214. Boss Pat Cases Trade Cards Set and Checklist

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	214. Boss Pat Cases Trade Cards
Year	1870s or 1880s
Size	2 1/2″ x 4 1/4″
Images	Color
Type	Trade
Number in Set	64

214. Boss Pat Cases Trade Cards Overview

214 Trade Card.jpg These were trade cards that were used to promote Boss Pat Cases Fine Jewelry.

Unlike other trade cards, these were used for a specific business. They pictured various color lithographs of people, often of a non-sports variety. A few athletes did make it into the issue, however, including a baseball player. The baseball cards featured a player in a uniform with another player in the background a the legs of a third player, who is mostly out of the picture.

In all, a total of 64 Boss Pat Cases trade cards exist, as classified here. As mentioned, most are non-sports related. However, there is a boxing card (shown on this page) and a few others depicting minor sports.

Boss Pat Cases Trade Card Boxing

The baseball card is classified in the sixth of seven series, as outlined in that link. That work in classifying these was done by Ron Schieber, as mentioned on that page. The series with the baseball card features horizontal cards and, in the lower right portion, have a short description of the picture, tying it to a Boss Pat Case product. The upper right portion of these cards was used by various distributors/jewelers of the Boss Pat Cases with each printing or stamping their own information. They are also classified as the ‘flat cap’ series as a nod to the headwear worn by the people on the cards. Backs of the cards had a long description of the cases.

It should also be noted that the seventh series/subset in Schieber’s classification includes similar looking cards.

The exact date of the cards is unknown. It is sometimes mistakenly listed as a 1854 issue because the backs state the company was established in that year. The first card listed in the set, one mentioning the Paris Exposition, is dated to 1878. Others in the set are likely either 1870s or 1880s issues.

The baseball card was numbered separately by noted trade card collector Frank Keetz in his book, “Baseball Advertising Trade Cards, 3rd Edition.” It was a trade card he identified but did not have a printed title on it. Because of that, he cataloged it with a number instead, which is the number in the title shown here.