Being a sucker for postcard-style items and old-timey player photos this little group of cards was right up my alley. The eBay seller had several different lots with about six cards each. I bid $2 on each of the lots and won this one. Add in $3 for shipping and that's a pretty good deal.
Not much to say about these. they are not colorful (obviously) but these things hold a certain fascination for me. I like reading the captions under each photo. The backs are blank.
The original Exhibit Supply Company (aka ESCO) of Chicago stopped issuing cards in the mid-60s. A hobby dealer, Paul Marchant, put out some reprint sets in 1980 and later. These are listed as a 1977 issue which puts them somewhere between ESCO and Marchant. I'm not sure what that adds up to.
A collector of Exhibit postcards, Adam Warshaw, has a interesting page that displays hundreds of the different examples of what the Exhibit Supply Company produced and distributed in their half century of business.
These guys are all Hall of Famers but not all Hall of Famers are created equal. He's the Big Train, Walter Johnson. The caption credits him with 113 career shutouts but the correct number appears to be 110. Who's the active career shutout leader? Tim Hudson with 13. Baseball has changed just a bit.
Side note on Johnson. 417 wins, 2.17 ERA, 1.06 WHIP...for a 21 year career! The BBWAA elected him to the Hall in 1936 by naming him on 189 of 226 ballots. So 37 writers didn't vote for Walter Johnson. That's a tough crowd.
BTW... you can see some nice examples of their coin operated vending and amusement park machines right here on this page. Great stuff.
Love exhibit cards., I think the 77's were produced by Renato Gallasso.
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