Tobacco Cards
New Origins Likely Found for 1888 ‘Scrapps Tobacco’ Die-Cuts
The 1888 Scrapps Tobacco Die-Cuts listing in the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards has been listed as such since its inception, likely because – as stated in the catalog – they didn't really know the origins and were taking the information from a previous source.
In the last two years, some of these die-cuts have come in attached condition, rather than loose, providing a glimpse as to how they were distributed, but offering little in the way of origin information. The first find of a large stash of them came from Memory Lane.
A second attached example has surfaced through Love of the Game Auctions. And owner Al Crisafulli decided to do some detective work after he found "H.D.S. & Co." on the attached portion of the die-cuts.
What he found is the best proof yet as to the true origin of the cards and enough information to lead other on the search, including myself, to gather more information and like change the designation in future editions of the Standard Catalog.
At this point, I leave the details of the investigation to Mr. Crisafulli and his blog, where he details quite nicely his investigation and findings in a step-by-step manner. Things like this make this hobby a lot of fun. Enjoy:
