While U..S. Caramels are among the earliest of the "R" sets issues, the 1932 dating, an error carried over for many decades, is off by a year as this set was released in 1933. Produced for small Boston confectioner, the 32 U.S. Caramel cards in the set could be redeemed for a baseball or, almost impossibly due to the severely short-printed Lindstrom card, three sets would net the sender a baseball glove. Some prizes were indeed handed out as cards cancelled via a punch hole or stamp are seen in the hobby. While predominantly focused on baseball subjects, a handful of boxers and golfers round out the checklist. Compared to the rival Sport Kings set, or the 1933 Goudey baseball cards, U.S. Caramels are two or three orders of magnitude tougher and are thought to have had limited distribution.
This PSA 2 of the Rajah, a surefire Hall-of-Famer known for his keen batting eye, is about as nice of a card in the grade you will ever find. The corners show period handling and there is a crease, fairly unobtrusive, in the upper left corner but the boldness of the red background remains intact. The reverse is just as pretty, and obviously uncancelled. Just a sweet-looking card.