The Other John Wagner

[trdcrdkid]

Leon's thread a few weeks ago about his purchase of the John D. Wagner-Jefferson Burdick letters in the Hunt's auction, and Rob Lifson's reminiscences in that thread about meeting John Wagner c.1980 (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...=207204&page=2), reminded me of the interview with Wagner that appeared in one of the Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guides (i.e. the early annual Beckett guides) in the early 1980s. Now that Leon has started posting some of those Wagner-Beckett letters, I went to look at my old Beckett guides and found that article, which I've scanned and posted below. It appeared in the 1982 Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, #4, and was written by Christopher Benjamin, who Rob Lifson also mentioned in his post. As you can see, it includes Wagner's fascinating memories of collecting T206 cards as a child, it confirms the story about Honus Wagner telling John Wagner why he stopped production of his T206 card (with more details about where and when the two Wagners met), and it quotes some of the Wagner-Burdick correspondence, which I assume Wagner showed to Benjamin. I'm not sure whether Leon has the letters that are quoted here, but it's all fascinating just the same. I also included the following page that had a picture of John D. Wagner and some of his oil paintings, as well as the first page of the T3 listings, so everybody can see what those cards were going for in 1982!

[brianp-beme]

Thanks for posting this article David. I remember it from my early days of collecting and was fascinated by the thought that there were still collectors around that actually collected tobacco cards from the early 1900's when they were issued.

I also like his story about the set of Globe cards...a true collector going out of his way to get what he wants, and he got the suit he preferred too.

Brian

[brianp-beme]

And another interesting tidbit in the article...Mr. Wagner had a complete sheet of 1909 Obaks that he cut into individual cards. Anyone that has delved into the the 1909 set has noticed that are quite a few hand cut cards floating around. Maybe some of them are the work of John W. himself.

Brian

[Leon]

Thanks for sharing that, David. For anyone that cares to read that lengthy and freaking awesome article, you will start seeing some of what the article is talking about very soon. Fortunately Wagner kept at least some of his letters he revceived when he was advertising in Hobbies Magazine in the mid-later 1930s and 1940s. There are around 30 letters from the 1930s and maybe half that many from the 1940s.....Thanks again David, great stuff *(and all true from what I can discern)

[trdcrdkid]

Come to think of it, I have a 1909 Obak that looks hand-cut -- maybe it's from Wagner's sheet!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Come to think of it, I have a 1909 Obak that looks hand-cut -- maybe it's from Wagner's sheet!

I believe the article but am quite sure, from proof, that some of the '09 Obaks were hand-cut from the factory. All of these below, except the little misprint on bottom right, were pulled from packs by the gentleman's grandfather I got them from......They have never been in the hobby until they saw my collection. They are part of the Trucker Boy find from around 10 yrs ago....

[trdcrdkid]

Ah, well. Obaks are still awesome, regardless.

[brianp-beme]

I couldn't remember from memory which back type (framed or not framed) is associated with all the hand cut cards, but Leon's examples remind me it is probably the unframed backs. It certainly raises the possibility that the unframed back versions were at least partially released in full sheet form, and that the temptation to cut them into individual cards was just too powerful to overcome.

Brian

[Cozumeleno]

"John Wagner became famous among card collectors because he was one of the first hobbyists to own both the Wagner and Plank cards in the T206 set. He constantly received letters from other card collectors across the country asking him to confirm the existence of these two cards. He even mailed the cards out “four or five times” to people who wanted a first-hand look."



I'm sure you guys have probably seen this before, but ... wow.