N28 Allen & Ginter 1887
1887 · Allen & Ginter (Richmond, VA)
10-card baseball subset of the 50-card N28 World's Champions tobacco issue from Allen & Ginter. The first major baseball card set.
Key Facts
- Release
- 1887
- Manufacturer
- Allen & Ginter (Richmond, VA)
- Distribution
- Inserted one card per pack of Virginia Brights and Richmond Straight Cut cigarettes
- Card stock
- Lithographed cardstock with full-color portrait — among the very first commercially distributed sports cards
- Printer / Designer
- Unknown — distinguished by the elegant 19th-century lithography style
- Series
- 50-card "World's Champions" series with 10 baseball players plus 40 athletes from other sports
- Total cards
- 10
Key Cards
Cap Anson (#1)
First superstar of baseball — 3,000-hit Chicago player-manager who led the National League's first dynasty.
King Kelly (#8)
"$10,000 Kelly" — the first true baseball celebrity and pop-culture star of the 1880s.
Charles Comiskey (#5)
St. Louis Browns player-manager — future White Sox founder and namesake of Comiskey Park.
John Ward (#10)
Pitcher-turned-shortstop, attorney, and founder of the Players League.
Tim Keefe (#7)
Smiling Tim — one of the era's most dominant pitchers, 19-game winning streak in 1888.
John Clarkson (#4)
Boston Beaneaters pitcher — 328 career wins.
Bob Caruthers (#3)
Parisian Bob — pitched and played outfield, two World Series titles with the Browns.
Jack Glasscock (#6)
Indianapolis player-manager — considered the era's finest defensive shortstop.
Charlie Bennett (#2)
Detroit Wolverines catcher — known for his durability behind the plate.
Joe Mulvey (#9)
Philadelphia Quakers third baseman of the 1880s.