Xerox educational baseball cards (Schoendienst, Schmidt)?

[swarmee]

So I bought the lot of four autographed contracts in REA auctions last month and when I got back from my business trip to Norway, they had come in. The big prizes were the Theodore "Ted" Williams and Joe DiMaggio contracts for them appearing in a 1970s TV show, but there was also the Don Sutton contract with the US Golf Association confirming that he kept his amateur status by not accepting prize money to a tournament, and a Red Schoendienst contract as well.
http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...e?itemid=44906

The Schoendienst contract gives Xerox the right to make baseball cards of Red for educational purposes if they choose to for the minimum contract value of $1 prior to the end of 1981. I have since found the Mike Schmidt contract online in last year's REA auction. I tried searching for cards from this set, but couldn't easily and they're not listed in the Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards. Did they ever make a set or even proof sheets? If so, it would be cool to get the Schoendienst card to go with the contract. Anyone ever seen a Xerox card from 1980-81? Are there any other contracts so that we could make a theoretical checklist?

[steve B]

There were a few educational projects around that time. Some had decent distribution, like these from 1979
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersisters

Others didn't, or might not be recognized as cards the way we look at them.
I don't recall seeing a card or set from Xerox, but schools were a place they marketed to.
I'll have a look through my assorted miscellaneous stuff anyway, but I doubt I'll find anything.

I usually got a sample of cards or other sports stuff that were offered to schools, since dad was at different times Asst Principal through superintendent, and Mom was a media specialist.
The earliest was an anti drug tape made in late 75 with a dramatized story on one side and a talk by Fred Lynn on the other. The newest was the Donruss learning series from 1990.

A lot of the educational stuff didn't go far. It had to fit a curriculum, then the teacher and anyone else involved had to like it, then they had to make room for it in the budget. Not an easy thing to get decent sales.
I got a couple Learning series complete kits, and a few sets, but Moms school didn't use them - I paid for them and they were ordered through the school. An arrangement that might not be allowed these days.

It's possible Xerox had a classroom kit that was offered that didn't sell, or that the classroom kit was offered along with a more expensive product. Schools that could afford to bought some pretty fancy copiers.
There may also have been one of those subscription news type things.

It's a long shot, but in 81 Xerox started selling the Star computer system, and might have pursued selling to larger schools. Perhaps with some sort of package as a "bonus". The system was pretty much a failure as it was horribly expensive compared to the one from IBM, so any sort of bonus or promo package would be way less than common. They only sold about 25,000 workstations and fewer systems.

I believe Xerox has a historical department, it might be interesting to contact them.

Steve B

[swarmee]

Thanks for your help. If I contact Xerox, I'll post the findings.