1911 Helmar Stamps Set (T332) and Checklist

‘It’s In The Details’

Title T332 Helmar Stamps
Year 1911
Size 1 1/8″ x 1 3/8″
Images Black and White
Type Tobacco/Stamps
Number in Set
180

1911 Helmar Stamps (T332) Overview

T332 Chase.jpg

The 1911 T332 Helmar Stamps set included miniature paper inserts that were included within packages of Helmar Cigarettes. The unique items included small black and white pictures of players against colorful decorative designs.

The player’s name and team was at the bottom in a name plate. As with other stamps issues, the backs are entirely blank. In addition to the many players represented in the set, the frames are noteworthy because there were so many of them. As many as 50 different frames used around the players’ images in the set.

The stamps are small, colorful, and extremely fragile. While they are called stamps, they were not stamps used for postage. Instead, they were decorative issues.

The stamps are small and nearly square. Many different frame types and name plate sizes were used. Only the player’s last name was printed. The different frame types typically highlight equipment, including baseballs, bats, gloves, and catcher apparel. There seem to be no real rhyme or reason to the cartoon designs or the colors used on individual stamps.

The small size of the stamps (as well as their paper thin makeup) has steered some collectors away from them. But the checklist includes a wealth of Hall of Famers and big names, including Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Tris Speaker, and more, which more than makes up for the oddball nature of these ‘cards.’ They are paper thin, however, meaning they are often found wrinkled, torn, or with even small chunks missing from them.

Unlike some other stamps, which were merely paper cut outs, these did have an adhesive backing and could be stuck to surfaces. Helmar even produced small envelopes for them that were designed to carry them with the statement, “They will not stick,” printed on the envelope. While I have seen these envelopes, it is unclear if they were distributed separate from the cigarette packages or if they were placed inside of them with the cigarettes and a stamp. Like many tobacco cards, the envelopes included a factory number from where they were distributed.

Depending on your interpretation of a rookie card, the set is home to a few that could be considered rookies, including Hall of Famer Max Carey. Despite being a lower-tier Hall of Famer in terms of collectability, Carey’s stamp is sought after a little more because it’s his first known release.

One interesting thing is that the set wasn’t only limited to baseball players. At least a few actresses were included as well.

1911 Helmar Stamps (T332) Checklist

  1. Adams
  2. Ames
  3. Archer
  4. Austin
  5. Baker
  6. Ball
  7. Barger
  8. Barry
  9. Bates
  10. Beck
  11. Becker
  12. Bell
  13. Bender
  14. Bescher
  15. Birmingham
  16. Bliss
  17. Block
  18. Bodie
  19. Bresnahan
  20. Bridwell
  21. Brockett
  22. Brown
  23. Burns
  24. Bush
  25. Byrne
  26. Callahan
  27. Camnitz
  28. Carey
  29. Carrigan
  30. Chance
  31. Chase
  32. Cicotte
  33. Clarke (Fred)
  34. Clarke (Tom)
  35. Cobb
  36. Cole
  37. Collins (Eddie)
  38. Collins (Shano)
  39. Conroy
  40. Crandall
  41. Crawford
  42. Cree
  43. Dahlen
  44. Daubert
  45. Davis
  46. Delahanty
  47. Devlin
  48. Devore
  49. Donlin
  50. Donovan
  51. Dooin
  52. Doolan
  53. Dougherty
  54. Downey
  55. Doyle
  56. Drucke
  57. Engle
  58. Erwin
  59. Evans
  60. Evers
  61. Ferry
  62. Fisher
  63. Fletcher
  64. Ford
  65. Fromme
  66. Gardner
  67. Gasper
  68. Gibson
  69. Golden
  70. Gowdy
  71. Graham
  72. Grant
  73. Gray
  74. Griffith
  75. Groom
  76. Harmon
  77. Hartley
  78. Hauser
  79. Herzog
  80. Hoblitzell
  81. Hofman
  82. Huggins
  83. Hughes
  84. Hummel
  85. Jennings
  86. Johnson
  87. Jones
  88. Kling
  89. Knabe
  90. Knight
  91. Konetchy
  92. Krause
  93. Lajoie
  94. Lake
  95. LaPorte
  96. Leach
  97. Leifield
  98. Lennox
  99. Livingston
  100. Lobert
  101. Lord
  102. Luderus
  103. Magee
  104. Marquard
  105. Mathewson
  106. Mattern
  107. McBride
  108. McConnell
  109. McGraw
  110. McIntyre (Harry)
  111. McIntyre (Matty)
  112. McLean
  113. Merkle
  114. Meyers
  115. Milan
  116. Miller
  117. Mitchell
  118. Moore
  119. Moran
  120. Moriarty
  121. Mowrey
  122. Mullin
  123. Murphy
  124. Murray
  125. Needham
  126. O’Toole
  127. Oakes
  128. Oldring
  129. Parent
  130. Paskert
  131. Pelty
  132. Phelps
  133. Powell
  134. Quinn
  135. Reulbach
  136. Richie
  137. Richter
  138. Rowan
  139. Rucker
  140. Sallee
  141. Scanlan
  142. Schaefer
  143. Schmidt
  144. Schulte
  145. Scott
  146. Shafer
  147. Shean
  148. Sheckard
  149. Simon
  150. Snodgrass
  151. Speaker
  152. Stanage
  153. Steele
  154. Stovall
  155. Street
  156. Suggs
  157. Sullivan
  158. Sweeney (Bill)
  159. Sweeney (Jeff)
  160. Tannehill
  161. Thomas
  162. Tinker
  163. Titus
  164. Toney
  165. Turner
  166. Vaughn
  167. Wagner
  168. Wallace
  169. Walsh
  170. Warhop
  171. Wheat
  172. White
  173. Willett
  174. Wilson (Art)
  175. Wilson (Owen)
  176. Wiltse
  177. Wolter
  178. Wolverton
  179. Young (Cy)
  180. Young (Irv)

Follow Pre-War Cards on Twitter and also be sure to like our page on Facebook.