1916 Altoona Tribune Set (M101-4)

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Altoona Tribune M101-4
Year	1916
Size	1 5/8″ x 3″
Images	Black and White
Type	Publications
Number in Set	200

1916 Altoona Tribune M101-4 Overview

The M101-4 series is one of the more well-known of the M101 Sporting News issues and includes smaller, traditional trading cards. The cards feature black and white images of players along with the name, position, team, and card number on the bottom.

The set is widely known for producing what is considered by many to be the Babe Ruth rookie card.

While the set is often called the Sporting News set, numerous advertisers used these cards in their own sets. One of those was the Altoona Tribune.

These cards are exactly like the regular M101-4 Sporting News cards but the difference is identified on the back. Instead of a Sporting News advertisement, there is one for the Altoona Tribune. It says, “Read the doings of your favorite star in The Tribune, Altoona’s leading morning newspaper.” The ad also mentioned that full box scores were produced daily.

It isn’t known how all of these cards were distributed. However, one advertisement for them found in recent years explains how some of them were given away. Children were given 20 of them in June 2016 for showing up at the newspaper’s address. In addition, a full set of 200 could be obtained by calling into the newspaper’s office and filling out two coupons/forms. The cards were advertised as being free of charge.

About the M101-4 Set

These cards utilized the same pictures and checklist of the M101-4 set.

The M101-4 set was created by Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn produced the set then peddled the issue to various companies for their own distribution. It’s usually called the Sporting News set but that isn’t really accurate.

While Sporting News did use the cards as evidenced by their advertising backs found on some, they were only one company that did so. Many other companies, including the Altoona Tribune, distributed these cards as well.

You can find more on the various companies using these cards here.