Rose Co. Postcards

[jerrys]

The Rose Company sold “blank” (no picture) baseball theme postcards; the same postcards they were using for their own Baseball Series product. They were sold to businesses that overprinted them with their own advertising messages; they were also overprinted to make greeting cards.

However, in 1909 a group of players on the Springfield (Mass) baseball team decided to imitate the original postcards by obtaining these blanks and paste pictures of themselves on the cards and added an ID label. These 13 postcards, seven of them signed and personalized by a team player, were gifted to the team benefactress, Mrs. Edger. Mrs. Josephine Edger, whose husband John was the proprietor of the Russell House Hotel in Springfield, Mass. The Russell Cafe and Quick Lunch Restaurant was a baseball-oriented establishment; the gathering place of the Springfield players.

This 13 "Rose Company Postcard" Lot was found by picker in Vermont and sold to an Antique Dealer in upstate New York. She put them on ebay as a lot and they were sold for $6178 on March 7, 2004. A "group of three" won the lot. They obviously assumed these postcards were original and bid accordingly.

No legitimate connection can be made between these homemade postcards and the Burdick PC760 Rose Company Baseball Series. The original cards have Carl Horner Studio photos sized and attached to the postcards. All were Major League Players except for the Scranton Team, which was a regional team in the locale of the Rose Company Home Headquarters in Philadelphia, PA.

[Bridwell]

Hi Jerry,
I presume you wrote your post after seeing Lot 132 in REA. The description seems to imply that these are part of the PC760 Rose Postcard "set". Thanks for the clarification on these minor league cards.

[jerrys]

A Rose Co. blank postcard joined with a period ballplayer photo seems to be all that is required to join the PC760 family! If that is true then my having both of the requirements I can complete the work on this future unique and extremely rare postcard, then put it up for auction:

rose-joe.jpg