1909 E95 Philadelphia Caramel

Eddie Cicotte

---

Considered one of the more commonly found caramel sets of its era, the Philadelphia Caramel set of 1909 was designated E95 by Jefferson Burdick's American Card Catalog. With a total of 25 cards, the set might seem like a snap to complete, but looks can be decieving; the star cards carry a high price tag, and even the common players are hard to come by. That E95 cards can be considered among the most common cards of its type and still be difficult to find spotlights the fact that as a whole, "E" cards are much more scarce than the more widely collected tobacco cards distributed at that same time.

The design of E95 cards are similar to that of a lot that era's sets (most notably the T206 design). A color lithograph of a player pitured is surrounded by a white border, with the player's last name and team listed below the picture. This similarity among sets of the period causes some confusion among collectors, but the E95 cards are easily identified by their backs. The back is dominated by a checklist of all 25 cards in the set. Below the checklist is "Made by Philadelphia Caramel Co. Camden, New Jersey." The cards measure 2 5/8" by 1 1/2".

Despite being a small set, there are many stars and Hall of Famers. Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner headline the set. While no variations appear, three players have their names spelled wrong. Christy Mathewson's name is spelled "Matthewson," Solly Hofman's last name is shown as "Hoffman" and Ed Willett appears as "Willetts." Since these errors were never corrected, they add no extra value to the cards.

Note: The checklist below lists the players alphabetically by last name, rather than the order shown on the back of the cards. Additionally, last names are shown as they appear on the cards.

E95 Philadelphia Caramel

(1) Chief Bender   
(2) Bill Carrigan
(3) Frank Chance   
(4) Ed Cicotte
(5) Ty Cobb
(6) Eddie Collins
(7) Sam Crawford
(8) Art Devlin   
(9) Larry Doyle   
(10) Johnny Evers
(11) Solly Hoffman   
(12) Harry Krause
(13) Tommy Leach 
(14) Harry Lord   
(15) Nick Maddox
(16) Christy Matthewson
(17) Matty McIntyre   
(18) Fred Merkle   
(19) Cy Morgan   
(20) Eddie Plank
(21) Ed Ruehlbach   
(22) Honus Wagner
(23) Ed Willetts 
(24) Vic Willis   
(25) Hooks Wiltse