H804-34 Pink and Blue Trade Card Pose Discovered Elsewhere

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Pre-War Cards

The H804-34 Pink and Blue trade cards aren’t terribly easy to find. But they are largely known to trade card collectors specializing in baseball.

The cards were not cataloged by Jefferson Burdick in his American Card Catalog. However, they did not go unnoticed by veteran trade card collector, Frank Keetz, who gave them their H804-34 designation and also the ‘Pink and Blue’ name.

That simplistic name was given because of the artwork on the card that consists almost entirely of pink and blue tones. The cards are incredibly unique because of it and easy to spot. In all a total of three cards are known to be in the set. Each one features a boy holding a baseball while wearing what can only be described as a clown suit.

The exact date of publication is not known but they are believed to have been printed in the 1880s or 1890s.

While many trade cards were printed and used by a variety of manufacturers, some such as these, are known with only one advertiser. The pink and blue cards are generally only seen with advertisements for Poor Man’s Dyes and it is unknown if they were used for other sponsors.

I have come across several of these and have looked for them for some time. But until recently had never seen the pictures used anywhere else. That isn’t the case anymore.

A Strange Variation

I recently obtained a variation of sorts for one of the cards.

The card variation I have found features the same image of the boy being pushed backward. However, a few things are different.

First, the familiar pink and blue scheme is gone and replaced by a more full-color image. Second, and most importantly, instead of a baseball bat, the boy shown is holding a sword instead.

Finally, these cards were not created for Poor Man’s Dyes. Instead, the advertisement here is for the Great Atlantic Pacific & Tea Company. That name will be familiar to some hockey trade card collectors as they produced one of the most famous hockey trade cards of all-time.

No dates are printed on the cards so it is not known which was printed first. Additionally, this is the only one I have ever seen so I’m unsure if the other two cards in the pink and blue set were similarly remade.