(LOT #17) 1895 N300 Mayo Bill Shindle SGC 50

Out of the 15 Shindle cards graded by SGC there are only 4 that grade higher than an SGC 50.  A rare opportunity at a strongly graded card from this series.  Solid black back with a small amount of chipping on the borders.  There is a tiny 3/8" crease on the left center of only the front of the card.  Overall an outstanding example and one of the more difficult cards in the set.

Here is some history, and information about the Mayo set:  In the 1880's, company's Duke & Sons, Kinney Brothers, Goodwin & Company, Allen & Ginter, and W.S. Kimball found themselves in fierce competition. They used tobacco premiums to entice buyers to choose one brand over another. Then in 1890, James Buchanan (the son of Duke & Sons) acquired the four rival company's. James Buchanan became the president of the newly formed firm, "The American Tobacco Company." After the formation of The American Tobacco Company, there was a gap in the production of premium baseball tobacco cards. Because of the newly formed monopoly there wasn't really a need for the added expenditure of the premium. Under these conditions, in 1895 in an attempt to gain attention, the Richmond, Virginia based company P.H. Mayo produced a series of 40 baseball player tobacco cards. The cards were distributed nationally in packages of Mayo's Cut Plug chewing and smoking tobacco. Measuring 1 5/8 x 2 7/8" the cards featured portraits of players in black and white, or sepia tone. There were 8 card variations (misspellings and team variations) which actually bring the set count up to 48. Within the set of 48, there are 12 cards picturing players in their street clothes. The other 36 show players in uniform.