1912 L1 Helmar Leathers a Unique Collectible

‘It’s In The Details’

Title L1 Helmar Leathers
Year 1912
Size 10″ x 12″
Images Black
Type Leather
Number in Set
25

L1 Leathers Overview

l1-speaker

Amidst all of the baseball cards in the pre-war era, a few unique collectibles are present as well. One of those is the L1 leather set.

The leathers feature a variety of baseball players (25, to be exact) printed on foot-long pieces of leather. Keys to the set include Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson, though plenty of other Hall of Famers exist.

Helmar printed the sets in 1912 for its Turkish Trophies cigarettes. One was offered in exchange for 50 coupons from that product.

A total of 25 leathers are included in the set and they share the same checklist as the S81 silks. Not only were the players the same as that issue, but the poses printed on them were exactly the same, too.

L1 Leathers Checklist

  • Grover Alexander
  • Home Run Baker
  • Chief Bender
  • Rube Benton
  • Roger Bresnahan
  • Howie Camnitz
  • Ty Cobb
  • Eddie Collins
  • Red Dooin
  • Johnny Evers
  • Russ Ford
  • Hughie Jennings
  • Walter Johnson
  • Nap Lajoie
  • Sherry Magee
  • Rube Marquard
  • Christy Mathewson
  • John McGraw
  • Mike Mitchell
  • Marty O’Toole
  • Nap Rucker
  • Tris Speaker
  • Jake Stahl
  • Joe Tinker
  • Ed Walsh