Old Judge Tobacco Cards

Cap Anson (in uniform)

***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 first set of baseball cards ever printed is considered to be the Old Judge cigarette cards, which have the catalog designation N172.  These small-size cards measure 1 7/16” by 2 ½” and feature some of the earliest professional baseball players.  The Old Judge baseball cards were printed over a three year period from 1887 to 1890.  The Goodwin & Company cigarette manufacturers inserted these cards into packages of cigarettes.  Goodwin & Company also owned the Gypsy Queen brand of cigarettes and released the same images with different advertising on the cards.  

The Old Judge cards are examples of the one of the earliest photography techniques.  Using the albumen from egg whites along with photographic chemicals, a “positive” was created on the paper.  The albumen print technique would later be replaced by color lithography.

King Kelly

The entire set consists of 576 cards, but the actual number of surviving cards is low.  Many of the cards have a population of one or zero, particularly in nicer conditions.  One of the highest population cards is # 48 California Brown in full catcher’s gear.  One of the most expensive cards N172 cards is considered to be # 12A Cap Anson in his White Stockings uniform.  Cap Anson had one of the longest careers in professional baseball, spanning 27 seasons.  He was also the first player to collect 3,000 hits.

The Old Judge cards were the first of their kind, but they quickly changed the future of two major industries in the United States.  Goodwin & Company was bought by the tobacco giant American Tobacco Company, which was owned by James Buchanan Duke.  Duke believed that the future of cigarettes was directly tied to the advertising, which included sports and actress cards.  Duke poured money into producing not only cards, but large-size cabinets.  Despite the very first wave of anti-smoking sentiments across the US, Duke continued to print baseball cards and insert them into cigarette packs.  These early tobacco cards are some of the rarest cards ever printed and DeansCards.com is looking to buy more.
If you are looking to sell Old Judge baseball cards, please click here.  To see our selection of Old Judge cards, please click here.

1962 Post Cereal Football Cards

# 61 Jim Brown

Here at DeansCards.com, one of our most popular sets is the 1962 Post football card set.  Collectors remember these cards being printed on the backs of their favorite cereal boxes when they were kids.  The Post Cereal Company printed these cards, which were supposed to measure 2½” by 3½”, to be cut out of the box manually.  Very few of these cards exist in nice condition because young children were usually the ones doing the cutting.  Unlike baseball, which had a three year run on both Post cereal and Jell-O cards, there was only one set released for football.

# 12 Bart Starr

The set consists of 200 cards total, organized by team and then alphabetically by player last name.  The teams were organized by the order in which they finished in 1961.  The Green Bay Packers, who finished 11-3 and went on to win the NFL Championship, start the set.  The Washington Redskins finished 1-12 and are last.  Post also released booklets about how to play offense or defense.  These were give-aways that could be acquired from grocery stores by purchasing Post cereal products, Gravy Train dog food, or Duncan Hines cake mixes.

The most expensive card that we currently have in stock is # 10 Tom Moore, the Packers running back who would be selected for the Pro Bowl in 1962.  The first card of the set, # 1 Dan Currie, a linebacker for the Packers, is the best selling card.  
Post also released a Canadian Football League set in 1962.  These cards feature players from the Argonauts, Eskimos, Alouettes, Rough Riders, and Stampeders teams and include a French translation of their English biographies.  DeansCards.com has yet to come across CFL Post football cards, but we are always looking for collections including these unique cards.  We do have hundreds of Post cards online and ready to buy.

The Sporting News: The Black & White Era

5/16/1951 issue

DeansCards.com recently finished organizing all of our Sporting News issues and we decided to write about our favorite weekly sports newspaper in three different parts.  The Sporting News can be divided into three distinct periods: Black & White, Color, and modern magazine.  This article will focus on the Black & White issues that are some of the most interesting baseball publications ever printed.

The Sporting News magazine was founded in 1886 by Alfred H. Spink, a former newspaper reporter and the current director of the St. Louis Browns.  At the time the Sporting News was first being printed, the Browns were experiencing some of the greatest success in the history of the franchise.  The Browns won the World Series in 1886, inspiring Spink to publish a weekly newspaper devoted to baseball.

The early Sporting News editions measure 17-5/16” by 11-5/16” and cost five cents per issue.  In 1899, Spink handed his publication over to his brother Charles and eventually phased himself out of the operation entirely.  Charles continued the emphasis on baseball, particularly on box scores.  Before the Sporting News, baseball box scores were hard to find, especially for baseball fans that did not leave near their favorite teams.  Circulation remained low for The Sporting News during the early part of the 20th century, possibly due to unflattering events such as the Black Sox scandal.  Fortunately for the Sporting News, baseball’s golden age sparked a new interest in the sport and circulation peaked.   

The black and white Sporting News layout is consistent with the daily newspapers of the time.  Under Taylor Spink’s direction, the Sporting News relied heavily on caricatures and catchy headlines.  Many of the covers of the early Sporting News issues look somewhat juvenile due to the cartoons on the front.  However, the articles inside the Sporting News were serious journalistic analyses, box scores, and opinion pieces.   The Sporting News was one of the most important sources for baseball news all over the United States.

10/6/1927 - Babe Ruth's 60 Home Run issue

In terms of sales, DeansCards.com has compiled information since we started selling old issues of The Sporting News several years ago.  The earliest issue that we have had was the August 30, 1902 publication that featured Hughie Hearne on the cover.  Hearne was a mediocre catcher for the Brooklyn Superbas.  His major league career spanned only two years, but somehow earned himself a spot on a cover.  The most expensive Sporting News currently in stock on our site is the October 6, 1927 issue.  Babe Ruth’s 60th home run is one of the lead stories, while the Pirates team is the photograph on the front.

The Sporting News has been around for 124 years.  It has been around for some of the most significant events in the baseball world.  It serves as an important relic of the baseball memorabilia world and continues to provide new and interesting information. DeansCards.com has hundreds of The Sporting News issues online and ready to buy.