Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Old Fashion Negro Subjects (N682/N692)
Year	c. 1888
Size	2 3/8″ x 4″
Images	Sepia
Type	19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set	16 (?)

1888 Old Fashion Negro Subjects Overview

These cards are similar to other 19th Century tobacco cards in their appearance. The subjects feature African Americans in various activities. More specifically, it is seen as a parallel to the more popular N157 Sunny South set.

The primary difference between the cards seems to be the sponsor name. While the N157 cards can be found with four sponsor names (Duke Honest Long Cut, Gail & Ax Bob Link Long Cut, Kimball Sweet Lavender, and Old Gold), these cards were issued with the Old Fashion Fine Cut name.

While the cards are mostly a non-sports series, a handful of sports cards can be found in it. One card features two boys wrestling and a few picture boys in boxing scenes. The subjects are unnamed.

One interesting thing is that a few of the cards have very slight pose variations. This, of course, is nothing new to 19th Century cards. As I’ve covered with the N48 and N508 women’s baseball series’, that was something seen quite heavily in those sets.

Classification Mysteries

These cards were originally cataloged as N682 in Jefferson Burdick’s American Catalog. However, that categorization was either changed by him in a later edition or altered (either intentionally or in error) by later sources as, today, it is commonly referred to as N692.

1888 Old Fashion Negro Subjects Checklist

Presented here is the checklist for the N157 series. As the images are the same, it is assumed that the checklists would be the same.

1. Boy (alone) in Boxing Stance
2. Boys Boxing with Man in Middle
3. Boys playing Marbles
4. Boy with Watermelon (Close-up)
5. Boy with Watermelon (Full body)
6. Boys Wrestling
7. Man with Cigar (Cigar in hand)
8. Man with Cigar (Cigar in mouth)
9. Man with Fishing Pole (Sitting)
10. Man with Fishing Pole (Standing)
11. Man with Hat
12. Man Holding Woman
13. Man Sitting with Arms Behind Head
14. Woman in Window with Sleeping Man (Hands up)
15. Woman in Window with Sleeping Man (One hand down)
16. Young Child Standing with Window

Pictures of the cards can be seen here.

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