Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Obsequio de Susini (N230-3)
Year	1915-16
Size	1 7/8″ x 2 1/2″
Images	Color and Black and White
Type	N-Card
Number in Set	1,300

Obsequio de Susini (N230-3) Overview

The uncategorized Obsequio de Susini set from Cuba is an incredibly large pre-war card issue believed to be 1,300 cards, according to the American Card Catalog. The exact date of production of these cards is currently unknown.

The set includes both non-sports and sports cards. Sports cards make up only fifty cards, however, numbered 201 through 250, so this issue often goes overlooked. Also making it difficult for collectors is that it is a rare issue printed in Cuba.

Among the sports cards are three baseball issues numbered 201, 202, and 203 in the set. In addition to the three baseball players, football, hockey, golf, tennis, boxing, wrestling, track and field, auto racing, rowing, rugby, cricket, and soccer are also represented in the set.

The three baseball cards are the keys to the set, along with a card of boxing legend Jack Johnson. Johnson’s card, even in low grade, is hard to find for much less than $100. Among the wrestling cards are a few of the legendary George Hackenschmidt, one of the early greats of the sport. Another interesting card depicts a female combat fighter on a Ju-Jitsu card. Hackenschmidt’s cards do not include his name.

Cards were printed in both black and white and color. Exact date of the cards has not been confirmed but the cards are generally believed to be from 1915 and/or 1916.

Baseball

The three baseball cards are of Red Murray, Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, and a scene that features unidentified players. The baseball cards in the set are, of course, among the keys. Aside from the boxing card of Jack Johnson, they are easily the ones that are the most sought after.

One interesting note is that the picture of Speaker in this set was reused in the British 1934 R&J Hill issue. You can take a look at my comparison of the two cards here.

The Speaker card or Johnson’s card, is the most valuable one in the set. Like Johnson’s card, it is difficult to find this card for much under $100, even in lesser condition.

Here’s more on the mysterious third baseball card.

American Football and a Reused Image

American football is one of the more desirable cards in the set. Note that the football card is actually called ‘Rugby.’ However, the picture depicts American football.

That is confirmed as the same picture was used in the Sports and Games of Many Lands sets where that card is called American Football. Technically, there are three of those parallel sets with different advertisements for Churchman (the most common), British American Tobacco, and Edwards, Ringer, and Bigg. Just as the Tris Speaker image was reused, all three of those sets from the 1920s/30s used a colorized lithographic version of this picture.

Here’s a closer look at this interesting topic.

More Than Sports

While the sports cards are the most popular ones, they actually make up only a small amount of the overall set.

In all, sports cards comprise less than 5% of the entire set, which consists mostly of various types of non-sports issues. The set is listed as N230-3 in the American Card Catalog, but is not designated as an N-Card on this site since the N-Card designation is now recognized as 19th Century issues. Other topics in the set include those listed below with the appropriate card numbers:

• Celebrities (Cards 1-100)
• Transportation (101-200)
• Sports (201-250)
• Dances (251-300)
• Peculiarities (301-800)
• War in Europe (801-1,300)

Obsequio de Susini (N230-3) Checklist

Below is the checklist for the sports subset. Some of the Spanish captions are not know but a description of the activity has been provided in parentheses.

201. Red Murray (Baseball)
202. Tris Speaker (Baseball)
203. Unknown Player (Baseball)
204. Foot Ball – Rugby (Rugby)
205. Foot Ball – Asociacion (Soccer)
206. Foot Ball – Asociacion (Soccer)
207. Foot Ball – Asociacion (Soccer)
208. Polo
209. Lawn Tennis
210. Golf
211. Cricket (bowler)
212. Cricket (batter)
213. Hockey (Field Hockey)
214. (Hurdling)
215. (Horse Jumping)
216. (Horse Jumping)
217. Jack Johnson (Boxing)
218. Bombardier Wells (Boxing)
219. Lucha (Wrestling – George Hackenschmidt)
220. Lucha (Wrestling – George Hackenschmidt)
221. Lucha (Wrestling – George Hackenschmidt)
222. Ju-Jitsu
223. Luchadores Japoneses (Sumo Wrestling)
224. (Ice Dancing)
225. (Skiing)
226. (Skiing)
227. (Bobsledding)
228. Hockey en el Hielo, Suiza (Ice Hockey)
229. Jugando a Curling en el Hielo (Curling)
230. (Mountain Climbing)
231. Trepando Montanos en Suiza (Mountain Climbing)
232. (Dog Sledding)
233. Regata de Yates
234. Regata de Yates
235. Regata a Remos – Estudiantes de la Universidad de Oxford (Oxford Rowing)
236. Regata a Remos – Estudiantes de la Universidad de Cambridge (Oxford Rowing)
237. Carrera de Automoviles (Auto Racing)
238. Carrera de Automoviles (Auto Racing)
239. Carreras de Motocicletas (Motorcycle Racing)
240. (Boating)
241. (Hunting with Dogs)
242. Una Nina de Gallos (Cock Fighting)
243. Esgrima (Fencing)
244. Echando el Caber Juego Kegoges (Caber Tossing)
245. Echando la Bala (Shot Put)
246. (Canoeing)
247. (Marathon Running)
248. Corrida de Senoras con Skis en Noruega (Skiing)
249. (Paddle Boating)
250. (In Water)

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