1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel

Bill Sweeney

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Issued during the same three-year time span as the larger and better-known T206 set, the E90-1 set from American Caramel is where many collectors start their early caramel card collections. Ironically, while cards from this set are easier to find than most pre-World War One caramel issues, a handful of cards from this set are incredibly scarce.

Unlike the company's three-series (E91) set of 1908 that recycled the same generic pictures, this set is an improvement because it actually shows likenesses of the players named on the cards. Card fronts feature a color lithograph of a player surrounded by a white border. The player's last name, position and team are listed below the picture. While the design seems to be similar to that seen in the T206 set, there are a few distinctions: the color is not as vivid, the borders are not as wide, and the player's position is shown. Also unlike T206 cards, the cards in this set feature only one back design. The backs are dominated by a logo for Baseball Caramels. Above the logo are lines stating "Baseball Series" and "100 subjects" (though more than 100 cards exist). Below the logo is a mention of the manufacturer, American Caramel Company of Philadelphia. The cards are not numbered.

Although this set was issued over a span of three years, the lineup of cards changed from year to year. Most of this set's cards were issued in 1909. During the next two years, some players were added and others were removed from distribution. As a result, the cards issued over all three years are the most commonly found today. The rest fall under differing levels of scarcity, with a handful of cards being incredibly difficult to obtain. Speaker, Stahl, Graham, Sweeney (Boston) and Clarke (Pittsburg) are among the hardest to find, but the card of Mike Mitchell of Cincinnati is the rarest. For collectors, putting together a little more than half of an E90-1 set isn't difficult; however, once they get to the scarcer cards, there can be a lot of frustration and expense.

In addition to the scarce players, there are a few variations to be found in this set as well. Players that were traded were shown with their new teams (most notably, Cy Young). Other variations show players in different poses or different backgrounds. All known variations are shown in the checklist below.

Most of the era's stars (Ty Cobb, Nap LaJoie, Honus Wagner, etc.) are featured in this set. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who played shortly for the Philadelphia A's in 1909 before going back to the minors has a card too, an earlier appearance than his supposed "rookie" card from 1910's T210 set. Interestingly, Jackson didn't appear in the landmark T206 set. In addition to Jackson, E90-1 affords collectors a chance to get Honus Wagner and Eddie Plank cards that aren't anywhere near as expensive as their T206 counterparts.

E90-1 American Caramel

(1) Bill Bailey   
(2) "Home Run" Baker   
(3) Jack Barry   
(4) George Bell   
(5) Harry Bemis 
(6) "Chief" Bender   
(7) Bob Bescher 
(8) Cliff Blankinship   
(9) John Bliss   
(10) Bill Bradley   
(11) Kitty Bransfield (Blue sky)   
(12) Kitty Bransfield (Pink) 
(13) Roger Bresnahan  
(14) Al Bridwell   
(15) Buster Brown (Boston)
(16) Mordecai Brown (Chicago)
(17) Donie Bush   
(18) John Butler   
(19) Howie Camnitz   
(20) Frank Chance   
(21) Hal Chase   
(22a) Fred Clarke (Philadelphia)
(22b) Fred Clarke (Pittsburg)
(23) Wally Clement 
(24) Ty Cobb   
(25) Eddie Collins   
(26) Frank Corridon   
(27) Sam Crawford   
(28) Lou Criger   
(29) George Davis (Chicago)  
(30) Harry Davis (Philadelphia)
(31) Ray Demmitt 
(32) Mike Donlin   
(33) "Wild" Bill Donovan 
(34) Red Dooin 
(35) Patsy Dougherty 
(36) Hugh Duffy 
(37) Jimmy Dygert    
(38) Rube Ellis   
(39) Clyde Engle   
(40) Art Fromme 
(41) George Gibson (Front view)    
(42) George Gibson (Back view) 
(43) Peaches Graham 
(44) Eddie Grant    
(45) Dolly Gray   
(46) Bob Groom   
(47) Charley Hall    
(48) Roy Hartzell (Batting)   
(49) Roy Hartzell (Fielding)    
(50) Heinie Heitmuller   
(51) Harry Howell (Pitching)
(52) Harry Howell (Follow through)   
(53) Tex Irwin   
(54) Frank Isbell   
(55) "Shoeless" Joe Jackson 
(56) Hughie Jennings  
(57) Buck Jordan    
(58) Addie Joss (Pitching) 
(59) Addie Joss (Portrait)   
(60) Ed Karger 
(61a) Willie Keeler (Pink background)   
(61b) Willie Keeler (Red background) 
(62) Willie Keeler (Throwing) 
(63) John Knight   
(64) Harry Krause   
(65) Nap Lajoie
(66) Tommy Leach (Throwing)    
(67) Tommy Leach (Batting)    
(68) Sam Leever   
(69) Hans Lobert 
(70) Harry Lumley    
(71) Rube Marquard    
(72) Christy Matthewson   
(73) Stuffy McInnes   
(74) Harry McIntyre    
(75) Larry McLean 
(76) George McQuillian   
(77) Dots Miller    
(78) Fred Mitchell (New York)   
(79) Mike Mitchell (Cincinnati) 
(80) George Mullin   
(81) Rebel Oakes   
(82) Paddy O'Connor   
(83) Charley O'Leary    
(84) Orval Overall 
(85) Jim Pastorius    
(86) Ed Phelps    
(87) Eddie Plank   
(88) Lew Ritchie 
(89) Germany Schaefer   
(90) Biff Schlitzer 
(91) Johnny Seigle 
(92) Dave Shean 
(93) Jimmy Sheckard 
(94) Tris Speaker 
(95) Jake Stahl 
(96) Oscar Stanage    
(97) George Stone (Hands visible)    
(98) George Stone (No hands visible)    
(99) George Stovall   
(100) Ed Summers   
(101) Bill Sweeney (Boston) 
(102) Jeff Sweeney (New York)   
(103) Jesse Tannehill (Chicago AL)   
(104) Lee Tannehill (Chicago NL)    
(105) Fred Tenney 
(106) Ira Thomas (Philadelphia)
(107) Roy Thomas (Boston)
(108) Joe Tinker    
(109) Bob Unglaub   
(110) Jerry Upp   
(111) Honus Wagner (Batting) 
(112) Honus Wagner (Fielding) 
(113) Bobby Wallace 
(114) Ed Walsh 
(115) Vic Willis    
(116) Hooks Wiltse 
(117) Cy Young (Boston)   
(118) Cy Young (Cleveland)