Graded 60 EX 5 by SGC. This is one of two examples at its tier (with six graded higher) among a total of eighteen copies recorded in SGC's census reporting. The legend of Joe Jackson is widely known to all baseball enthusiasts. Unfortunately for modern collectors, the great player's career was abbreviated by scandal, and his inclusion in contemporary card sets was correspondingly limited. Besides a strip card, a few black-and-white issues and a caramel card from his early days with the Athletics, there are very few period mementos of the legendary hitter's career. Accordingly, the hobby rejoices, collectively both thrilled and relieved that Cracker Jack decided to include Joe Jackson in the company's inaugural 1914 offering. The Cracker Jack issue, on the basis of an aesthetic brilliance that yields unparalleled visual splendor, is clearly the industry's collectible of choice with respect to the revered, yet tragic, figure.

      This example's design provides the classic, colorful batting pose of Jackson, placed against the brightest-imaginable background. Stylized letters identifying the card as one of the "Cracker Jack Ball Players" decorate the top edge of the design's boundary. As advanced collectors are well aware, Cracker Jack's 1914 cards are much more difficult to locate than their 1915 counterparts due to the fact that they were only distributed directly with the candied popcorn and were not available as part of a ready-made, factory set. The offered card boasts bold colors and is fairly well centered, conceding just slight obliqueness in the edge cuts at its sides. This showpiece collectible's surfaces are commendable, and conspicuously devoid of the creasing and product-staining that are so often associated with the issue. Radiantly attractive Excellent condition.

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