side view. There were three changes in pose.



1947 was a big year as Exhibit returned to the production of a 64-card set. This would continue in all remaining sets except for the stat backs of 1962. Dickey, McQuinn and Ott were dropped with 28 of the others continuing on. DiMaggio continued to be produced into the “50s and the Williams uninterrupted through 1961, still in “Salutation” form! Hence, the “common” Williams. There were 35 new cards with the “Salutations” dropped, and a ½ inch “MADE IN USA” mark. These are the first cards referred to as the “1947-1966” set. The 1947 set was really half salutations and half new style.



Thirty-nine cards may be identified as 1948 since they sported a new 5/8 “MADE IN USA”. A rarity was created as Barney McCosky was issued in error as Barney Mc Caskey”. This was later corrected to a still incorrect “Mc Coskey” leaving one rare error (McCoskey) and one common one (Mc Caskey). They never got it right.



In 1949, 32 of the cards were given a new distinctive “AN EXHIBIT CARD” mark, and team cards were added for the first time. Eddie Waitkus was reissued with the “C” for Cubs airbrushed off his cap, so actually 33 cards were identifiable as being issued in 1949. The team cards first appear in this year.



In 1950, 25 new cards were issued with a 7/16-inch “MADE IN USA.”



After 1951, Exhibit abandoned the custom of changing the size of the mark each year and merely changed the mark to an upper and lower case “Made In USA”. There were 33 cards issued with this mark in the years 1951-1953. The 1952 set is easy to identify being unusually in B&W.



Cards from 1954-56 may be identified as having the mark “PRINTED IN USA” all in upper case. Thirty cards were issued in this way. All except one, the Pee Wee Reese, had the player’s name set in a distinctive typescript. In 1955, an anomaly occurs where the Rizzuto and Doby that first appeared in 1949 appears with the “AN EXHIBIT CARD” scratched off.



The years 1957-61 saw a new mark, that of “Printed in USA”. The first two years, 1957-58, brought 35 cards marked in this way of which 28 were completely new to Exhibit. A total of 47 changed cards were introduced in 1959, giving the first year when all 64 cards had the same mark “Printed in USA.” Even the “Salutation” Williams was updated this way. Up to now all cards were still somewhat reddish brown so it is revealing to note that in 1960 all cards were issued in black and white, and then in 1961 all cards were a deep brown. It is thus possible to do some dating by color in this issue.



1962 and 1963 saw a new fad for Exhibit, that of printing statistics and biographical information on the back. This was a welcome trend and was apparent on many different issues by the company from recording artists to astronauts. The baseball cards had complete statistics to compete with the gum cards of the day. All 1962 issues retained “Printed in USA” on the front. Twenty new cards were added and the 1962 set was dropped to an even 32 cards, 16 from each league. It was printed in both red and black versions. The “Printed in USA” added for 1962 was 11/16 inch. Thus, a number of players were omitted who saw only a one or two year run, creating rarities.



Exhibit also updated cards of players who switched teams by just airbrushing out the old team ID. Players or new poses who appeared in 1960-61 but not continued thereafter include: Richie Ashburn as a Cub, the real Frank Thomas (C on cap), Bud Daley, Jackie Brandt, Hank Bauer (plain cap) Don Blasingame (plain cap), Rocky Colavito (portrait to chest), Joe Cuningham (batting), Ted Kluszewski (plain cap), Harvey Kuenn (plain cap portrait), Carl Sawatski (plain cap), Herb Score (plain cap) and Roy Sievers (plain cap).



For 1963, the set was expanded to 64 cards and the additional 32 new cards had the “Printed in USA” on the back instead of the front.



By 1964, the company was in trouble and as an economy measure the 64 1963 cards were just reissued with blank backs. It is hard to tell some of the older poses from previous cards; Spahn for example, still having his one and only pose.

