1933 Goudey Baseball Progressive Proof Sheets Set (8) with 24 Different Cards. ...

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The opening salvo of the Bubble Gum Era divulges its secrets...

1933 Goudey Baseball Progressive Proof Sheets Set (8) with 24 Different Cards. It was a particularly unlikely era to innovate a new entertainment commodity, the nation held tightly in the grip of a Great Depression that emptied many pockets of disposable income. But somehow, against all odds, the 1933 Goudey release of 240 baseball cards (or 239, to be more precise) was invented and released to document an important stage in the history of our national pastime. Today, those trading cards share status with the 1909-11 T206 and 1952 Topps brands as "The Big Three" of the hobby, thus essential components to any collection with an eye toward the fundamentals of the trade.

Presented is a rare and exciting window into the production methodology of the 1933 Goudey issue, a deeply endangered species of which only two other such groupings are known. One of those has been cut into individual cards, effectively establishing this as one-of-two to maintain original formatting.

It is understood that these sheets were housed at the Goudey offices until 1943 but were not rediscovered until sometime in the 1970's. Each approximately 11.5x14.25" uncut sheet of the same roster of twenty-four subjects is blank-backed and includes such Cooperstown immortals as KiKi Cuyler, Bill Terry, Ted Lyons and Bill Dickey. Five of the sheets are produced with a single color, while the sixth features a spot yellow/red combination and the seventh bringing all the colors together. The eighth adds the player identifications along the top border, the final product as released (again, minus the text on verso).

The consignor of this wonderful rarity commissioned a hardcover album with acid-free paper, mylar sheets and a slip cover to house and showcase the set, and it has done well to maintain the remarkably fine condition of the contents, which lack the manner of wrinkling and/or staining that plagues the vast majority of pre-war trading card sheets. We'd conservatively assess the collection at a rather consistent EX-MT condition, excepting the punch holes at left edge of each that must be excused as inherent to the original storage procedure at Goudey.