Edwin Booth Cigarette Cards

[Craig Hipkins]

Hello folks. I thought that I would share a photo of my Edwin Booth cigarette cards wtih you. They all date from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Craig

[L Verge]

Craig,

I never knew such things existed. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Page]

Hey, Craig--

I'll trade you two Honus Wagners and a Christie Something-or-other for one of those!

--Jim

[LincolnMan]

Craig: what is a cigarette card? Are there others-perhaps featuring Lincoln?

[Craig Hipkins]

Hey, Craig--

I'll trade you two Honus Wagners and a Christie Something-or-other for one of those!

--Jim

Jim,

You got a deal!!!! I believe it is Christie Mathewson a former pitcher for the Giants. I think one of those Honus Wagner cards sold recently for over a million dollars or some crazy amount.

Craig

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Craig: what is a cigarette card? Are there others-perhaps featuring Lincoln?

Bill,

Cigarette cards, or as they are sometimes known Tobacco cards were sold in packs of cigarettes and tobacco tins in the late 19th and early 20th century. some of them can fetch real high prices. It all depends on how rare the card is. Most of the cards featured sports players, or entertainers, but there are other sets that were issued that relate to historical events. My brother has hundreds of these relate to British history. I am sure that there are some Lincoln caards floating around out there somewhere. I might go over to E-bay and have a look!

Craig

[LincolnMan]

They are not to be confused with what we know as baseball cards though,right?

[Jim Page]

Craig, there was an interesting television show about that pricy Honus Wagner card, a memory of which caused my post. I watched it on YouTube. There is evidence that the card had been enhanced by edge trimming and maybe more.

Hard to believe that such a thing carries such value. The value of the Honus Wagner card evidently derives from the scarcity of the things; Wagner wasn't a smoker and had his card removed from the series early on.

--Jim

[Rogerm]

I believe that Christie Mathewson, the baseball pitcher mentioned above, died at a fairly young age around 1925 as a consequence of having been exposed to gas as a soldier in World War I.

[RJNorton]

Bob Cook sent this item that is being offered on e-Bay as the home of Edwin Booth in the 1890's.

E-Bay Item #350710120196

[J. Beckert]

I think Telegraph Hill was a section of San Francisco. I've never heard of Booth the actor living in California, aside from his time in the mining camps. There was an author of Western novels named Edwin Booth who was born in the early 20th. century. I'm wondering if that was his home.

[Carolyn Mitchell]

I saw this listing on EBay.

That photo can be found on the Library of Congress' website: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca0629.photos.016775p/

According to Library of Congress records, they labeled the photo as Edwin Booth House at 35 Calhoun St, San Francisco. However, alot of the images they have on their site of the Booths have been labeled incorrectly like this one. I don't believe Edwin Booth had a house in San Francisco. I know he has travelled there for acting gigs.

Take a look at "My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth."
I provided a link to this book where it talks about Edwin Booth appeared at his bother’s (Junius Brutus Booth JR) cottage on Telegraph Hill in January 1853…

http://books.google.com/books?id=vBSQUOM...ll&f=false

[RJNorton]

Thank you, Carolyn!

[Hess1865]

They are not to be confused with what we know as baseball cards though,right?

They were the origin of baseball cards, except you got tobacco with them, not bubble gum
Real healthy.....

[RJNorton]

Thanks to Bob Cook for sending this link to an article with interesting photos on Edwin Booth and the Player's Club.

[Carolyn Mitchell]

Hello folks. I thought that I would share a photo of my Edwin Booth cigarette cards wtih you. They all date from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Craig

I have this set as well an a cigar box with Edwin on it

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Thanks to Bob Cook for sending this link to an article with interesting photos on Edwin Booth and the Player's Club.

I saw this article last night on my google alert and posted it on the Spirits of Tudor Hall Facebook page. Great pics Edwin Booth's bedroom. But I was informed by a fan that the death mask is not of Edwin Booth but of British actress Ellen Terry.