Honus Wagner W600 Cabinet Baseball Card

***The information in this article was used to write our ebook, Before There Was Bubble Gum: Our Favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Card Sets.  To purchase the ebook, please click here.***




Dean's Cards has just acquired a very rare Honus Wagner W600 Card.  This card is currently for sale at DeansCards.com.

W600 Honus Wagner in uniform

The W600 Sporting Life Cabinets set is one of the largest early baseball card sets ever built and includes one very important piece of American baseball memorabilia.  The W600 set consists of an unknown number of 5” by 7 1/2” cabinet cards organized alphabetically by player last name.  There is no definitive answer as to exactly how many cards are in this set, but estimates range from 450 to 650.  These cards were printed over a 9 year period from 1902 to 1911 by the Sporting Life Publishing Company located in Philadelphia.  The Sporting Life Publishing Company printed The Sporting Life Newspaper, which ran from 1883 to 1917 and then again from 1922 to 1924.  The W600 cabinets could be redeemed directly from The Sporting Life Publishing Company for three two-cent stamps and a Sporting Life coupon or could be bought for $0.10 each.  The photos for these cards were taken by baseball photographer Carl Horner.  The frame around each photo could have one of four different Sporting Life logos: a flower and leaf design, crossed bats and balls with the phrase “compliments of”, the crossed bats and ball logo without the “compliments of” phrase, or a light embossed Sporting Life advertisement.  



In the W600 set, Honus Wagner had two cards.  One card, released in 1902, shows Wagner in his street clothes. The other card from 1905 shows Wagner in his Pirates uniform.  Although the street clothes card has fewer existing examples, the 1905 uniform card is in higher demand.  At the time that W600 set was being printed, Honus Wagner was one of the most successful and popular players in baseball.  Despite the fact that Wagner’s entire career was played in the “dead ball era”, he was known for his impressive hitting prowess.  Unbelievably, he was the National League batting champion eight times in eleven years between 1900 and 1911 and finished his career with a lifetime batting average of 0.327.  The Pirates team in the early part of the century also found success behind their star shortstop.  They won the NL pennant in 1903 and then beat the Tigers in 1909 to win the World Series.  Wagner retired in 1917 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1936 as one of its first five members.



Wagner’s W600 cabinet is one of the rarest cards ever to be sold on DeansCards.com and we hope that you enjoy our take on this unique card.

Caramel Baseball Cards: The E-Card Series

***The information in this article was used to write our ebook, Before There Was Bubble Gum: Our Favorite Pre-World War I Baseball Card Sets.  To purchase the ebook, please click here.***

The caramel cards of the first two decades of the twentieth century are an interesting and complex part of the pre-war era of collectibles. Caramel cards, also known as E-cards, were issued one per pack of caramel candies. Unlike tobacco cards, these cards were mostly commonly handled by children and, therefore, it can be difficult to find them in decent condition. The caramel cards changed format only slightly in the 15 or so years that they were produced. Most of these cards measured 1 1/2 by 2 3/4" and had a framed portrait or basic action shot on the front and either a checklist, advertisement, or summary of the set on the back.

The first E cards were issued in 1903 by the Breisch-Williams Company and labeled as E107. The E107 cards are now quite difficult to find, especially in nice condition. These cards had no checklist or advertisement on the back, but some cards had an overprint or stamp on the back that stated the manufacturer. The last caramel cards made in the 1910s were the E106 American Caramel cards, produced in 1915. They feature an American Caramel ad as well as a short explanation of the set.

One particularly interesting characteristic of the E cards is the sharing of artwork. Many of the caramel cards look suspiciously similar. The players may be in the same poses, have the same coloring, or the checklist on the backs of two different sets may look very similar. For example, the E92 cards manufactured by three different companies share artwork with the E101, E102, and the E106 sets. The E90-2 American Caramel checklist is identical to the Nadja Caramel E104-2 checklist. The shared artwork makes these sets especially fun to compare.

1909-11 E90-1 Ty Cobb

Currently, we have representatives from several different caramel card sets. The E90 American Caramel Company, located in Philadelphia, issued these three separate sets over a period of three years. The E90-1 cards were made for players on all of the teams and make up the majority of the E90 set with 118 cards total. The writing on the front is in black ink. The E90-2 set features the team that won the World Series in 1909, Pittsburgh Pirates. The player's name is written in blue ink and a position is not given, distinguishing it from the other two sets. There are 11 cards total in this set. The E90-3 set was a regional release of 20 cards, featuring only White Sox and Cubs, who won the NL Pennant in 1910. The distinguishing feature of this set is the phrase "All the Star Players" at the top of the back.

1910 E96 Nap Lajoie

The 1910 E96 Philadelphia Caramels cards are a second series to the E95 set, which was released in 1909. The E95 and E96 cards are the singular example of a multi-series set of caramel cards. The E96 set consists of 30 cards and includes a checklist in red ink on the back of each card. The players are grouped by team, then alphabetically by last name.

1909 E102 Honus Wagner

The E101 and E102 sets represent an interesting phenomenon that is somewhat common in caramel cards. These sets are called "anonymous" because the manufacturer is unknown. Interestingly, the cards have a space on the back that may have been intended for a candy store stamp. These cards were probably manufactured with the intention of promoting the individual stores instead of the company that issued them. The E101 set consists of 50 cards that were produced in 1909. It features some of the most well-known players of the time period. The E102 set consists of 25 cards, but has variations for at least 4 cards. There is also some discrepancy as to whether the E102 Ty Cobb is his rookie card or if that honor belongs to a set of strip cards produced around the same time. The E102 cards have a checklist printed on the back, which sets it apart from the E101 set, although it is believed that both sets were produced in 1909.

Dean's Cards has listed hundreds of E-Cards online and ready to buy at DeansCards.com   In the decade that we have been in business, we have never had this many of cards available for purchase.

Caramel cards are some of the most interesting 20th century cards ever produced, particularly because so many are still being discovered. The more these cards are discussed, the more errors, variations, and additional cards are uncovered. 

Potato Chip Pins - Crane's Pins and Guy's Pins

Since we originally wrote this blog, we have learned a lot more about these pins thanks to collectors and customers.  Click here to see our updated blog.


Dean's Cards has just added a nice collection of  Crane's Pins and Guy's Pins to the inventory of DeansCards.com  The potato chip pins of the 1960s may comprise the most interesting and yet poorly understood areas of the memorabilia world. The pins are stamped with the logo of Guy's Potato Chips, located in Kansas City, or Crane's Potato Chips in Decatur, Illinois.

The Guy's Potato Chip pins are the better known product and therefore more information is readily available. Guy's Chips is still currently in business and continues to produce snacks. Crane's, however, was purchased by a larger food corporation several years ago.

The pins themselves were made by Crane's in 1961, 1964, and 1965 and by Guy's in 1962, 1965, and 1966. The pins from each issuer can be easily confused with the other because the same basic team logos were used, but the coloration varies from set to set. One easy way to tell who made the pins is to look on the back, where there is a stamped logo. The year can be determined by looking on the back in some cases. The Guy's pins from 1962 have a blank back, but the 1965 and 1966 pins have the date stamped on the back. Only the 1961 set from Crane's has the date stamped on them.

The coloration on the front of the pins varies greatly. The 1961 and 1965 Crane's pins are almost identical, but they vary in blue and black ink. They are filled in with white, red, and either blue or black colors. The 1964 Crane's pins have a gold metallic sheen and then red and blue ink over that. The 1964 pins show damage more readily than the fully colored pins and are therefore harder to find in decent condition. All of the Guy's pins are fully filled in with an art deco style color scheme. The Guy's company made much more colorful pins when compared to the Crane's company pins.

These pins have become more popular in recent years and are now even graded by PSA. These pins also include past teams such as the Washington Nationals and the Houston Colt .45s  If you have any information on these pins or collected them as a kid, I would love to hear about it.