On the other hand, I understand that this part of the hobby isn't PC in todays world- tobacco and all. Nevertheless, I still find it fascinating to see the packaging and the artwork that once contained collectible cards at the turn of the last century. These items ushered in a new hobby that would be followed throughout the country, and would eventually spawn a industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In the auction, several of the lots pair up a vintage pack with an example of the vintage Baseball card that could be found within it. There are various 1909-11 T206 packs:
- Old Mill pack,
- Lenox pack,
- Carolina Brights pack,
- Polar Bear pack,
- Cycle pack,
- Principe de Gales pack,
- Piedmont pack,
- American Beauty pack, and a
- Sweet Corporal pack.
Like I said, it's an incredible array of collectibles pointing to the origins of the card hobby.--------------------------
There were some items in the auction that I though would be of interest to Dodger fans. Below are a couple of unopened packs of Red Man Tobacco from 1954. As vintage card collectors will know, Red Man produced a set of cards that season that were much larger than the typical Baseball card made by Topps and featured a colored drawing of 54 different Major League ballplayers. As you can see they cellophane wrapped the packs with the Baseball card visible on the outside.
In the pack below it features Brooklyn Dodger infielder Billy Cox. This pack looks a little rough around the edges as it appears to be toned and peeling a little bit.
Here is one of the nicest one's I've ever seen. This pack has World Series hero Jim Gilliam. It looks brand new.
That is amazing stuff right there. It would almost be a shame to open them.
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