Tip Top Weekly Postcards Set and Checklist

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Tip Top Weekly Postcards
Year	c. 1910
Size	3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″
Images	Color
Type	Postcards
Number in Set	5 (?)

Tip Top Weekly Postcards Overview

This rare set features cartoon characters from Tip Top Weekly, a publication for children. The series included sports figures and their adventures.

These postcards were from around 1910 and were apparently used to advertise for the publication. It is not known how they were distributed, though they could have been included in the publications. They were printed in color and included characters from the series.

Tip Top Weekly included stories that were sort of the written version of a typical 1960s or 1970s sitcom where a problem would be presented that would sort of work its way out in a half hour (i.e. think Andy Griffith or the Brady Bunch). Frank and Dick Merriwell were the stars of the series and Frank would ultimately go on to play football for Yale in the stories. Football, baseball, and basketball were all featured in the series but they stories also included other sports, such as wrestling, hockey, and more. After college, the pair would continue in other adventures, traveling around the world and other characters were included in the series as well.

The magazine was a popular one, in part because of the colorful illustrations on the covers. According to Wikipedia, it started as Tip Top Weekly then became Tip Top Semi-Monthly and then Wide Awake Magazine until its end in 1916.

The sports postcards are typically the most desirable ones. Postcards from this series are generally pretty rare.

Tip Top Weekly Postcards Checklist

To date, I have seen five of these postcards. However, I believe that more probably exist. The reason for that is because I have not yet seen one for Frank Merriwell, who is the unquestioned star of the Tip Top Weekly series. I would be surprised if one did not exist for him so I believe more could be in the set.