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

‘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 BoxingThis 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.

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

  1. John Broughton
  2. Jack Slack
  3. Tom Johnson
  4. Isaac Perrins
  5. Samuel Elias
  6. Tom Belcher
  7. John Gulley
  8. Tom Cribb
  9. Thomas Molineaux
  10. Tom Spring
  11. Bill Neat
  12. Jem Ward
  13. William Thompson / Eric Boon
  14. James Burke
  15. Tom Sayers
  16. Jem Mace
  17. Tom King
  18. John Sullivan
  19. Bill Doherty / Arthur Danahar
  20. Peter Jackson
  21. Frank Slavin
  22. James Corbett
  23. Charlie Mitchell
  24. Bob Fitzsimmons
  25. Georges Carpentier
  26. Jack Dempsey
  27. Gunnar Barlund
  28. Henry Armstrong
  29. Max Schmeling
  30. Joe Louis
  31. Walter Neusel
  32. Al Roth
  33. Don McCorkindale
  34. Arno Koelblin
  35. Maurice Strickland
  36. Pete Sarron
  37. Tommy Farr
  38. Eddie Phillips
  39. Len Harvey
  40. Jack Petersen
  41. Benny Lynch
  42. Johnny Ward
  43. Kid Berg
  44. Gustav Humery
  45. Ben Foord
  46. Max Baer
  47. Small Montana
  48. John Henry Lewis
  49. Harry Mizler
  50. Jack Doyle

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