1938 F.C. Cartledge / Knock Out Razor Blades Set and Checklist

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	F.C. Cartledge / Knock Out Razor Blades
Year	1938
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	Miscellaneous
Number in Set	50

1938 F.C. Cartledge / Knock Out Razor Blades Set Overview

1938 F.C. Cartledge Knock Out Razor Blades Boxing This issue was distributed by Fred C. Cartledge Company in Sheffield, England. It is often named the F.C. Cartledge Famous Prize Fighters set by collectors but a more appropriate name is probably the Knock Out Razor Blades Famous Prize Fighters set as that is the product these cards are believed to have been distributed with.

Pictures on the cards were black and white. Some were real images while others were renditions of the subjects. The first 30 cards were drawings while the final 20 were real photographs. Like most other cards of the time period, biographies were printed on the back.

Of note here is that while there are 50 cards advertised, there are actually at least 52. That is because two boxers share card numbers (No. 13 and No. 19) with that number being used more than once.

In all, a total of two different types of sets were issued — one has a matte finish and the other, a glossy finish. The glossy cards appear to be the more difficult ones to find, though I am not sure much of a price variance exists.

One interesting feature of this issue is that the company tried to make it easy for collectors to complete a set. When a collector obtained any 50 cards, they could send them to the company and their duplicates would be exchanged for cards they needed.

That was a far different practice from other manufacturers who wanted collectors to buy as many of their products as necessary to complete a set. Some manufacturers, in fact, even made it difficult to finish a set by shortprinting cards intentionally. The most extreme case of that, perhaps, was Goudey leaving the Nap Lajoie card out entirely from their 1933 set in an effort to send collectors on a wild goose chase for a card that didn’t exist.