(9) 1939 R173 World in Arms, (14) 1941 R173 War Gum

Description: Interesting group of war-themed cards from two different Gum Inc sets, 1939 R173 'World In Arms' and 1941 R164 'War Gum'. My auction source at the time of my acquiring them in 2017 stated that they were file copies kept by Gum Inc. I have no reason to doubt this, for a number of reasons: This was a common practice of companies that printed cards to go into their candy/gum products. Goudey, Gum, Inc and later Topps, were known to keep copies of printed cards on file at their offices. Some examples have filtered out into the marketplace over the years. Most likely, with Goudey and Gum Inc, they were discarded when the companies went out of business, and former executives or employees, perhaps, had the foresight to save them. Topps sold a vast amount of file material at their famed 1989 Topps Vault auction. Inevitably, over time, these pieces have been scattered into the hobby. This is your chance to acquire some never-circulated material from the classic Pre-war gum card period. The cards by and large have a pack-fresh appearance, front and back. Great centering and sharp corners and edges, no evidence of circulation. Some cards do, however, upon close examination, show a very slight uneven cut. This suggests to me that these cards were hand-cut from a fresh sheet, and this makes complete sense for file copy examples. I do not believe these cards were ever put into gum packs. Also, the fact that many of the stiff black cardboard pages (common to photo albums and scrapbooks of the period) have both card front and reverse examples affixed to the pages. Not many collectors of the late-Depression period who lived through it, and those mostly youngsters, would do this with cards bought with their scarce pennies. But it made perfect sense for the company that wanted a quick and easy-to-access reference. The drawback with this, of course, is that in the event (not advised) these cards are removed, even extremely carefully, from the pages where they are firmly attached, they will most likely earn technical grades in the Poor to Fair range in spite of their Near Mint or better eye-appeal. The nice thing is that there are no reverses-only, no exampless where a card reverse is shown and there is no card front to go with it. There are some cards, in both groups, that show a card's front and there is no corresponding reverse card. The nine pages of R173, three of which have the title neatly typed on a strip of paper attached to the page, have the cards affixed, with the fronts showing, to slightly larger cards, which are attached to the pages. The cards with the reverses showing are attached directly to the pages. The pages are holed and reinforced, for mounting in a binder. The R164 are on nine similar pages and are all attached directly, but these pages are not holed. The listing follows: 1939 R173 World In Arms - 9 different, 16 cards total, 7 fronts and backs, 2 fronts only Both sides shown on opposite sides of page, and the condition flaws are noted. #4 Airplanes - British Mayo (the reverse-only card is creased) #12 Airplanes - Russian Mystery Fighter#14 Airplanes - Latvian Reconaissance#3 Ships - British Torpedo Boat 'Hornet'#2 Fortifications - Guns of Maginot Line (the reverse card shows a slight portion at the left edge that appears torn/lifting) #3 Fortifications - Heligoland#1 Miscellaneous - Italian Flame-Throwers Fronts only #16 Airplanes - Dutch Fokker#4 Ships - Japanese 'Fubuki' sinking Junk ship 1941 R164 War Gum - 14 different, 19 cards total, 5 fronts and backs, 9 fronts only Both sides shown on same side of page #3 Harold Stark #5 Ernest King #9 Thomas Hart #17 The Chiangs (Chiang Kai-Shek) #21 Archibald Wavell Fronts only #25 Luzon's Anti-Aircraft #34 US Sub attacks Jap ship #100 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth #s 103/105 Gareth Nowell/Eve Curie (other side of #21 page) These four are shown in pairs on opposite sides of the same page #s 22/86 Dutch Sea-Air Offensive/US Sub Sinks Jap Ship (front)#s 101/106 Lee Ya-Ching/Raymond Collishaw (back) There are some important/interesting cards in the group. From the R173 set is the very interesting 'Italian Flame Throwers', very reminiscent of the 'Horrors of War' art from Gum Inc's set from just a year earlier. The airplanes in particular are very-well portrayed. Remember, all of this was original art, not photography. The R164 set has card #100 (front only, here) of George VI of England and his Queen, Elizabeth - parents of Elizabeth II. Also is the leader of a free China, Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife (both front and back present). One other cool thing about these is that (9) of the (18) pages have cards on just one side, making these pages ideal for framing and wall display. These 9 include the King and Queen of England card. So you get 23 different cards showing the fronts, and 12 of those are accompanied by a card showing the corresponding reverse. 35 cards total. Beautiful cards with an interesting presentation, and a rarely-offered piece of card-production history from one of the greatest pre-war manufacturers. Tracked and insured shipping is free.

Price: 125 USD

Location: Rochester, New York

End Time: 2024-10-16T04:00:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD