Small T332 Helmar Inheritance, new to the hobby

[Leon]

Every now and then I get contacted by folks searching the web who have a few questions on cards. I always try to help. Such was the case yesterday. EK, a very polite gentleman, contacted me and asked if I could help identify some -

"older baseball stamps or cards (maybe tobacco cards)..."

so of course I said sure. He sent the pics and they were T332 Helmar stamps. We all know them but anyone not in the pre-war hobby might/probably does not. EK gave me a little more info, a few more pics, and said it was ok to share.

"My father just gave me my great grandfather’s effects that have been in his attic for about 30 years. I’ve been doing some genealogy research, so he provided the bins which contained pictures, documents, and many other miscellaneous items. Among them was a small business-card-size box of tobacco silks with these underneath them. My great-grandfather was from NJ where he lived from about 1890 until 1970. He was a print shop owner, newspaper author/publisher, stamp collector, ham radio operator, local historian, and had many other interests."

The great grandfather was James H Tregenza, who collected them. Thanks to EK (our newest member) for sharing.....

[Vintagecatcher]

It's interesting to see the multiples of Devore, Sweeney, and Oakes in such a small collection. Was the collector hoarding his favorite players or were some Helmar Stamps simply easier to come by compared to others?


Patrick

[Beatles Guy]

Thanks for the back story on these EK. Welcome to the board.

[swarmee]

T331 College Yells stamp series.

And that reminds me, this auction ended last week, and I didn't see anyone talking it up. Postaco Stamps

Thought it was a pretty nice collection and seemed to go for less than I expected; last post about them I could find here said that commons went for $25-40 each. So to get that many HOFs in the lot was probably a steal at $20 apiece.

[h2oya311]

I'm at @ 60% complete after starting a Helmar Stamp (baseball only) set in the summer of 2013. Many of mine are in horrible condition though! I could have used a collection like this one to get started!!

I know that Brian K. has a complete set (baseball players + actresses) that he just finished this year. I believe there are only two other known complete baseball sets known.

I love seeing them all strewn about in the box like that (from Leon's post). Welcome to the board EK! Let me know if you want to do any trading!!

[GoldenAge50s]

LOVE seeing old stuff in its "newly discovered" state! Thanks for sharing the story & pics Leon.

Welcome EK.

[Cerberus]

........if you've indeed joined Net54, here's how those little stamps were packaged (but first inside the glassine envelope, of course):

Good luck!

Michael

[bbpostcards]

Here's a link to scans of the Helmar baseball set and the master set of the Helmar actresses (the actresses have border variations, the baseballers don't).
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=190023

[ethicsprof]

Great Helmar examples. these are some of the better ones that I've seen.

best,
barry

[the 'stache]

Hi, EK. Welcome to the board! Please feel free to jump into the discussion whenever you are comfortable doing so.

I don't know as much about the Helmar stamps, but they are beautiful. You have a really nice collection there, and I, too, love seeing them in a shoebox. The stamps are colorful, and interesting. Now I know it's near impossible to complete a set.

Thank you for sharing your story, and your collection!

Bill

[Nestunk]

Hello all. EK here. Thanks for the welcome. I'll try to hit the comments so far.

- As far as I can tell, he didn't have a focus. His focus was on stamps. These seem to have been collected because they were there. Based on the stamp collection, I would have found these differently with a list or something. They were in that box with about 50 of the tobacco silks on top. I am reading through his notes, letters, and diaries now. I'll post an update if I find something different (or more cards in all this stuff).

- Thank Cerberus for the pics. Very nice to see.

I'll try to respond to any other questions. My great-grandfather seemed to be into so many things. A very nice step back in time.

[Nestunk]

Also, while I thanked him profusely via email, I would be remiss not to do it here as well. I sincerely thank Leon for his help on identifying these. It was a great help to know what we have in the family archives.

[Jeffrompa]

I like the Joe Lake even a little curled it's pretty cool . Reminded me I have a pack somewhere at home .