1909-10 C.A. Briggs (E97) Set

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	C.A. Briggs (E97)
Year	1909-10
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	Candy/Caramel
Number in Set	37

1909-10 C.A. Briggs (E97) Overview

The 1909-10 E97 C.A. Briggs (full company name was actually the C.A. Briggs Lozenge Makers) set is one of the rarer E-Card issues. Despite having a small amount of cards, completing the set is somewhat difficult.

There are two types of E97 cards. The more common version is printed in color but a second set of cards printed in black and white is known as well.

The set is lacking compared to other candy cards from the era in terms of name brand. The only Hall of Famers from the set are Joe Kelley, Willie Keeler, and Cy Young.

Proofs?

The black and white cards have been referred to (and graded) as proof cards. However, as REA states, that is probably not true.

The cards have the same overall design as E97. They also utilize the same font (mostly) and the same pictures. The only font variances are on some of the corrections to type where a larger font is used.

Actual proofs of a sort do exist, however. Uncut sheets of the color cards were found that had blank backs on them instead of the typical checklist.

Part of the reason that the black and white cards are not likely proofs is because corrections existed for some of them, such as a Harry Steinfeldt typographical error. Had the cards been true proofs printed before the color cards, no such correction would probably exist.

More likely, as REA suggests, this was another entirely different set produced either by Briggs or even another company. The cards are generally categorized by collectors as E97-2 with the color version being E97-1.

The true identity of these cards may always be an unknown.

Cy Young Cards and Other Variations

Despite it being a small set, there are tons of variations and errors here.

Irv/Cy Young Variation

While the player name on the card is Cy Young, there is little doubt that the image belongs to that of Irv Young. It isn’t 100% clear which is the error – if the card was truly reserved for Cy Young (the checklist on the back, for the record, states that it is Cy Young in the set) or if it should have been Irv Young and Cy’s name was erroneously added.

However, as I’ve broken down at length here, it is difficult to argue that the cards were not intended to be cards for Cy Young. In short, Irv never pitched for Cleveland and a Cleveland card never would have been printed if the cards were truly for him. Additionally, other name errors were corrected on the fronts of cards. If the cards really were supposed to be Irv Young cards, the name certainly would have been fixed.

Simon Nicholls

In addition, Simon Nichols has team variations. Nichols has both Cleveland and Philadelphia cards. Also of note is that Simon Nicholls’ cards both were misspelled ‘Nichols’. No corrected version is found. Nicholls went from Philadelphia in 1909 to Cleveland in 1910, so his variation reflects his team change.

Dennis/Billy Sullivan

Finally, there’s more confusion with Dennis and Billy Sullivan. Sullivan’s first name is not listed so it isn’t entirely clear, whose card this is. Typically, however, it is referred to as a Dennis Sullivan card because he’s the one who is pictured on the card. That is evident because he’s wearing a Boston uniform.

The reason for confusion, however, is that a Sullivan card was also printed indicating Chicago was his team. Denny never played there and at the time, that was the team of Billy Sullivan. The Sullivan Boston card is one of the rarest cards in the entire set.

It’s not quite the same as the Cy/Irv Young debacle, though. Unlike the Cy Young card which names him as Cy Young, this one is a little fuzzier, only calling him Sullivan. But with the Sullivan name, the Boston uniform, and the Boston name, we get a perfect match all the way around for Denny Sullivan on one card

However, a wrench has been thrown into the machine when it comes to declaring this a Denny Sullivan card. This uncut sheet appears to be for cards that were printed later. That is evident because the Cy Young Cleveland card is included as is a corrected version of Harry Steinfeldt’s name. The sheet, however, has the Sullivan Chicago card, appearing to indicate that the card was printed after the Boston version. This seems to suggest that later versions of the card were intended to be Billy. A second theory, though, is that it was just another mistake in an error-filled set.

Spelling Errors

In addition to the variations, there are some spelling errors in the set.

Harry Steinfeldt has both correct and incorrect versions of his name (one is missing the ‘t’ at the end). Those errors and corrections are printed in both the color and the black and white sets.
Mickey Doolan has a spelling error (Dolan) in both the color and black and white sets. But a correction in the black and white issue is unknown.
Topsy Hartsel’s name is misspelled ‘Hartsell’ in both sets but was corrected to Hartsel.
Finally, Bill Hinchman’s name is also misspelled in both sets but a correction is not known to exist in either.

1909-10 C.A. Briggs (E97) Checklist

Below is a full checklist for both sets. Most cards have both color and black and white versions. However, some are unconfirmed.

Player	Color Version?	Black and White Version?
Jimmy Austin	X	X
Joe Birmingham	X	X
Bill Bradley	X	X
Kitty Bransfield	X	X
Howie Camnitz	X	X
Bill Carrigan	X	X
Harry Davis	X	X
Josh Devore (N.Y.)	X	X
Josh Devore (NY)	X
Mickey Dolan (error)	X	X
Mickey Doolan (corrected)	X
Bull Durham	X	X
Jimmy Dygert	X	X
Topsy Hartsel (corrected)	X
Topsy Hartsell (error)	X	X
Charlie Hemphill	X	X
Bill Hinchman (misspelled Heinchman)	X	X
Willie Keeler	X	X
Joe Kelley	X	X
Red Kleinow	X	X
Rube Kroh	X	X
Amby McConnell	X	X
Matty McIntyre	X	X
Chief Meyers	X	X
Earl Moore	X	X
George Mullin	X	X
Red Murray	X	X
Simon Nicholls – Cleveland	X
Simon Nicholls – Phila.	X	X
Claude Rossman	X	X
Admiral Schlei	X	X
Harry Steinfeld (error)	X	X
Harry Steinfeldt (corrected)	X	X
Sullivan (Boston)	X	X
Sullivan (Chicago)	X	X
Cy/Irv Young (Boston)	X	X
Cy/Irv Young (Cleveland)	X