Pre-War Card Collector

Superman's first card is viewed as the first card in the 1940 Superman Gum set. But Lois Lane's debut is on card No. 5. Here's her first card where she's called, 'Lois Lane, the top-notch girl reporter.' #Cardsky

Destroying the brand a little every time I post a modern card but this was a nice pickup in today's mail. With his overpopulated 1989 Upper Deck card going insane, it could be now or never. PSA 10 of Ken Griffey, Jr.'s first card -- 1987 Bellingham minor league rookie. #Cardsky

Unlikely! I'd be surprised if they were in the set. I think you're safe!

Nice mail day with the fifth of the rare 1905 Dominoe Co. College Football team postcards. This one is for Brown. Others I have are Harvard, Yale, Rindge, & Dartmouth. There are a handful of others that are known out there. These are some of the earliest football cards of real players. #Cardsky

Finding Anson (Mott) There aren’t too many players with the name Anson in baseball history but it’s a subject that’s intrigued me, given, well, that’s my name. The lack of players named Anson is…

My latest article for the site is writing about the cards of one Anson Mott prewarcollector.com/2025/08/02/t... #Cardsky

While there are plenty of trading cards of famous actor and minor league baseball team owner Fatty Arbuckle, few picture him with baseball equipment. Here's one in today's mail picturing him with a glove and ball from the 1920s Beagles Cinema Star Postcard series. #Cardsky

I think I remember hearing you mention that before -- awesome!

There's something about the blue background on Tris Speaker's T206 card that makes it a great match for the fantastic photo. #Cardsky

Haha, noted!

I was well familiar with the 1930s R72 "I'm Going to Be" set from Schutter Johnson Candy featuring occupations. But I had few of the cards until recently when I purchased a large lot. I've now got 20 of the 24 cards (25 if you count the rare strongman that is virtually unseen). #Cardsky

You might know of Art Whitney's famous N172 Old Judge card picturing the baseball player with a dog. But when I found this N402 Yum Yum Tobacco actress card with a dog, I had to have it as well. Extremely rare series and I wouldn't be surprised if none were ever graded. #Cardsky

Pre-war cards ... most of the time #Cardsky

My goodness, what a gorgeous card. Oversized (about 4" x 6") c1880s-90s trade card for Tulip Soap in today's mail. #Cardsky

Most people PC folks like Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and Paul Skenes. Me? I PC contortionists from the 19th century because I'm a freaking weirdo. This rare N664 Old Fashion Fine Cut Tobacco is the latest card of one of the people I collect, Ena Bertoldi. #Cardsky

Nice upgrade for my T205 baseball card set in today's mail -- Hall of Famer Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown. #Cardsky

Bissman Coffee issued many trade cards inside coffee packages in the 19th century. While I've seen several others featuring generic subjects, my Statue of Liberty is still the only one I've come across - which is surprising given the recent popularity of Statue of Liberty cards. #Cardsky

Sunsets and sweaters, man. #Cardsky

Gonna be that kind of day, huh? #Cardsky

Interesting trade card in the mail advertising back braces. While I've seen this art on newer postcards, I had not seen a truly vintage trade card of it before. Notably, it features the brace being worn in sports, including tennis, cycling, gymnastics, and pole vaulting. #Cardsky

The Nathaniel Orr Reward of Merit cards include one of the earlier depictions of baseball or a bat/ball game being played. I would love to find some more conclusive dating on this card, which is part of a set. It has been cited as an issue from the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, & 1880s. #Cardsky

The HD2A trade cards featuring U.S. presidents were printed around 1889. The popular set, like other presidential series', is headlined by Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The SGC 5 card of Lincoln in my complete set is among the highest graded by either SGC or PSA. #Cardsky

The 1910 Colonial Art 'Sports and Romance' postcards are wild. #Cardsky

One of the bigger pickups of 2025 for me -- a gorgeous 1888 N162 Goodwin card of Hall of Famer, John Sullivan. Slow progress on this set but Sullivan has me up to 32 of the 50 cards. This now makes 170 of the 200 19th Century Champions cards (Allen & Ginter, Kimball, Goodwin). #cardsky

Big congrats to @prewarcards.bsky.social on winning SABR’s 2025 Burdick Award! Collector. Research beast. Writing machine. I’m inspired to make PostWarCards.com better, even if I still remain mildly bitter towards my dad. #cardsky

There were a fair amount with T206, simply because of the volume printed. The baseball ones are in the spotlight more. I think baseball cards were also printed more than many non-sports cards. But there are lots of non-sports ones as well. These are some of mine.

Don't adjust your vision. These hand cut scraps are part of parallel sets - 1938 Teofani Transport Past & Present / 1940 BAT Then and Now. These mistakenly got both backs printed on them. Printers hand cut them and they would not have been issued. Survived 85 years to get to me. #cardsky

The only Fourth of July card anyone ever needs. My PSA 6 is behind only one other graded higher -- a PSA 6.5. #cardsky

In 2022, ~50 Baines Shield proofs were found in the UK. Lacking color on front, they have wet sheet transfers on back. I bought one before & just added these two. One is for Olympic gold medalist Paolo Radmilovic, a swimmer and water polo player. The other is of rugby player Willie Morgan. #cardsky

I never say never as an impromptu trip may happen. But at the moment, it's unlikely.

Thanks for the honor!