1888 postal card with player list, schedule, Boston advertising, color graphics

[bbpostcards]

Here's a really unique postal card, one that combines an 1888 schedule, color graphics, advertising for a Boston horse-shoeing business, and a list of players and positions. See below and also HERE for more unusual images (open any gallery of interest, and click on a picture for a closer look and a description).

[Leon]

Neat stuff...thanks for sharing.

[oldjudge]

Great piece-I love it.

Jay

[steve B]

That's a really neat card.

A bit of the stamp end, the stamp is Scott #212, issued in 1887. It's not particularly rare, even on cover. The use is exactly what it was made for, the 1 cent rate for printed matter like advertising.

What makes it special aside from the baseball content is that it actually says postal card. The government restricted use of the term until 1898, requiring the use of the term souvenir card except on prepaid cards they produced. Even then a souvenir card from 1888 is unusual. So it's baseball, and a forerunner postal card that was technically illegal. It probably slid through as a circular since it folded like a circular. Fascinating.

From wikipedia, the first source I found, there's probably plenty of others.
Early US postcards[edit]

The first American postcard was developed in 1873 by the Morgan Envelope Factory of Springfield, Massachusetts.[9][10] Later in 1873, Post Master John Creswell introduced the first pre-stamped "penny postcards". These first postcards depicted Interstate Industrial Exposition that took place in Chicago.[11] Postcards were made because people were looking for an easier way to send quick notes. The first postcard to be printed as a souvenir in the United States was created in 1893 to advertise the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The Post Office was the only establishment allowed to print postcards, and it held its monopoly until May 19, 1898, when Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act, which allowed private publishers and printers to produce postcards. Initially, the United States government prohibited private companies from calling their cards "postcards", so they were known as "souvenir cards". These cards had to be labeled "Private Mailing Cards". This prohibition was rescinded on December 24, 1901, when private companies could use the word "postcard". Postcards were not allowed to have a divided back and correspondents could only write on the front of the postcard. This was known as the "undivided back" era of postcards. On March 1, 1907 the Post Office allowed private citizens to write on the address side of a postcard. It was on this date that postcards were allowed to have a "divided back".[


Steve B

[RCMcKenzie]

The printed rosters/depth charts for the teams is very interesting. I have only cross-checked the Indianapolis Hoosiers roster from the postcard with baseball-reference. (will look at the rest of the teams later).

The postcard lists a "Bogert" as the starting first baseman. Does anyone know a "Bogert"? I can't find any major or minor league player by that name. As far as I am aware Esterbrook had the most ABs that year at first.

n172esterbrook1463110.jpg

[RCMcKenzie]

Just saw in the OJ book that it was Walter Bogart. Book mentions the failed experiment in 1888 with Bogart at first. great stuff.

[Joe_G.]

Beautiful piece and an interesting study. I like how some clubs carried just as many catchers as pitchers (sometimes more). Wish there were more of these in circulation.