Sets in My Collection #31: 1944 Card-O US Navy

Oops! As you may notice, I am stepping back a decade with a set I missed doing chronologically. When I went in to get the scans for the set that was originally going to be the topic for set #31, I realized I missed this one- both posting about it and typing it into the excel chart I am using as my guideline for posting order.

This is yet another set I had no idea existed until I got my copy, and then I was surprised to find in researching it that it was actually from 1944, right in the middle of WWII. Size and consistency of the card actually matches a playing card, rather than a standard card. I suspect it may have been made on playing card stock.

The set is only 22 cards, which makes it one of the smaller sets out there. I have only this one card.

The cards were not numbered and as is clearly visible, my copy is not in the greatest shape.

The design seems kind of poorly layed out, the blue border on the left should really have been discarded, instead of cutting the back of the ship off. It's possible I may have a mis-cut card, but based on the back I don't think I do.

Editor's note: I am dealing with some health problems right now- something that I have to deal with the rest of my life, but not a lot of fun...so not a lot of new writing coming from me for a little bit. I'm going to post some stuff from my Queue that I have written up for just the times when my health acts up. I'll get back to writing new material as soon as I am able. 

Sets in my collection #23: 1942 Gum Inc. War Gum

Nearing the end of a HUGE project. Details hopefully tomorrow, by the weekend for sure. Since I don't have the time to look at the boxes of cards I've gotten, or to type up another post in my NBA encyclopedia, here is a post in my Sets in my collection series that I wrote up back in 2015 and has been sitting in my queue ever since.

This is a pretty spectacular set. It's 132 cards and it was issued right in the midst of World War II. Remember my comments on the 1939 World in Arms set? Well, Gum Inc. has changed it's tune, now going all-out for the war effort...the USA was now at war with Germany, Japan and Italy. While still mostly objective, current slang terms now appeared on the cards, especially in regards to the Japanese.

It's also a large set for that time period, at 132 cards. I have 9 of them. (6.8% according to the Database) This is another set I want to complete some day. As a history buff and a card nut, this set is a clear favorite of mine.

Here are two card fronts, and one back. I couldn't post just one!

#66

#70

Note also the "Buy War Bonds and Stamps for VICTORY" on the bottom of the card.

Cards are slightly smaller than current standard size, but that appears to have been Gum, Inc's standard at the time as all three sets I have from the company are the same size. Gum, Inc, of course, later became known as Bowman; but the card size in the Bowman era was different.

I actually didn't know this set existed until I added it to my collection. I had mistakenly believed I was purchasing Horrors of War- known as the king of non-sports sets (also produced by Gum, Inc, in 1937) and not realizing the truth until I got home and started researching it online. While Horrors of War is still high on my wantlist (I don't have any yet) it actually turns out that had I known this set existed, it would have actually ranked higher on my list of sets wanted for my collection! (Between writing this in November 2015 and now I've added three Horrors of War to my collection)

Lost & Found: Family History

We finished cleaning the storage units out today. We have had them since 1998, and since they redid the roof there several years ago, all the units were leaking. We did lose things...I lost the empty boxes of 1999-00 Topps Gold Label and 2000 Press Pass VIP, both to water damage, but that appears to be the only card stuff I lost. But some stuff that we had been hoping to find was found. (we hadn't been through the units for quite a while, and most of the stuff we just moved without looking at, so Lost & Found will continue as a series) I found a couple other things my dad had squirreled away that I didn't even know about.

This is my first post on Cardboard History that will not contain any cards or sports memorabilia...I don't plan to go OT very often but the finds here are so important that I'm going to.

One of the things I was looking for the most, was my grandfather's military bag. I thought it was his uniform, but I was incorrect. I only ever saw it once before in my entire life. It is only his duffel bag. My grandfather served in WWII from at least 1942-45. I know very little about his military service but I do know he took part in the "Battle of the Bulge"

Also in the bag these were stored in was this backpack, above, and...

This Airfield Services jumpsuit. I believe it is also WWII vintage but I'm not totally sure. If it IS WWII it does not jive with what I do know of his military service, so it's kind of a mystery. Unfortunately the bag they were in took water damage, and now smell horrible. You can see the water staining on the arm and leg of the Airfield Services uniform.

