1910 E90-2 American Caramel Pittsburgh Pirates Set and Checklist

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	E90-2 American Caramel
Year	1910
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	Candy/Caramel
Number in Set	11

E90-2 American Caramel Overview

E90-1 American Caramel Back E90-2 10 Wagner.jpg The E90-2 American Caramel set honored the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite an advertisement on the back for more than 100 total players in the set, the entire checklist includes only 11 players.

Led by Honus Wagner, the 1909 Pirates won the National League and then the club’s first ever World Series by defeating the Detroit Tigers. Wagner led the league in numerous offensive categories, including runs batted in and batting average. Wagner’s card, as you would expect, is the most expensive in the set.

So why advertise 100 cards if there are only 11 in the set? As only a team issue, there was never any intention for that many players in the E90-2 set. The company merely used the same backs that are found on its popular E90-1 American Caramel set. It was probably just easier to use backs they had already printed for that set.

Cards included a player’s image on the front along with his last name and “Pittsburg” for the team. The name and team were both printed in blue ink – a change from the E90-1 American Caramel set. And unlike the E90-1 issue that had a variety of backgrounds and poses, these had only a single color background (that, admittedly, varied by player) and only included portrait poses as opposed to portraits and action shots. Keys to the set include Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke.

By comparison to the E90-1 American Caramel set, the E90-2 issue is much rarer. While PSA has graded more than 5,000 E90-1 cards, the company has graded only about 300 cards from the E90-2 set.

This wasn’t the only team issue created by American Caramel. Their E90-3 release included players from only the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

Commons generally start around $75-$100 in low-grade condition.

Here’s a more in-depth look at this small, unique set.