A Chicle a day through the end of May

[jefferyepayne]

Card #9 in the Chicle set is Knute Rockne. Known for being one of the all-time great college coaches, Knute was a great player as well, winning All-American honors in 1913 at Notre Dame where he helped popularize the forward pass as a speedy end. More information on Knute can be found here: http://www.knuterockne.com/

Knute is the only non-NFL person in the 1935 National Chicle set, making may wonder whether the set was originally going to include college players as well. Note that the back of each card says it is "One of 240 football players" and only 36 cards were produced. Due to the size of the NFL in the mid 1930's it would have been nearly impossible to produce a 240 card set that included only NFL players.

Another theory is that National Chicle wanted kids to think there were more cards in the set to keep them purchasing the cards. This strategy was definitely employed in the 1930's (see discussions of the 1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie for more details). This seems unlikely due to the large difference between the number of cards produced vs. the number of cards the backs say are in the set.

Since the National Chicle Gum Company went bankrupt in 1937, it is likely that they had originally planned a set of 240 but ultimately could not afford to produce the complete set before running into financial problems.

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You will note that the front and back scans of this card look different. It IS the same card. I'm just playing around with my scanner to make the images look better.

jeff

[smotan_02]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

Knute was a great player as well, winning All-American honors in 1913 at Notre Dame where he helped popularize the forward pass as a speedy end. More information on Knute can be found here: http://www.knuterockne.com/

Great card and a great player coach. Knute Rockne did revolutionize the use of the forward pass in 1913, in fact he did it against Army at West Point. As I walked to work the other day I snapped this picture. Compare it to the one below it.

Although my team is on the losing side of this rivalry, I love the history involved with it.

[jefferyepayne]

Wow. That is an incredible shot. I assume the building in the Rockne picture is the one on the right in your photo. Hallowed ground.

jeff

Originally Posted by smotan_02

Great card and a great player coach. Knute Rockne did revolutionize the use of the forward pass in 1913, in fact he did it against Army at West Point. As I walked to work the other day I snapped this picture. Compare it to the one below it.

Although my team is on the losing side of this rivalry, I love the history involved with it.

[jefferyepayne]

Card #10 in the Chicle set is Cliff Battles. Cliff was an excellent runner who accumulated all sorts of honors during his career:

* First small college player to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was an All-American at West Virginia Wesleyan College where he earned 15 letters in five sports (football, baseball, basketball, track, tennis).

* Phi Beta Kappa scholar in college while also playing semi-pro football on the side under the assumed name "Jones".

* First NFL running back to gain more than 200 yards in a game, rushing for 215 yards in 1933 for the Redskins against the Giants.

* Led NFL in rushing as a rookie and joined forces with Sammy Baugh to lead the Redskins to their first NFL title in 1937.

Due to a contract dispute with the owner of the Redskins, Battles retired after only 6 years in the NFL. He was inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 1968.

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jeff

[vintagetopps]

Nice Card!

[jefferyepayne]

Card #11 in the Chicle set is Turk Edwards. Turk was considered a giant in his day, listed at 6' 2" and between 250 - 260lbs. After becoming an All-American at Washington State, Albert Glen "Turk" Edwards had offers from three teams in the NFL and chose the Boston Redskins as they were the highest bidder. He played for the Redskins for 9 seasons and continued on with them for 8 more as first an assistant coach and then their head coach.

Turk's career ended in a bizarre manner as he hurt his knee during a coin toss. His cleat stuck in the ground as he turned to leave and it further damaged an already injured knee.

Turk was selected as an All-Pro by at least one major media outlet in each of his first 8 years in the league.

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jeff

[smotan_02]

I never knew that about his knee. What a rough way to go out. Great looking card, even with his weird squat pose.

[jefferyepayne]

I guess the bull rush wasn't big back then ...

Originally Posted by smotan_02

I never knew that about his knee. What a rough way to go out. Great looking card, even with his weird squat pose.

[smotan_02]

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne

Wow. That is an incredible shot. I assume the building in the Rockne picture is the one on the right in your photo. Hallowed ground.

jeff

I took the picture to line up directly with the Rockne shot. It's the building in the center background called Cullum Hall. If you see the mountains in the background and where it hits the building you can see how they line up.