Michael Jordan & Summer Premium Auction Closing July 18 10PM Eastern
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/18/2020
An extraordinary gallery of four cartes de visite, depicting four different ballplayers – in uniform, in individual photographs – is presented.
Although there have been numerous claims as to which treasured paper heirloom from the past is the "first" baseball card, there is little question that this group of four players represents the very first baseball card set, comprising four of the starting nine from the 1866 American Base Ball Club of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Other CDVs exist that feature images of the early game, or specific players, but most cannot be definitively dated to 1866 or earlier. Those that can be so attributed generally do not comprise a complete set or subset of a specific team. And they were not intended to be collected as a series of baseball cards.
A previous contender for the hobby's "Earliest Known Baseball Card Set" title featured the 1866 Unions of Lansingburgh. Those pieces could be dated to 1866, and no later, by the inclusion of a player who died on November 22, 1866. In a similar fashion, the death of an individual helps verify the timing of the offered items' origin. One, or perhaps two, of the featured players are wearing what was known as a mourning badge. This was to acknowledge the death of an honorary team member, Dr. William H. Hine, who succumbed to typhoid fever on November 12, 1866. Consistent with the era's custom, American Base Ball Club president Henry Leach and Secretary Stephen M. Conger issued a declaration to request that American Base Ball Club members wear "the usual badge of mourning for thirty days." Thus, the photos for this team set were likely taken prior to those of the 1866 Unions of Lansingburgh, by approximately ten days.
The cards presented here carry notations in pencil, "1867," but it's clear that the photos were taken in November, 1866 for the aforementioned reason. Most of the 2-3/8" x 3-7/8" cards also carry, "American Base Ball Club Bridgeport Connecticut," notations in pencil, and display player identification: "Albert Baker," "W. Hyler," and a pitcher with the initials "F. H. M.," in addition to an anonymous subject.
It should be noted that baseball of this era did not end with the passing of summer. The sport was played year-round, as weather permitted, and a number of games were conducted in Bridgeport, in 1866, after the death of Dr. Hine on November 12. Several newspaper accounts have been found that report about games held on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, the latter contest in 50-degree weather. One notable participant was Bridgeport native and future Baseball Hall of Famer James O'Rourke.
The American Base Ball Club of Bridgeport was actually the first baseball team formed in the city ... in 1865. And as the first (and thus only) team, the athletes were limited at the beginning to staging scrimmage games against themselves. Most of the men were employees of the Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine Factory (which later became Singer Sewing Machines). In 1865, The American Club prevailed over the only other local team at the time, the Business College Club, to win the City Championship. By 1866, no less than 26 teams – fifteen downtown teams and eleven East End squads, like the A.B.C. – dotted the Bridgeport Baseball Landscape.
These phenomenal paper antiques reflect an incredible sense of history from a perspective that is almost certainly unique. Significant foundation pieces from the National Pastime's earliest days are seldom offered, and this superb line-up merits serious recognition on the basis of rarity ... as well as for their compelling visual mystique.
Please Note: By way of clarification, these items are tintypes mounted into cardboard.