1887 N690 Kalamazoo Bats / N690-1 Kalamazoo Bats Cabinets Set and Checklist

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	N690 Kalamazoo Bats / N690-1 Kalamazoo Bats Cabinets
Year	1887
Size	2 1/2″ x 4 ″ cards / 4 1/4″ x 6 1/2″ cabinets
Images	Sepia
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	62 cards / 39 cabinets

N690 / N690-1 Kalamazoo Bats Overview

The 1887 N690 Kalamazoo Bats set included approximately 60 baseball players. A second set of larger cabinet photos mounted onto cardboard were also created (two types exist – one with a brown border and one with a black border) and are known as the N690-1 issue.

The card fronts were photographs affixed to a cardboard backing. While some of these cards have blank backs, some of the N690 backs include a detailed description of their redemption offer.

Below the player’s picture on the front was his name along with the message, “Smoke Kalamazoo Bats.” As with other similar issues, the images on the front have been prone to fading. There are 62 known cards in the set, although they are still being discovered. One, Bill Holbert, was just discovered in 2007.

Holders could redeem certain numbers of the cards for other prizes as described below.

15 cards for a cigar tube
25 cards for a match safe
50 cards for a pocket knife
100 cards for a nicer cigar tube
200 cards for a clock
400 cards for a silk umbrella.

The silk umbrella was the largest prize, valued at $5.00.

Redemptions could be part of the reason these cards are so rare. Cards were produced by Charles Gross and Company based out of Philadelphia. That many of the cabinets featured players from the Philadelphia Phillies, that makes sense given the manufacturer.