Revisiting Two Old Pickups

Revisiting is a nice term for getting old stuff slabbed for protection reasons....plus pre-war and 19th century cardboard looks extra nice in a tuxedo. One of these cards was acquired almost 3 years ago and the other was snatched up 13 and a half years ago.

George Washington out of the 1889 Kinney Brothers N222 Leaders set is the first card I decided to throw into a slab. Washington crossing the Delaware is a fun added touch to his portrait.

William Fly, one of the pirates in the N19 Pirates of The Spanish Main set from an 1888 Allen & Ginter release, is next up. Like George, both present very well for their technical grades of 1 (with Willie looking even better than his predecessor).

The backs on old, old stuff usually do not disappoint -- so here are both.

An 1800s Ulysses S. Grant Pickup!

I consistently tell myself I need to pare down my collecting interests and my collection as a whole. I've always been interested in a lot of different things as it relates to this wonderfully awesome and frustrating hobby of ours. That really means two things, I have come to find. First, my collection is varied and has a lot of cool stuff in it (cool to me, at the least). Second, I always find myself wanting to spend money and usually failing at not spending said money. As if I needed yet another avenue to drive down as I journey through cardboard, this popped up on eBay and my "screw it let's bid" attitude proved to be a success.

This absolutely stunning and new to my brain set is the 1880s HD2a U.S. Presidents set of advertising/trade cards. I'm not saying I want to go buy a bunch of these....but I might just have to buy a bunch of these once I complete my move and get settled in wherever I land. My Grant is a blank back -- however, many of these carry advertisements for various companies of the time with info on the front and more detailed adverts on the reverse.

I Prefer My Cards To Be From The 1800s or Feature Abe Lincoln.

I've mentioned it more times than I can remember or link to, but a good batch of vintage anything beats a blaster of anything any day of the week, and twice on days when I post things like the lot below I snagged from one of my favorite eBay sellers. For just over twenty Card Draft # 1 dollars, I added these six awesome pieces of true vintage cardboard to my collection.

First, an actual Kimball Champions of Games and Sports mini. From 1887. Meet John Murphy, Driver Of Trotting Horses, and a man after my heart with that sweet 'stache he's sporting. This bad boy comes from the N184 Kimball set, and a higher-grade copy can be seen here.

Next up, a card from the twentieth century, and the '50s if we're being exact. I'm a History major, if I haven't mentioned that before, and my Bachelor's Degree and the Master's Degree I'm working on are only possible due to an appreciation of the field that I garnered in the sixth grade (thanks Mr. Garcia!). The Civil War is my favorite area of history to study and Abe Lincoln is my all-time favorite President, and the best this great country of ours has ever been privileged to have at the helm.

Which made the above an easy buy. I've wanted a card of Honest Abe since I reentered this grand hobby of ours, and it was actually a mild chase after the Lincoln card in '09 Heritage that made me interested in cards once again.

Sticking with the Presidential theme, another of my Top Five Commanders In Chief, and another historical period I immensely enjoy. Plus, nineteenth-century cardboard is hard for me to pass up when it's really affordable.

This beaut comes from 1889 and Kinney Bros. tobacco cards, in a set entitled "Leaders." Here's a high-grade copy currently on the Bay. George leading a crossing of the Delaware is an awesome touch.

Next up, a card I was actually able to use in a final paper in one of my grad classes. The paper looked at Western perceptions of Central Asians, and as a matter of fact, I only bought the card because I was in the class and we had previously discussed Kyrgyzstan.

The class seemed at least mildly interested when I brought it in as part of an earlier oral presentation, and my Professor seemed genuinely interested, which was pretty cool. It's from the 1800s as well (most likely 1888), and was put out by Duke’s Cigarettes and included in cartons of their Old Judge and Dogs Head brand smokes.

Penultimately, another nineteenth-century piece of goodness from Duke’s Cigarettes and the Old Judge and Dogs Head brands. Like the above, it comes from the 50 Vehicles of the World set.

This Elephant Carriage is just nails; that's some great artwork on the part of whomever drew it up all those many years ago.

And finally, we head back to the twentieth century and this 1939 card that both features fire and looks like it's been through one or two or three. As poor as this card is condition-wise, it has a guy - fighting in a war - using a flamethrower.

A flamethrower.

That alone necessitates money leaving my wallet (or PayPal account, as it were).

And it was.

So there you have it. Six cards, four of which hail from the 1800s, for the price of a blaster of your favorite twenty-first century product. I'd make the same decision each and every time.

I Prefer My Allen & Ginter To Be Of The 1880s Variety.

2011 Ginter has been a challenge to complete, with some cards trickling in here and there over the last few months. So, with those struggles in mind and a desire to knock off '11 Ginter before '12 Ginter hits the shelves, I decided it would be best to do some Ginter shopping. Shopping for original Allen & Ginter, that is. All of this vintage goodness on display inspired me to hit up one of my absolute favorite eBayers, from whom I've made a handful of purchases from in the past.

My quick trek to eBay yielded - for the low, low price of just $6.99 shipped - the awesome 1888 N11 A&G Flags Of The States and Territories lot of three you see above. Let's take a look at each of these new additions to my vintage A&G PC.

