Posted By:
Todd SchultzI'd really like to know why/how the experts concluded that it was not real, or that it was questionable. Not maligning anyone, just wondering what went into the thought process. Absent an explanation, I would disagree with any assessment that there is overwhelming evidence. "Never seen one before" would not go very far with me either, so I hope it was looked at closely.
Maybe someone can research when it was that Big League chewing gum first hit the market. It has probably been assumed all along that it debuted in 1933 with the cards. If true, then a reference to the brand name three years prior would seem bogus. Some google research would tend to suggest that '33 was the issue date, but I wonder if those just worked on the assumption that the gum always accompanied the cards. Here, this "card", even if genuine, was almost certainly not intended to be sold with the gum, but was there Big League gum sold in other packaging in 1930?
The genuine back, fake front doesn't make much sense to me. The back clearly references the Babe, with two lines of centered type. Why have such reference and then use a blank or unrelated front? Could that name and team info have been added? Doubtful, IMO. Why leave that conspicuous if not prominent front center area blank with the year on the sides? Why not just one big 1930 in the middle?
Are there collectors of, or resources about ink blotter advertisting from the period who/that could be consulted? Seems like alot remains up in the air about this "piece".