Risido Cigars Women Baseball Players (N694) Set and Checklist

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Risido Cigars Women Baseball Players (N694)
Year	1880s
Size	2 1/4″ x 3 3/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	Unknown

Risido Cigars Women Baseball Players (N694) Overview

This rare 1800s set features women baseball players and were a product of Risido Cigars.

Much remains unknown about this scarce issue. The cards are rarely seen and not checklisted in most publications. The exact date of distribution is not known but the cards were likely produced in the late 1880s. Further, the mode of distribution also remains unknown. A likely scenario is that they were packaged with Risido Cigars products.

Cards are similar to the popular N172 Old Judge set in terms of design. But instead of featuring players in actual games, the women are depicted in a series of baseball poses to make it appear as if they are playing.

The cards appear closely related to a few other baseball issues featuring women from the same time period – namely the 1886 N48 Dixie Cigarettes/Virginia Brights Girl Baseball Player Series as well as the N508 Sub Rosa set. In fact, at least one card from the Risido set, the Pitcher card, as shown in this REA auction was the exact same pose of a card in the Sub Rosa set. Others may have been duplicated as well.

Backs of the cards were simple, including a brief advertisement for Risido. The ad called it the best five-cent cigar, stating the product had a Sumatra wrapper and a Havana filler.

Risido-Like Find

In a 2021 Vintage Non-Sports Auctions sale, a card with the appearance of an N694 Risido was auctioned.

The card has the same layout as a typical Risido card but also with minor differences. In addition to being skinned with paper potentially added to the back, it was also hand cut and had a spotted pattern in the border area.

The card is titled Catcher & Bater (with a typo). As this pose/title was not previously known in this set, it would be the eighth checklisted card.

It is not known exactly what that card is, but it could have potentially been cut from an advertising poster or other source material.

In 2021, this card sold for just over $350. Here’s more on this new discovery.

Risido Cigars Women Baseball Players (N694) Checklist

A complete checklist is unknown due to the scarcity of this issue. However, known cards in the set are presented below. Other similar issues are known to have nine cards and I would guess that this set has either nine or a number close to it.

Of note is that the aforementioned Catcher & Bater card could be an eighth card in the checklist. However, due to its distinguishing characteristics from traditional N694s, I have not cataloged it here.