I was unaware that Virginia's motto is "Sic Semper Tyrannis", which translates to "Thus Always To Tyrants". It sometimes pays to be a History major....and on multiple occasions seen National Treasure. I'm in love with the aesthetics of this card, from the motto to the great classical image of tyrant bloodshed on the flag accompanied by what I can only imagine is tobacco being picked on a riverbank. A very appropriate addition to my collection, considering where Allen & Ginter originates from.

Such an awesome card that it's hard to decide upon a starting point. The dual pistols is just nails, and add in some tools, a caravan of wagons (or a train, it's difficult to tell), and a beautiful scene of Mother Nature - including Bambi, it would appear - and we have ourselves a winner for just $2.33.

Finally, we move further West to Oregon. Another instance of magnificent scenery, and added on to that is a strikingly patriotic flag with a sunrise portending to a better today and a brighter future.

A quick look at the backs reveals, in all likelihood, the primary reason these were so cheap: there aren't any backs to speak of in this "trimmed" lot (the seller's words, and perhaps skinned as well, or whatever the term for non-existent backs on hundred-plus-year-old cardboard is).

I'm stoked to have stumbled upon this lot of great, great A&G when I did, and even more pleased with the price it checked in at. Picking up original Allen & Ginter when I can is one of my favorite aspects of the hobby, and I'll always be on the hunt for affordable Ginters from the 1880s. The N11 set is one I'd actually very much like to put together one day.

1880s Allen & Ginter: Part 3

The final installment. A riveting series, I know.

1888 N33 Smokers, "Asiatic Turk", PSA 1, $9.99 plus discounted shipping as it was part of the three-card purchase of Ginter originals.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but this seems at least a tad under-graded, considering it's in pretty damn good shape for an 1880s card. I'm nothing close to an expert on card grading, but I look at this card and think a 3, maybe 3.5. Regardless, I really like it a lot.

And thus concludes some old fashioned 19th century card goodness. The troika of 1880s Ginters ran me just, just under $30 once factoring in a very reasonable shipping cost of four bucks. I'm sure I'll pick up another couple of these in the future, especially if I can find them PSA'd and around the same cost. They'll probably come from the same seller, in all likelihood.

Part 1
Part 2

1880s Allen & Ginter: Part 2

1887 N9 Flags Of All Nations, "Siam", PSA 2 (MK). By a solitary year, my new oldest card.

$9.99 plus shipping, from the same seller I purchased the Circassian smoker in Part 1 off of. Someone clearly had fun with the checklist on the back at some point in this card's existence.

To see the first installment: Part 1

1880s Allen & Ginter: Part 1

Oh, hello there, new oldest card I now own. But don't worry 1909 E75 American Caramel Jimmy Britt boxing card, I still have a special place in my heart for you. And of course, I still care deeply about the oldest baseball card I own.

1888 N33 World's Smokers, "Circassian", PSA 1 (MK).

$5.99 plus shipping.

I figured, what with Allen & Ginter being awesome, why not grab an 1880s Ginter. And if I was going to do that, why not get one that depicts smoking, what with Ginter's history and what not.

(Almost) 19th Century Goodness: Part 2

As any good history major can tell you (and I consider myself a good enough history major to pass all of my classes at UCLA), World War I is not part of the 19th century. But then I'd have to think of an entire new title to this series of posts (Part One, the only other part of this two-part series, can be viewed here), and I just don't feel like doing that. Plus, 1914-1918/9 is close enough to the 19th century in my book. Just not when I take my exams.

The detail on this card is spectacular, and the color and picture have held up remarkably well. As with the first card I picked up in this two-part series, this ran me another 4 GBPs. Per the seller, this card was part of a set that was issued during World War I, so we're nearing 100 years in age for this awesome card. War has always fascinated me, so getting a vintage card depicting war is pretty cool in my book.

For anyone who might be interested in picking up some truly vintage cards, check out the seller's eBay page. Tons of these British cigarette cards, and all affordable to boot.

(Almost) 19th Century Goodness: Part 1

We can all agree that 1901 is within a reasonable distance from the 19th century, right? Good, because I'm far too lazy to change that 19th to a 20th. And besides, it would ruin the theme I have going for this series of posts which is five parts deep.

The scan I took from the eBay listing makes the card appear to be missing the bottom portion. It is not.

A previous owner decided to pin this card somewhere, and apparently nobody pins a card like this person. Hence about a bajillion pinholes. I was entirely unfamiliar with Taddy's before buying this card some months ago (December of 2010 to be exact), and went to trusty old Google to find some information. Here's a bit of what I came away with:

The oldest known cigarette card is believed to date from 1878 and is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. However, some of the most valuable cards available are those which hail from a small tobacco firm from London, England called James Taddy & Company. These cards are particularly rare because the company ceased to exist only 30 years after starting to produce cigarette cards, when the cards were still in their hey day.

The card ran me four GBPs (Great British Pounds), and according to the seller is from a set released in 1901. The dude seems honest enough, so I'll trust his dating skills. A low price, one hundred and ten years between its creation and now, and my interest in war were enough selling points for me to grab this card.