Lot # 76: 1888 H. D. Smith & Company Baseball Gum Card Die-Cuts Sam Thompson PSA FAIR 1.5

Graded FAIR 1.5 by PSA. Very appealing example of this early classic card of Hall of Famer Sam Thompson from the unusual 1888 H. D. Smith & Company Baseball Gum Card Die-Cuts series. This uniquely designed issue features nine players from the American Association’s legendary St. Louis Brownie Champs and nine players from the Detroit Wolverines. It is one of only a few full-color baseball issues from the nineteenth century and also one of the most distinctive and unusual of all early baseball card sets. For decades, the set was referred to as "Scrapps" or "Scrapps Tobacco," but recent extraordinary newspaper archive research has finally allowed for the definitive identification of the issuer: H. D. Smith & Company, a Cincinnati Candy and Gum manufacturer. The hobby has long known that these die-cuts were not actually issued by "Scrapps Tobacco" (as no brand of that name has ever been found) but we personally never thought we would ever learn exactly how they were issued. The fact is, they were actually issued as premiums with gum! These cards were intended to be glued into scrapbooks and almost always display evidence of glue residue or album removal on the reverse. The offered example is no exception. The card presents with bold colors on the front but ultimately grades very modestly due to a spot of paper loss on the bottom edge and evidence of album removal on the reverse. Despite this flaw, this is a very high-quality Hall of Famer example with strong visual appeal.