1894-95 N300 Mayo Cut Plug Set and Checklist

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	N300 Mayo Cut Plug
Year	1894-95
Size	1 5/8″ x 2 7/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	48

N300 Mayo Cut Plug Overview

The 1894-95 Mayo Cut Plug set includes nearly 50 different baseball cards. In all, however, there are only 40 different players included as the set has a total of eight subjects with variations.

The cards are interesting as they have a distinct look from other tobacco and caramel cards of the day. While most of those had white or sepia tone borders, the N300 Mayo set has a black border. And while other cards featured blank backs, the Mayo card blank backs are also entirely black. This stark contrast gives it an appealing and unique look.

While the set is often referred to as an 1895 issue, it appears to have spanned two years, 1894 and 1895. That is evident based on the uniform variations in the set. Several players that spent both 1894 and 1895 with different teams are featured in both uniforms. Buck Ewing, who spent 1894 with Cleveland and 1895 with Cincinnati, is an example of that.

In addition, while some of the variations in the set are based on players switching teams, others were different.

First, there was the case of Fred Pfeffer, which was a little different. Pfeffer played with Louisville in 1895 for only a few games before abruptly retiring. But Pfeffer actually returned in 1896 with New York and later, Chicago. One of Pfeffer’s cards (presumably, printed in 1894) has him with Louisville while another version replaced his position of 2B with ‘Retired.’ Hall of Famer John Ward had the same situation as he retired after the 1894 season.

Additionally, George Haddock and Tom Kinslow both have versions wearing a blank jersey and then one with a team name printed on it. A final non-team variation involved Hall of Famer Amos Rusie. Rusie’s name was misspelled as ‘Russie’ then later corrected.