Imagine rare 1911 tobacco cards taped up on a bedroom wall. Crazy, right? We expect T205 and T206 baseball cards from 1909 and 1911 to be encased inside plexiglass cases.
In this 1911 photo from the Library of Congress, there are over 50 cards hanging on this bedroom wall. Look around the guy’s head, you’ll see a rectangle grid. Those are 1909 and 1911 baseball cards.
Tom Shieber of baseballresearcher.blogspot.com outlines every single one of these cards and identifies the exact card. Really, you should click over and see his analysis. He does a cool animated gif that shows the original photo and the actual baseball card photoshopped on top.
Quite amazing to spend the time matching up the cards to ones in the background of this photo.
Also very amazing to see how some of the first baseball cards ever produced were used and displayed. Pinned or taped up on a wall. We all become so amazed to see these cards clustered together on a wall, when today they are sealed in plexiglass cases. In this photo, the cards are allowed to live. To breath.
A couple years ago, I bought a T206 card off eBay. I took the card out of its plastic sleeve; and kept it stored loose in a box of gum. The texture of the card is amazing. One of these days, I’ll find a photo of this card in my old kitchen, and post it here.
Did they even have tape in 1911? Would he have glued the cards onto the wall?