What Do You Consider the First Baseball Card(s)?

[benjulmag]

Jay,

Here is the link to the REA description for that item: https://www.robertedwardauctions.com...vered-example/

Do we know for certain that it is not a P & S trade card? The reference to the Chicago company was affixed after the card was produced, so that company likely did not create the card. The verso is heavily trimmed; as such it does not identify where it came from. Inasmuch as it was a sporting goods manufacturer, do you think it was P & S (with a new verso) or a company affiliated with P & S?

Below is the verso of the version with the conventional ad, again taken from an REA auction: https://www.robertedwardauctions.com...&gid=1&pid=2by

Both contain the phrase "Base Ball Players' Supplies". Admittedly that is not a unique advertising phrase, but it does make one wonder if this other verso is not from P & S or an affiliate.

The fact that the image has not yet surfaced in conventional CdV format is unusual if the card once existed in that format.