Help with Lefty Grove Postcard...

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Posted By: Brad Green

I picked up this postcard of Lefty Grove a couple weeks ago. It measures about 3 3/8 by 5 1/4 inches. It has "E. C. KROFF COM, MILWAUKEE" on the back with the number "14262". It also has a space for a domestic one-cent stamp. The price to send postcards went up to two cents on January 1, 1952. A few letters from a word are shown in the front, lower-right corner, but I can't make out what it says. There is a thin black border that extends around the perimeter of the front of the card.

My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone seen any other postcards like this one?
2. Can anyone put a better date of issue on the postcard, besides "Older than 1952"?

For a small amount of money, I took a chance. Hopefully, the postcard is authentic.

Does anyone else have any baseball postcards made by Kroff? If so, please post scans.

[Archive]

Posted By: Rhett Yeakley

It is hard to tell from the scan but are you sure this isn't just a fantasy piece made by pasting a photo to the front of an older unused postcard. The postcard back looks a little old in its style to date from the 20's-30's to me. It appears there is a somewhat uneveness to the borders but it could just be the scan.
-Rhett

Edited to add: The rounded corners look like thy were amost "cut" rounded as opposed to rounding with time.

[Archive]

Posted By: Brad Green

Rhett:

Thanks for your response. If a photo was glued to an old unused postcard, what would I look for? The front does not appear to be pulling away from the back.

Here are a few other observations that may be of interest:

1. The edge of the card is white.
2. The card is thick like a postcard.
3. There is a thin white border that extends around the back of the postcard. In other words, the yellow toning of the back does not extend to the edges of the postcard.
4. It appears that the black border on the front of the card is also visible on the lower, right corner even though the corner is rounded
5. The borders are indeed uneven, especially on the left side of the postcard.

I have 600 dpi scans of the front and back if you want to see them.

Thanks again for your help!

Brad