1910-11 T3 Turkey Reds

Card #17 - Clark Griffith

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Cabinet cards are a relic of the early days of both baseball cards and photography. Among early photographs are studio poses, where the photo has been affixed to a heavy cardboard backing. Some of these cards are called cartes de vistes (or CDVs) and some early baseball cards were made in a similar fashion. Larger cards measuring over five inches or so were called "cabinet cards" for their size. Many cabinet sets from the late 1900s are great but are really scarce. While not truly a "cabinet" set in its strict definition becasue the photo isn't mounted to the cardboard, T3 is classified as a cabinet set due to its 8' by 5 3/4" dimensions. Among baseball card cabinet sets, the T3 set is the only one that many collectors can realistically hope to complete.

Unlike many T-series cards, T3 Turkey Reds weren't placed into tobacco packages. Instead, they were available only by sending in coupons found in packages of cigarettes. As premiums, the cards were awarded as an incentive for consumers to keep smoking Turkey Red, Fez and Old Mill cigarettes. In order to get a single card, coupons needed to be sent from several cigarette packs, which accounts for the general scarcity of cabinet cards, and the Turkey Reds are no exception. It required ten coupons from Turkey Red or 25 coupons from Fez or Old Mill. Surviving coupons from the promotion give dates of 1910 and 1911, establishing the general timeframe the set was issued.

Most collectors of the T3 cards explain that the Turkey Reds are the most attractive of the cabinet cards, and some collectors of tobacco cards try to get at least one card from the set. Card fronts feature an action shot of a player in a vivid full-color lithograph, framed by a thick gray border. Below the picture is a graphic "nameplate" which shows the player's last name and team city, which makes the card look like a matted photo. Card backs feature either a checklist or an advertisement for Turkey Red cigarettes.

This one of the few early sets which numbered its cards. While the cards themselves were not individually numbered, the checklists numbered them for the convenience of the customers redeeming their coupons. The set featured 100 baseball players and 26 boxers; the checklist below only names the baseball players because the boxers (cards 51-76) have been grouped separately in the American Card Catalog; Jefferson Burdick classified all boxers as part of a set he classified as T9.

T3s are not only attractive, the set is loaded with stars and Hall of Famers. Ty Cobb, Napoleon LaJoie, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, Eddie Walsh and Chief Bender are among the Hall of Famers in the set. Frank "Home Run" Baker has a card as well, but the image actually shows Jack Barry. Four cards were changed to reflect new information. Card #28 of Harry McIntrye shows him in his Brooklyn uniform but is found with his team name as either "Brooklyn" or "Now With Chicago Nat'l" after a trade. Two cards in the set were changed to reflect other trades: Dode Paskert (#112) is found as either "Cincinnati" or Cin. and Phila. Nat'l" and Fred Tenney (#122) is found as either "N.Y. Nat'l" or "N.Y. and Boston Nat'l." The other variation was a correction to an error. Mickey Doolan's card (#90) has his last name listed as either "Doolin" or "Doolan."

T3 Turkey Reds

1. Mordecai Brown
2. Bill Bergen
3. Tommy Leach
4. Roger Bresnahan
5. Sam Crawford
6. Hal Chase
7. Howie Camnitz
8. Fred Clarke
9. Ty Cobb
10. Art Devlin
11. Bill Dahlen
12. Wild Bill Donovan
13. Bill Doyle
14. Red Dooin
15. Kid Elberfeld
16. Johnny Evers
17. Clark Griffith
18. Hughie Jennings
19. Addie Joss
20. Tim Jordan
21. Red Kleinow
22. Harry Krause
23. Nap Lajoie
24. Mike Mitchell
25. Matty McIntyre
26. John McGraw
27. Christy Mathewson
28a. Harry McIntyre (Brooklyn)
28b. Harry McIntyre (Brooklyn and Chicago)
29. Amby McConnell
30. George Mullin
31. Sherry Magee
32. Orval Overall
33. Jake Pfeister
34. Nap Rucker
35. Joe Tinker
36. Tris Speaker
37. Slim Sallee
38. Jake Stahl
39. Rube Waddell
40a. Vic Willis (Pittsburg)
40b. Vic Willis (Pittsburg and St.Louis)
41. Hooks Wiltse
42. Cy Young
43. Out at Third
44. Trying to Catch Him Napping
45. Jordan & Herzog at First
46. Safe at Third
47. Frank Chance at Bat
48. Jack Murray at Bat
49. A Close Play at Second
50. Chief Myers at Bat
77. Red Ames
78. Home Run Baker
79. George Bell
80. Chief Bender
81. Bob Bescher
82. Kitty Bransfield
83. Al Bridwell
84. George Browne
85. Bill Burns
86. Bill Carrigan
87. Eddie Collins
88. Harry Covaleski
89. Lou Criger
90a. Mickey Doolin
90b. Mickey Doolan
91. Tom Downey
92. Jimmy Dygert
93. Art Fromme
94. George Gibson
95. Peaches Graham
96. Bob Groom
97. Dick Hoblitzell
98. Solly Hofman
99. Walter Johnson
100. Davy Jones
101. Wee Willie Keeler
102. Johnny Kling
103. Ed Konetchy
104. Ed Lennox
105. Hans Lobert
106. Harry Lord
107. Rube Manning
108. Fred Merkle
109. Pat Morgan
110. George McBride
111. Harry Niles
112a. Dode Paskert (Cincinnati)
112b. Dode Paskert (Cincinnati and Philadelphia)
113. Bugs Raymond
114. Bob Rhoades
115. Admiral Schlei
116. Boss Schmidt
117. Wildfire Schulte
118. Frank Smith
119. George Stone
120. Gabby Street
121. Billy Sullivan
122a. Fred Tenney (New York)
122b. Fred Tenney (New York and Boston)
123. Ira Thomas
124. Bobby Wallace
125. Ed Walsh
126. Owen Wilson