H804-29 Read the Sporting Life Trade Cards Set and Checklist
‘It’s In The Details’
| Title | H804-29 Read the Sporting Life Trade Cards |
| Year | 1800s |
| Size | 3 1/4″ x 5 7/8″ |
| Images | Violet-colored Ink |
| Type | Trade |
| Number in Set |
4 |
H804-29 Read the Sporting Life Trade Cards Overview
This set is part of the baseball comic series of trade cards. Noted collector Frank Keetz assigned it the designation used in his book, “Baseball Advertising Trade Cards 3rd Edition.”
The cards feature a variety of humorous baseball scenes. In particular, the players depicted are shown with unusually large equipment. These types of pictures are similar to the ones in the popular Horizontal Brownies and Vertical Brownies sets. A primary difference is the color. Those were both printed in full color while these use only a violet-colored ink. The cards were an advertisement for the Sporting Life, which encourages collectors to read that publication as is shown in the backgrounds of the cards.
These were not Sporting Life’s only trade cards. They also issued three different, slightly larger sets that are cataloged as H804-8 in Keetz’s book.
Many trade cards were used by numerous companies and that is the case with this set. That is in part because it was easier to use artwork that was already produced rather than going through the trouble of creating your own. For that reason, the fronts of the card can be blank with only the picture/caption or include an advertisement for different companies.
As is the case with most trade cards, these are fragile and printed on thinner card stock. For that reason, they can be torn or ripped quite easily and damaged easier than standard baseball cards.
H804-29 Read the Sporting Life Trade Cards Checklist
- A Foul Ball
- Behind the Bat
- Never Touched Me
- Slide, Brownie, Slide
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