1927 Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney Transfers Set and Checklist

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

It’s In The Details’

Title	Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney Transfers
Year	1927
Size	1″ x 1 1/2″ (approximately) / 6″ x 9″ for full sheet
Images	Color
Type	Stamps
Number in Set	20

1927 Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney Transfers Set Overview

Jack Dempsey Gene Tunney 1927 Transfers Stamps Set This unclassified stamp/transfer set is largely unknown aside from perhaps early boxing collectors. Even though the transfers feature two American boxers, the set was actually produced in Germany.

A total of 20 stamps were in the set. They were initially distributed in unperforated sheets, though you can often find individual transfers on their own. These are called by stamps and transfers by collectors, but ‘transfers’ is most appropriate.

These stamps are full color and feature pictures of boxers Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. The subject matter of the set is a boxing match between the pair. In particular, the set references the famous ‘Long Count’ fight. A header was at the top of these transfer sheets with the ‘Fight of the Century’ moniker that was given to this match because ofits importance. Because of that, it can conclusively be dated to no earlier than 1927 — the year that fight happened. While an exact date is not printed on them, the transfers are generally considered to be a 1927 issue.

Dempsey and Tunney fought both in 1926 and 1927 with Tunney winning both times. But Tunney was only knocked down in the 1927 bout and, as a transfer in this set pictures that, we know these represent the later fight.

The transfers included various pictures of the fight. In addition to the action poses, there are portrait images of both. Headers included writing that was both presented normally but also backwards. The backwards writing, of course, was done for transfer issues so that the text would display correctly when used since the image would be reversed when applied.

Jack Dempsey Gene Tunney 1927 Transfers Stamps Two in One While there are 20 individual transfers two pairs of them clearly belong together to form one longer transfer.

One transfer reads, ‘Dempsey is Pushed’ and the other next to it reads, ‘Against the Ropes.’ Another set has transfers that read, ‘Tunney on the Floor to’ and ‘The Count of Nine.’ The pictures on those individual transfers join together to form a longer one, as shown here.

In addition to this transfers set, a similar set was also created for baseball players. The boxing transfers are generally a little easier to find than the baseball set.

Full sheets of the boxing set are not too expensive, often selling for about $100 or less.