How big is an Exhibit?

[Theoldprofessor]

I know I should post this on the Post-War board. In fact, I did that and got no replies. So I'll try here too

I recently bought a '47-'66 Exhibit Whitey Ford from a reputable dealer. When it arrived I knew it wasn't "regulation." That is, it was narrower by about 3/16" than the Exhibits I have collected over the years. And it had no markers at the bottom. "Made in U.S.A.", "An Exhibit Card" etc. were all absent. I contacted the dealer, who in turn got in touch with his source. Here's his reply to my dealer:

"Exhibit made these cards in several variations over a number of years. Like all exhibit cards, some were marked, some were not. Over the years Exhibit used different sizes too. These were found in a sealed brick of 500 that was stamped Exhibit Supply 500. I bought one full brick. They came out of an arcade up around Boston and there is absolutely no question as to their authenticity."

True? I own about 300 Exhibits, and not one is unmarked. And every one is bigger than the Ford card.

My dealer was very good about it, and I've returned the card (without copying it first -- a lesson now learned!). So after that, I'm left with this:

Were Exhibits significantly smaller than 3 3/8" across and 5 3/8" high ever produced? We're talking just about baseball here, not cowboys or actors.

Any help from this wise board would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[christopher.herman]

Here you go. Bookmark this resource: http://www.oldcardboard.com/w/exhibi...?cardsetID=805
-Chris.

[FrankWakefield]

I think that the Exhibit cards were always that standard size. Standard, consistent size is important for a card dispensed from a machine.

My Ford has 'printed in USA' in the bottom right. It appears white, ie there's an absence of printing there for the letters to appear.

I've probably handled and shuffled through about 1000 to 1200 Exhibit cards. I have about 160 of them. All of mine are the same size.

I think the guy was mistaken about the size variation and 'brick' stuff.

[smtjoy]

They should all be the same size, the only ones that are a different size are the 1953 Canadian and they have different paper too.

[Theoldprofessor]

Christoper and Frank and Scott;

Thanks for your help. Chris, if I had any brains left I'd have gone to the Old Cardboard site right away. In fact I did go to the SCD price catalog, and couldn't find anything other than the standard size. Frank, I think the guy who bought the original brick was scammed by another guy with a copier and a bit of cellophane. Mine are all the same size too, and they all say something at the bottom. This card struck out on both counts. (To a collector who bought his first Exhibits more than fifty years ago, this was the phoniest looking card in the arcade.) Scott, I even have a few Canadians, I don't remember buying them, but there they are. And you're right, the paper is very different. But the size is close enough to US Exhibits that I never noticed the difference.

Thanks again.

Bob