Unusual Type Card w/ Trivia: 1889 N125 Honest Long Cut PUZZLES -Baseball Puzzle
 

I was able to pick up one of my 19th Century Type-Card White Whales the other day and wanted to share but figured It would be fun to see who can figure out the puzzle on front.

About the item, Duke & Sons was the largest tobacco manufacturer in the world at the end of the 19th Century and made many card sets, most of which are quite common. That being said, a few of the Duke issues are very rare and hard to find, among the absolute toughest of their card sets was the very strange 1889 N125 "Puzzles" set made with their Honest Long Cut brand. The set consists of 15 large cards (about the size of a 1911 Zeenut card but wider). I have been collecting them for several years and have only a few examples from the set. Each card has a different "theme" such as The Cryptogram Puzzle, The Poet Problem, The Domino Trick Puzzle and so on. The last card in the set is simply titled "Base Ball Puzzle" and has a cryptic design on front that one is supposed to figure out with hints given on the back of the card. I have only seen a few examples of the baseball card in the past 20 years. It is truly one of the toughest 19th Century "Baseball Type-Cards" to find & unknown to many.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun if our board members can decipher the meaning (of all the puzzles in the set it is probably the easiest one as some are way too difficult).

***Please don't go to the Net54 Non-Sports companion site gallery and look up the set for the solution & post it as that will ruin it for everyone***

Here is the front and back of the card, lets see if we can do it...

http://starsofthediamond.com/n125baseball.jpg

http://starsofthediamond.com/n125baseball2.jpg

Very neat Rhett!, this was unfamiliar to me.

I was not able to understand the puzzle while just looking at the front. I read the back and then quickly was able to solve it. Kept thinking of OJ cards as most of the names appeared.

The pitcher is Keefe . . . that's all I'll contribute.

Two left bats are O'Rourke and Ward, respectively.....
Third bat is young....Nick Young?
Catcher is Ewing.....
Team is New York.....

No...I didn't cheat.....

Very nice pickup. A tough tough set. I have but a couple types.....

The bats on the right & base at top are definitely the toughest part of the puzzle IMO.

Sure you didn't!

Just kidding, to the 19th Century baseball fan/historian it really isn't that tough but a fun little puzzle.

We still need the far right bat name along with the name at top (on the base)

I don't want to do them all, but I know them as well......just don't know who the 3/4 bat is......


And if anyone cares about the other cards in the set, about 1/2 of them are pictured in the gallery located at the link below......
http://www1.coe.neu.edu/~dan/N125/go.html

I owned that card
 

for more than 20 years. It's a great card and I've only seen one other. Lately I've been getting rid of a few of my best type cards and glad they have been going to good homes.......Still a few more to go :-) Now if someone would just find an Edwards N43 for me - I'll feel I've gotten my just reward......

The top name is the great Danny Richardson, of course. The right bat is Nick, first name of National League secretary, Nick Young.
Bob Richardson

Henry, I had seen your copy years ago (I think you had posted it on the Non-Sport side or something) and was really excited to get it when you decided to part with it. The N125 set is one of my favorite Duke issues, I just can't find them... ever!

You guys are all too good! That didn't take too long.

After a 2nd study and realizing why they had to pick Richardson over the more popular Connor, Welch, etc. I'm even more impressed with the puzzle. They had to introduce Nick Young (or someone else not on the roster) to make it all work out but still a very neat puzzle.

On a side note, no love for Danny Richardson on the back (no clue), I guess he wasn't worthy :)