Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Grab the Ball, Jimmy Trade Cards
Year	1800s
Size	3 1/4″ x 4 5/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	Trade
Number in Set	Unknown

Grab the Ball, Jimmy Trade Card Overview

This trade card features a young boy in pursuit of a baseball. It has not been cataloged by noted collector Frank Keetz in his book, “Baseball Advertising Trade Cards, 3rd Edition,” and has generally gone uncataloged.

The card is generally considered a baseball card, even if no confirmed baseball equipment exists. The scene shows a boy facing a menacing dog with what appears to be a baseball in between them. Another boy is looking for the fence and encouraging his friend to retrieve the ball. The caption at the bottom reads, “Grab the Ball, Jimmy.”

Of note here is that the card is part of a set. I have seen several other cards with the same design — black and white cartoon images inside of a decorative border. The cards are sometimes seen without the border, such as is the case here on this trimmed example. To date, this is the only card in the set that I have seen that can be considered a sports card. All others have depicted non-sports scenes.

As is the case with most trade cards, these are relatively fragile and printed on thinner card stock. For that reason, they can be torn or ripped quite easily and damaged easier than standard baseball cards.

As is the case with many trade cards, this one can be found with any number of advertisers. Some advertisers printed their information at the top or bottom of these cards while others added it to the back.

Variations

Different variations in this set exist — I have noted at least two.

One lesser ‘variation’ includes the cards being printed on different card stock. Shown here, for example, is the baseball card with a gray cardstock. This, of course, is not a true variation as the image seen on the card is exactly the same.

This was likely an example of a printer running out of the more common beige card stock and using this one as a substitute. This version is certainly rarer as most cards in the set use that beige colored stock shown above.

A more notable variation involves a slight modification to the title and picture. This variation has a smaller image and more blank space at the bottom for advertiser information. The font for the print is also smaller and different. The full title on this variation reads instead, “Grab the Ball, Jimmy – I’ll wait for you here.” Additionally, a version with red ink is known, too. It is possible, even likely, that additional variations exist.

Johnny’s Turn

A similar card is also known featuring a new image but with the same concept.

This card has a slightly different caption of, “Johnny You Get the Ball, I’ll Stay Here.” While the words are different, the concept is the same. A boy, Johnny, needs to fetch a ball that is in front of a menacing dog while his friend looks on from the other side of the fence.

The picture is different, too, with the dog on the left and the boy (Johnny) on the right. And instead of looking through an opening in the fence, a friend is looking over top of it.

Grab the Ball, Jimmy Trade Card Checklist

This card pictured here is the only sports one I have seen thus far in the checklist. I have seen approximately 4-5 other cards but the checklist is likely larger still.

Follow Pre-War Cards on Twitter and also be sure to like our page on Facebook.