On the heels of its wildly popular 1933 "Big League Chewing Gum" set, the Goudey Gum Company enlisted the endorsements of popular Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig and Cubs outfielder Chuck Klein, and issued a 96-card set that included player biographies purported to have been written by the two sluggers. Each card featured a color reproduction of a player photo, set against a vivid, solid-color background with silhouette images of baseball game play. The bottom of each card contained a small portrait of either Gehrig or Klein, in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of the endorsers. Today, the 1934 Goudey set is considered one of the most attractive of the gum card era, and despite the lack of a Babe Ruth card, remains one of the most popular.
Presented here is a beautiful collector-grade partial set, missing just 14 cards for completion. The collection was assembled card-by-card by an advanced collector building a large prewar collection over the course of decades. The set breaks down as follows: 4% VG/EX, 18% VG, 40% GOOD, 34% F; 4% lesser, with a light trim here and there.
A condition report on the key cards would be #6 Dean (G), #7 Durocher (G), #10 Klein (F), #11 Waner (F), #12 Hubbell (VG), #13 Frisch (F), #18 Manush (F), #19 Grove (G), #22 Vaughan (P), #23 Gehringer (F), #35 Lombardi (G), #90 Cuyler (F). Missing for completion are cards #1 Foxx, 2 Cochrane, 5, 21 Terry, 27 Appling, 34 Hafey, 37 Gehrig, 42, 60, 61 Gehrig, 62 Greenberg, 67, 74, and 87, with many of the missing cards featured elsewhere in this auction, individually or in small lots. An exceptional partial set, slowly assembled over a lengthy period by a dedicated collector. 82 cards total.