1910-1912 SWEET CAPORAL CIGARETTES HIGH GRADE COMPLETE SET OF 204 BUTTONS W/MANY HOF PLAYERS.
Item Description
7/8" complete set of 204 sepia-colored buttons issued by the American Tobacco Co. 153 of the smaller letters design and 51 of the large letters and all w/their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes back papers, which come in various colors. Dr. Muchinsky worked constantly over decades upgrading condition. Only five of the 204 buttons show some degree of rim stains. These players are: Brown, Clark Griffith large letters, Leifield, Lord and Wheat large letters. These five are Fine w/the other 199 Exc. to NM. Designated "P2" in the American Card Catalog by J. R. Burdick, these tobacco insert buttons include almost all the major stars of the era, with this series being closely related to the T205 Gold Borders tobacco cards of the same eras with the majority of players sharing the same images on both the pins and cards. After some sixty "commons" anyone collecting these soon realizes the rarity of many players, advanced collectors have indicated that a total of 19 pins, including six of the large letter variety are more scarce than the others. Some examples of Hall of Fame players appearing on both small and large letter buttons are: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, Chief Bender, Roger Bresnahan, Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, Frank Chance, Fred Clarke, Eddie Collins, Hugh Duffy, Clark Griffith, Miller Huggins, Hugh Jennings, John McGraw, Joe Tinker, Bobby Wallace and Zach Wheat. Hall of Famers who only appear on one version are: Frank "Home Run" Baker, Johnny Evers, Harry Hooper, Nap Lajoie, Rube Marquard, Ed Walsh, and Cy Young. For the the record, here are the 16 teams with number of buttons per team: Boston Red Sox 10, Boston Rustlers 5, Brooklyn Superbas 13, Chicago Cubs 19, Chicago White Sox 11, Cincinnati Reds 15, Cleveland Naps 8, Detroit Tigers 14, New York Giants 22, New York Yankees 11, Phila. Athletics 14, Phila. Phillies 13, Pittsburgh Pirates 16, St. Louis Browns 10, St, Louis Cardinals 12, Washington Senators 11. An overall outstanding set for one of the all-time great baseball pin-back button issues. Paul Muchinsky Collection.
