The mystery of the missing 1934 Cubs

[jason.1969]

Here is a fun baseball card mystery for this crowd. Perhaps one of you even has the answer!

I'll start with the 1934-36 National Chicle "Batter Up" set, where no Cubs are among the 80 cards of Series One, i.e., the 1934 series. The other 15 teams? Yep, they all have card. Might not mean anything, right?

But now let's go to the 1934 release of National Chicle Diamond Stars, which consisted of cards 1-24 from what would ultimately be a 108-card set. Once again, we get every team except...you guessed it! No Cubs!

Hmm, so how about 1934 Butterfinger, which consisted of 65 cards? Every team was represented except...that's right...everyone but the Cubs!

Okay, but what about 1934 Goudey? They definitely had Cubs! True. The set kicked off with its first series (1-24) by repeating 24 players, artwork and all, from the 1933 set. Three Cubs were part of this group. But then their next series comes along, cards 25-48, featuring entirely new cards. Well, 15 teams were there, and one was absent. Which one? Of course it was the Cubs!

One possible explanation, always, is coincidence. However, I do have to wonder if something more was going on.