[whiteymet]

Gentlemen:

I believe the confusion on the number in the set comes from Franks's initial checklist which he has since updated. The 35 number is as someone else stated "foreign" to Exhibit Cards. I have all of Elwood Scharf's checklists from back in the day. As mentioned in the SCD article he is the GODFATHER of Exhibits. I knew him well and he was a great guy!!

I do not believe there is a Waitkus MARKED "An Exhibit Card". It is NOT on any of Scharf's lists. Can anyone verify the existance of this card??? If not, and you drop this card from the checklist you have 32 cards issued in the 1949 and again in 1950 with only the team cards changing. Thus 32 cards plus two different team cards for a total of 34.

Someone else also mentioned that they all come in sepia and B&W. I am attempting to complete the set both ways. Please check out my wants below and PLEASE LMK if you can help. I am also looking for 1955 Exhibits with the Post Card backs. My wantlist is below as well. I have extras to trade in this set including the MANTLE with the postcard back or will buy. Hope some of you out there can help and we can get a deal going.
Regards, Fred

1949 "AN EXHIBIT CARD" LL CORNER CARD IN BLACK AND WHITE NOT SEPIA:

APPLING, ASHBURN, DARK,DILLINGER, FOWLER, GUSTINE, KELLER, KELTNER, LEMON, MARION, MARSHAL, PAIGE, STANKY, STIRNWEISS, TEBBETS, THOMSON, VERNON, WALTERS, '48 BRAVES, '48 INDIANS, MAYBE '49 YANKS, '49 DODGERS


EXHIBIT POSTCARD BACK WANTLIST:

Ashburn, Baker, Baumholtz, Bilko, Campanella, Doby, Hodgers, Kaline, Kluzewski, Mathews, Mele, Musial, Reese, Robinson, Sauer, Snider, Woodling, Giants team

[skooter]

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my post about 1949 Exhibits. They've all been so helpful. Now I know who to look for! Special thanks to Mark, who took the time to document his Exhibit collection, and provided me his checklist. Most refreshing throughout this forum-----people willing to share info------no one mentioned "graded", or $$$$$.

[fkw]

On the Waitkus card, I never owned it, it was one of the cards I saw on eBay about 4-5 months ago being sold by a single dealer that had almost the whole run of these auctioned 1 at a time. At least 80% of my checklist was from that one week and one dealer. I do remember some of the cards were tough to make out the "AN EXHIBIT CARD" because of the contrast and a light background, but Im usually good about not guessing and usually make sure Im seeing what Im thinking. I just looked at the Waitkus cards and dont believe there would be an issue with the background color on it.
With that said, I have made errors before my checklist was just color coded checkmarks next to the corresponding listing in the SCD Catalog, I made sure to check the right pose variation, on the Waikus card it was the throwing w/plain uniform.

[fkw]

This may be the problem....
(from article above)
"In 1949, 32 of the cards were given a new distinctive “AN EXHIBIT CARD” mark, and team cards were added for the first time. Eddie Waitkus was reissued with the “C” for Cubs airbrushed off his cap, so actually 33 cards were identifiable as being issued in 1949. The team cards first appear in this year."


I may have added it to the checklist because of this note..... I will remove it until I actually see another. thanks for pointing this out, I am far from an expert in Exhibits

PS. the uniform was airbrushed, not the hat, .......so thats another error in the article.

[whiteymet]

Hi Frank:

Yep, I read that too, and it does not say Waitkus was issued with AN EXHIBIT CARD notation. Who was the ebay seller? We may be able to go back looking at his feedback to see who won the Waitkus and try to ask the buyer.

However, since Waitkus was not on any old checklists, and until someone can provide a scan of one you did the right thing by taking it off the checklist.

All the ones currently on ebay do not show the example we are talking about, and I am 99.9% sure the card does not exist. I have never seen it in my over 50 years of Exhibit collecting including a visit to the Exhibit plant in Chicago in 1966 when I got all the uncut sheets, I posted here in another forum.

Fred