1938 Sawyer Biscuit Cabinets Set and Checklist

 ‘It’s In The Details’

Title Sawyer Biscuit Cabinets
Year 1938
Size 4 1/2″ x 5 3/4″
Images Sepia
Type Bakery
Number in Set
52

1938 Sawyer Biscuit Overview

1938 Sawyer Biscuits Hack

The 1938 Sawyer Biscuit set is a collection of small photographs mounted to a red cardboard frame. While the issue is referred to as the Sawyer Biscuit cabinets (named after the company), they were actually part of a promotion for the company’s Sawyer Butter Cookies products.

Pictures of the players were sepia-toned and included his name at the bottom. The photo was affixed to the frame, which had a backing, which popped out to allow it to stand up for display.

The pictures and frames were premium items that were sent to collectors in exchange for a coupon as well as ten cents. The set was part of a local promotion, however, and only included Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox players.

When redeemed, collectors received a letter from the Sawyer Biscuit Company with their cabinet photo. In it, they were encouraged to send more coupons and money to the company at their address (1041 West Harrison Street in Chicago). Sawyer Biscuit also stated fans had numerous options for displaying the photos. They could be stood up on a desk, hung on the wall, or removed from the frame and placed in an album. Finally, in a P.S., the company mentioned two more of their products – Sawyer’s Energized Honey Flavored Graham Crackers and Sawyer’s Saltine Crackers.

Sawyer Biscuit also returned in 1950 with another baseball issue – an 8X10 set of photographs of the Indianapolis Indians.

New Unchecklisted Additions

Roy Johnson 1938 Sawyer Biscuit CabinetA previously unchecklisted Roy Johnson (Cubs) was found in 2017. Here’s a bit more on that discovery.

Three more previously unchecklisted photos were discovered by a collector in 2019 and first mentioned on my site here. Added to the checklist were Newell Kimball, Sugar Cain, and Red Corriden.

In addition, the aforementioned letter sent to collectors was signed by broadcaster Bob Elson. Interestingly enough, when selecting which photo they wanted, he was also an option, as mentioned in the letter. The most interesting subject, however, was someone named ‘Babs.’ Collectors could receive a photo of one of the players, Elson, or ‘Babs’ as indicated in the letter. For a while his/her identity was not known to collectors. However, I have since discovered it was Dolores Gillen – one of his broadcasting partners.

I have not yet seen a Gillen photo and until one surfaces, it will probably not be recognized by most as an official checklisted item. But it should be assumed that it does exist since it was listed as one of the images offered. For that reason, I have listed it as a checklisted item below.

While the checklist is filling out, there are still several potential cards to be discovered. Some of the most likely candidates were outlined in a separate article here.

1938 Sawyer Biscuit Checklist

The list below is the combined checklist of players available from both the Cubs and White Sox, as well as the two broadcasters. As indicated above, while Gillen’s photo was an option, one has not been seen to date.

  1. Luke Appling
  2. Jim Asbell
  3. Boze Berger
  4. Clint Brown
  5. Clay Bryant
  6. Sugar Cain
  7. Tex Carleton
  8. Phil Cavaretta
  9. Rip Collins
  10. Red Corriden
  11. Dizzy Dean
  12. Frog Dietrich
  13. Frank Demaree
  14. Jimmie Dykes
  15. Bob Elson (Broadcaster)
  16. Al Epperly
  17. Larry French
  18. Frank Gabler
  19. Augie Galan
  20. Bob Garbark
  21. Babs Gillen (Broadcaster)
  22. Charlie Grimm
  23. Stan Hack
  24. Gabby Hartnett
  25. Jackie Hayes
  26. Billy Herman
  27. Roy Johnson
  28. Billy Jurges
  29. Newell Kimball
  30. Jack Knott
  31. Mike Kreevich
  32. Joe Kuhel
  33. Tony Lazzeri
  34. Bill Lee
  35. Thornton Lee
  36. Bob Logan
  37. Ted Lyons
  38. Joe Marty
  39. Ken O’Dea
  40. Marv Owen
  41. Tony Rensa
  42. Carl Reynolds
  43. Dunc Rigney
  44. Charlie Root
  45. Larry Rosenthal
  46. Jack Russell
  47. Norm Schlueter
  48. Luke Sewell
  49. Hank Steinbacher
  50. Monty Stratton
  51. Gee Gee Walker
  52. Porkshops Whitehead

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