Gigantic 1888 N154 Duke Presidential Baseball Club Cabinet Card

Sold For:

$2,900

Year:

1888

Auction:

2005 Spring

Lot #:

140

Category:

Pre-1900 Baseball Cards (1830-1899)

We have never before seen this incredibly gigantic Duke "Presidential Baseball Club" cabinet card. The card measures an unbelievable 6.75 x 11 inches. The photograph features the same pose as one of the cards in the traditional N154 set. An example of the smaller card in Very Good condition accompanies. Both cards are shown together in the catalog illustration for appropriate scale. Advanced sport, non-sport, and political collectors are familiar with Duke's "Presidential Baseball Club" set, which is a very rare nineteenth-century non-sport baseball-related tobacco card issue similar in dimensions (4.25 x 2.25 inches), design, and rarity to Kalamazoo Bats. Instead of ballplayers, these cards feature the presidential candidates of 1888, Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland, with large photographic heads placed on baseball player bodies, posed in various baseball scenes. Benjamin Harrison is at bat, with Cleveland preparing to catch the ball behind him. Harrison may have missed this pitch, but he won the election of 1888. The primary card of this lot is more than seven times larger than the standard issue. It is amazing to us that we have never before seen or heard of another example of this huge photographic Duke advertising cabinet card. This card is so strong and substantial in thickness and construction, we would think others would have survived. Perhaps they have, but this is a first for us. And, really, we don't expect to ever see another example. The mount is black, with advertising in gold lettering. This is one of the most fascinating nineteenth-century cards, sport or non-sport, that we have ever seen. Excellent condition. 2 items. Reserve $400. Estimate $800/$1,200. SOLD FOR $2,900.00