(LOT #18) 1895 N300 Mayo Buck Ewing HOF Cincinnati SGC Auth

Key HOFer from the Mayo's Cut Plug series - Buck Ewing (Cincinnati Variation) SGC Auth condition. Measures 1 5/8 x 2 6/8".  The card is short 1/8" from top to bottom.  The front is EX-MT to NR-MT in appearance, and the back has remnants from what appears to be an album removal at one time in the center of the back of the card.  There are no creases anywhere on the card.

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.