We have long been fascinated with the 1921 Herpolsheimer’s issue, and were stunned when, in early 2019, a person posted on the Net54 Baseball message board about a new find of 1921 Herpolsheimer cards. The cards were discovered stored away in an old Band-Aid box as part of an estate just miles from Grand Rapids, the location of the Herpolsheimer department store. Over the years we stayed close to the owner of the cards, astonished at the fact that while much of the hobby continued to be under the impression that the 1921 Herpolsheimer cards were one-of-a-kind, possible “prototype” cards, we knew otherwise – that there were more, including a number of cards that became the second known examples. In our opinion, this discovery dramatically increases the likelihood that the cards were actually distributed to the public somehow through the Grand Rapids store, and are simply unbelievably rare.
Extremely rare and desirable card featuring the popular Smoky Joe Wood. Interestingly, although Wood's career as a pitcher largely came to a conclusion in 1917 after arm injuries made it impossible for him to pitch, he announced his attention to return to the game as an outfielder, returning in 1918. Though Wood's 1921 E120 card lists him as a right fielder, his Herpolsheimer's card simply lists his position as "F." This could be an indicator that the Herpolsheimer's cards were produced before the E121-80 cards, the error subsequently corrected for the larger and more prevalent American Caramel issue.
Final note: Early this morning we published a blog entry titled "An Extraordinary Piece of Hobby Research," which chronicles a brand-new discovery that solves the mystery of how and when the 1921 Herpolsheimer's cards were distributed. We invite you to review the research that answers these questions, and also direct your attention to a newly-posted print advertisement from the Grand Rapids Press that features these cards. You can view the blog entry at https://loveofthegameauctions.com/an-extraordinary-piece-of-hobby-research/