Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Mayer’s Shoes Trade Cards
Year	Unknown
Size	3 1/4″ x 5 1/2″
Images	Color
Type	Trade Card
Number in Set	3 (?)

Mayer’s Shoes Trade Cards Overview

One of the earliest recognized hockey cards is the Mayer’s hockey trade card. It is believed to have been printed around 1900 or earlier.

While this is often cited as a standalone card, it is actually part of a set of cards for Mayer’s Shoes. Another card in the set pictures an early billiards scene. A third depicts children playing. It is unclear if others are present in the set. However, the hockey card is easily the key issue.

The color picture on the front of the hockey card shows several children playing on the ice. No puck is present and only one of the five children is even wearing skates. However, two of the boys have hockey sticks and that is what makes this a hockey issue.

The trade card is for a Milwaukee-based store called Mayer’s, which is advertising their children’s shoes. They are called “Children’s Rough and Tumble School Shoes” and this statement is also included on the fronts:

Rough and Tumble with Never a Care
Secure in the Thought that the Shoes They Wear
Are Mayer’s Milwaukee Custom Made
Which Put All Others in the Shade

The back of the cards added a general advertisement in both English and German — which was odd, given that the store was based in Milwaukee. It was also somewhat customizable as it included a pair of blank lines for a particular retailer of the shoes to add their own store/business information, similar to other trade cards.

Mayer’s Shoes Trade Cards Checklist

To date, the cards in the series that I have seen include the ones listed below. Others, however, may be present.

1. Billiards scene
2. Children playing with kite
3. Hockey scene

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