1921 Wool’s American-Maid Bread Set and Checklist

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Wool’s American-Maid Bread
Year	1921
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 1/4″ (but varies by cut)
Images	Color
Type	Bakery/Bread
Number in Set	40

1921 Wool’s American-Maid Bread Overview

Wool American Bread Back.jpg

W551 Strip Card Bill Tilden Tennis The 1921 Wool’s American-Maid Bread set is extremely rare but known to collectors through the more-commonly seen regular W551 strip cards. The multi-sport set includes athletes from baseball, golf, boxing, hockey, and other sports. In addition to the baseball players, there are some other coveted cards here as well. A few included boxer Jack Dempsey, tennis player Bill Tilden, and golfer Gene Sarazen. The card of Tilden, in particular, is quite desirable as it is often considered his rookie card.

The Wool’s American-Maid Bread cards are simply overprinted W551s. The fronts are exactly the same between the two issues. The only differences are on the back. Regular W551 cards are blank-backed while the Wool’s American-Maid Bread cards have their name stamped on them them.

The stamping of the Wool’s American-Maid Bread cards is basic and in black ink. For that reason, collectors should be wary of overprinted cards such as these as counterfeiting is possible.

To date, only a handful of these rare cards are known. One, a Babe Ruth, was recently auctioned for a little more than $2,000.

American-Maid Bread was a popular brand at one time. Their name can be found on the backs of some other baseball cards well, including the 1920s Gassler’s cards and the 1920s Clark’s Bread cards (both of which resembled the W575-1/E121 issues).

Rookie Cards

W551 Gene Sarazen Golf

The set is quietly a haven for some key rookie cards of athletes. Cards of Tilden and Sarazen, for example, are quietly rookie issues. The card of Sarazen, in particular, sells for more than many collectors would suspect.

Additionally, boxing Hall of Famer Mickey Walker’s rookie card is found here as are rookies of tennis Hall of Famers Suzanne Lenglen and Molla Mallory.

Jack Dempsey’s card is sometimes cited as a rookie card by collectors. The card is certainly one of Dempsey’s earliest issues but he has several other cards from 1919 and/or 1920.

1921 Wool’s American-Maid Bread Checklist

With new discoveries still being made, this checklist is unconfirmed. Only a few of these cards with the Wool’s American-Maid Bread stamp are known today. However, since these mirror the W551 cards, the 40 cards below could make up the complete checklist.