1926 W512

Card #6 - Babe Ruth

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"Strip cards" are a link between the great tobacco and caramel card sets of the early 1900s and the gum cards that arrived in the 1930s, yet they are something of an enigma among many collectors. Their heyday was the 1920s, an era that will be forever known as a great age of baseball. Although they are authentic collectables from the playing days of that era, some collectors avoid strip cards because they are printed on thin paper rather than cardboard or because in many cases the player is pictured as a caricature rather than a picture. The look and feel of an old "Sunday funnies" page can be weird for some collectors.

One strip card set was issued in 1926. Categorized in the American Card Catalog as W512, it keeps that odd name because there is no other way to describe it. The cards have no other obvious markings such as a company name or product listed to lend to them. This is one of the things that makes strip cards unusual: they were the first cards that were sold by themselves, rather than as an incentive to buy a different product such as cigarettes or candy.

W512 is part of a 60-card set of athletes, actors and other celebrities. The first ten were baseball players, as identified in the checklist below. The cards themselves featured a crudely drawn portrait of a player with a solid-colored background. In the "frame" that was made up of the border, the player's name and team were printed below the image, with a card number at the lower left. The backs are blank.

Since the cards were printed on thin paper and distributed in strips that were then cut apart, they are usually found in poor condition today. In many cases, they were poorly cut and their fragile nature didn't allow them to weather the years very well. That said, there is a rare opportunity offered by strip cards. As products issued during the careers or many Hall of Fame players who weren't around to appear in tobacco cards or gumcard sets, they can be a way to obtain Hall of Famers like the eight who are among the ten W512 players. Also, since many collectors look past them, their lessened demand can mean a much more affordable card of somebody like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb or Rogers Hornsby.

1926 W512

(1) Dave Bancroft
(2) Grover Alexander
(3) "Ty" Cobb
(4) Tris Speaker
(5) Glen Wright
(6) Babe Ruth
(7) Everett Scott
(8) Frank Frisch
(9) Rogers Hornsby
(10) Dazzy Vance