October 5th, 2013 | Published in New in the Gallery
Yesterday I added 1926 Shotwell Red Grange Blank Back cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. These cards, which were packaged with “Red Grange” candy bars, picture Grange in scenes from the silent movie “One Minute to Play.” I added the cards to the Food and Regional Issues section of the Gallery.
Jeff Payne kindly provided the images for this set. Thanks, Jeff!
October 31st, 2012 | Published in Silly Stuff
For Halloween I thought I’d feature a couple of ghosts. First is a 1933 Sport Kings card of Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange. This is Grange’s rookie card, one of three football cards in the multi-sport set. You can see the other 1933 Sport Kings football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.
Grange also appeared in cards earlier than this: in 1926, the Shotwell Candy Company distributed two sets of cards featuring just him. I added one of the sets, 1926 Shotwell Red Grange Ad Back cards, to the Gallery earlier this year. Though the Shotwell cards were the first cards of Grange, they are not considered his rookie cards because they are a minor issue.
The second card pictured here is Dave “The Ghost” Casper’s rookie card, a 1977 Topps. Seeing Casper reminded me of the Raiders’ famous “Holy Roller” play against the Chargers in 1978. I found the play on YouTube; if you haven’t seen it recently, it’s worth a look.
For some scary football cards, check out my Halloween posts from 2009, 2010, and 2011. Happy trick-or-treating!
April 25th, 2012 | Published in New in the Gallery
Today I added 1926 Shotwell Red Grange Ad Back cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. These cards, which all picture Red Grange, were one of two series included in 1926 Shotwell Red Grange candy bars. (The other series, which is blank-backed, pictures Grange in scenes from the movie One Minute to Play.) The cards are slightly smaller than standard cards, and they are printed on thin, fragile paper. A huge thanks to MSB Sports Cards for the images for this set.
Though it is not mentioned on the Shotwell cards, Grange co-founded the 9-team American Football League in 1926, and he played for the league’s New York Yankees that year. The AFL survived only one season, unfortunately. Grange and the Yankees moved to the NFL in 1927, but the Yankees lasted only two seasons in the NFL before folding.
July 4th, 2010 | Published in Silly Stuff
Happy Independence Day! It took me awhile, but I found just the right three cards for the occasion. First we have Red Grange on his 1955 Topps All-American card. Then there’s Daryl White on a 1973 Nebraska Playing Card. (Note that its card #4.) And, finally, Forrest Blue on his 1975 Wonder Bread card. Between the three, we even have a star and a few stripes!
In case you aren’t familiar with the three sets, you can read about them in earlier blog articles:
Enjoy your picnics and fireworks!
