Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

N. Orr Co. Reward of Merit Set Overview

These unique cards were distributed primarily to students for exceptional behavior or for doing something well. The set black and white images with portions colored in with red and blue. Exact sizes of these may vary a bit but, in general, they are approximately 2 7/8″ tall by 6 1/2″ wide.

These are printed on cardboard with the ‘Reward of Merit’ title at the top. The bottom area includes spaces for a student’s name to be written as the recipient along with the teacher’s name. Most of these cards are typically seen with the names written in, though undistributed ones are known, too. Backs of the cards are entirely blank.

The name N. Orr Company is printed on these cards, though it is unclear if that is the name of the artist creating the scenes or the name of the printer that created these cards.

Baseball

The most notable card in the set features a baseball scene. One child is shown batting with a ball approaching. Behind him is a catcher and in front of him, presumably, a baserunner or fielder.

The baseball card draws a significant amount of interest, generally selling in the $150 range in decent shape.

The card is not only the most desirable card in this particular set but one of the most sought after Reward of Merit cards out there — certainly in terms of sports issues, of which there are few.

N. Orr Co. Reward of Merit Checklist

A complete checklist for this set is not fully known. To date, I have seen only these cards in this issue. However, the cards are somewhat rare and others existing would not be a surprise.

1. Baseball Scene
2. Boy Pulling Girl with Cart/Dog
3. Children Playing Marbles