1910 Robertson Candy Jockeys (V150) Set and Checklist

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Robertson Candy Jockeys (V150)
Year	1910
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 3/8″
Images	Color
Type	Canadian
Number in Set	50

1910 Robertson Candy Jockeys (V150) Overview

This is a rare horse racing issue that was distributed by Robertson Candy in Canada. Catalogued as V150 in the American Card Catalog, these cards are essentially mirror images of the ones issued by American Caramel (E47) in the U.S.

Interestingly, PSA has determined the Canadian cards were actually issued two years prior to the 1912 U.S. cards. But even the Canadian set draws its origins from the larger 19th century Allen & Ginter Racing Colors release of this series.

Fronts of the cards were the same as found in the E47 set, which also included the same 20 cards. Fronts also include the name of the stable being represented as well as its country of origin. It’s the backs that are significantly different from the American cards.

These Robertson Candy backs also present the checklist as the E47 set does. However, the Robertson Candy Company name is printed in large lettering at the bottom as well as a “Pure Sugar Candy” header at the top. Pure Sugar Candy was not some random wording. It was actually the name of the product these cards were wrapped with. The product was simply made by Robertson Candy.

While these cards are much rarer than the E47 American Caramel version, they are not always priced as such with even sellers not necessarily aware of their difficulty.

Use of Females

The thing that jumps out immediately is that the cards picture women but mostly had the names of men at the bottom.

Could these possibly picture men? After all, many 19th century imagery depicted men (particular boys or younger men) with a more ambiguous look that sometimes made them look, well, not so manly. But that isn’t the case here. These are clearly women as can be seen by their faces, hairstyles, and most importantly, body shapes. So what gives?

One card in the set sort of gives it away. A card for Dwyer Bros. is the name on the front. It is one of the few across both sets that does not name only an individual person. Dwyer Bros. was actually a horse racing stable/operation in the 19th century. While I am not sure this has ever been made clear, I believe the way to reconcile the use of female imagery here is that they were merely intended to be part of stables owned by the individuals (mostly men) named on the front.

Why women, though? Well, that’s a bit easier to answer. Women were often the subject of depictions in early tobacco cards. That’s likely because companies used them to lure male purchasers of tobacco into buying their product. Women were often dressed up as athletes on these sorts of cards and pictures, so their use here is not surprising even in the slightest.