unidentified game/strip cards

[Jaybird]

anything on the back? If not, to me it looks like these were meant to be cut out and played on a game board of some kind? Also interesting is the bat with the hook on it. Makes me think of a rubber band slingshot type thing.

set up the players on the board (baseball diamond) and shoot rubber bands at them?

I'm just grasping at straws here but if we saw a game board with similar color scheme or graphics, we might tie them together.

Here's another thought. I just printed them out and cut one out. Looks like the bat could hook over the players shoulder for whatever reason. Dunno? But, I do think they look better with the bat. Otherwise, it looks like they are knitting a bootie or buttoning their shirts

[drc]

For what it's worth, the uniforms look 1870s-80s. The shoes in particular are standard circa 1870s cletes. Obviously a playing card can have for the time old timey players.

[Leon]

They are blank backed. I thought the same thing about the unis looking older but just didn't think a game like this would date that far back. Maybe it is 20-30 yrs earlier than I thought. No doubt they were meant to be cut and most likely were issued with a board game. I was hoping, by miracle, someone had seen a board game with players like this.

[barrysloate]

Leon- I actually went through Mark Cooper's book on baseball games from cover to cover but couldn't find it. However, I do feel it may have originated from a game of some kind.

[drc]

The general design does resemble 20th century. However, there were many cutouts in the 1800s. Victorian scraps were originally supposed to be handcut off the sheets.