1887 Lone Jack Cigarettes (N370) Set and Checklist

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	N370 Lone Jack Cigarettes
Year	1887
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
Images	Sepia
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	13

N370 Lone Jack Cigarettes Overview

The N370 Lone Jack Cigarettes set featured members of the Browns’ championship baseball team. They were issued by the company and packaged in their cigarette products.

While the baseball players essentially comprise a set of their own, the cards were actually part of a larger grouping that included non-sports subjects, as indicated in the American Card Catalog. Among those included were rulers and celebrities. While desirable, those non-sports personalities don’t generally fetch the same kind of prices as the baseball players do.

Led by players such as Bob Caruthers and Tip O’Neill, the Browns (now the St. Louis Cardinals) won the American Association pennant from 1885 to 1888. In 1891, the club moved to the National League. One interesting note about this set is that the pictures used in this set match those used in the Browns Champions subset of the popular N172 Old Judge issue.

The cards have a sepia tone on the front and backs are blank. In all, they are similar in appearance to other tobacco cards from the Goodwin family in the same time period. On the fronts, the Lone Jack Cigarettes name is present (both at the bottom and in the portraits, which is a bit of overkill), helping to distinguish these cards from other similar looking issues. The pictures on the cards include only portraits.