I never met my grandfather. While he lived until 1998, he wanted nothing to do with the rest of the family. My other grandfather died before I was born.

This was a treasure I didn't know existed, and connects me to my great-grandfather, who died in 1976, 8 years before I was born.

My great-grandfather lived in New Hampshire most of his life, and was 18 years old in 1913. He was a World War I veteran, serving in the artillery in France. My mom remembers this license plate hanging on his garage wall, and it was almost surely issued to him when it was new, 103 years ago. It will shortly hang on my wall, once I do some rearranging so I can hang it where it won't be in direct sunlight. I've always dreamed of having enough space to have a wall of license plates...I have a couple in my collection I've purchased at car shows and antique stores over the years, but this one is special as it's from my family, not just some random plate. It's also my oldest plate by 29 years. I don't have the space to have a wall of license plates, but this one is important enough that I will hang it where I can see it every day of the year.

My dad was a lifetime "car guy" and mechanic. It was predestined that I would be into cars, as my mom is also into cars and grew up around cars. My mom enjoys going to car shows and hopes to have a classic Chevelle again someday. Her daily driver was a 1972 Chevelle until 1990, when it rusted away.
Unfortunately my dad had cancer and his tools have been sitting in storage since 2002, when he lost his battle with it. They took some of the worst water damage and I was only able to save this one loose wrench.

My mom is thankfully still very much with us, and will be reading this post. Long time readers may recognize her as she comments as "Hotrod Mama" on my posts.

This stamp album is something she worked on in April 1964. She dated the inside cover right down to the day of the week! I don't really post about it too much but I also collect stamps, something I picked up from her. In fact, the majority of my collection is her old collection that she gave to me circa 1992. The book smells kind of funky and got a bend/curve into it- we have no idea how it got there but it was inside one of my dad's many toolboxes. It had a large rusty screwdriver on the top of it which bent it. You can see some of the damage in the lower part of the spine. I'm thrilled to have it anyway and I looked through it with her yesterday. Fun times.

The white background on the last three photos will lead to another Lost & Found post once I do some scanning, as it is something else I was looking for, and is very much on-topic as the majority of the box are Becketts, including Basketball #1. The newest issue in it was talking about the first LeBron James rookie cards so 2003 was the last time I saw it. In case you have not read between the lines I am a certified hoarder and not very good at sorting things or keeping them organized, lol. I also found something else I was looking for that will lead to another post as soon as I get it photographed. There is more Lost & Found coming....

Thanks for reading, and I will be back on the topic or cards- or at least basketball- next post.

Sets in my Collection #18: 1939 Gum Inc. The World in Arms

An interesting set, certainly not one that would be produced today. The set is composed of 48 cards, broken down in several numbering systems- 16 aircraft, 12 ships, 4 each of Iron Cavalry (armor), fortifications, field artillery and 8 Miscellaneous.

Keep in mind that 1939 was the official start of World War II. (Technically, fighting between Japan and China has been going on before that date, but is not generally considered part of WWII, but the Sino-Japanese war). This is a set that included both Allied and Axis equipment....seemingly objectively. The back of the card even asks, in big, bold letters...Can American Maintain Peace? We all know, of course, that peace was not a word much in use in that time period, and we would not be able to stay out of the war.

It just kind of shocks me how...matter-of-factly it handles the text on the back of this card. The only one I have (so far) is of a Nazi plane, and there's a simple statement of facts...no opinion whatsoever. I'm not used to that...growing up in the "Racism & Hatred as a political platform" era, seeing no bias at all on the text of a weapon in the hands of clearly bad people is surprising to me. I would be curious to see how the text on the Japanese subject cards is written.

As a history buff, I have long maintained that the only good and accurate way to write history is to present facts without bias, but the Nazis were so bad that that rule is not expected or even truly acceptable, they were the bad guys and there's no denying it.

Someday I want to complete this set.

I'm not sure how accurate the artwork is. Red and yellow camouflage  seems like an odd choice- and not one I've ever seen anywhere else, despite the fact that I hang around with military modelers on a regular basis. I should do a little more research on that.


The stance of Gum, Inc. would be noticeably different on the 1942 War Gum set, one of my favorite non-sports sets, coming soon.