1930-1939 Phillies Want List

1933 Goudey #210

1936 Goudey #5

1934-36 Diamond Stars #80

In April 2012, I published a 1930-1939 Phillies Have List, indicating that I had 12 Phillies cards from the 1930s and "if and when this list ever grows, I'll put together a proper want list."

Five and a half years later, the time for that proper want list has arrived, as I've now accumulated 36 Phillies baseball cards, postcards and matchbooks from the decade of the Great Depression.  Here's a listing of the Phillies cards from the 1930s already in my collection, and cards I hope to one day add.

1931 W517 - #10 Klein, #15 Alexander, #18 Williams, #33 O'Doul
1931-32 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-2) - #11 Klein/Whitney/Benge/Arlett, #12 McCurdy/Friberg/Bartell/Hurst

1933 Butter Cream (R306) - Klein
1933 Delong (R333) - #22 Klein
1933 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-3) - #6 Klein/Benge/Bartell/Hurst
1933 George C. Miller (R300) - #4 Bartell, #20 Klein

1933 Goudey
Have - #21 Collins, #28 Bartell, #38 Brickell, #115 Heathcote, #132 Elliott, #136 Rhem, #170 McGurdy, #178 Warner, #210 Davis
Need - #128 Klein

1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305) - Whitney
1933 U.S. Caramel - #21 Klein
1933 Uncle Jacks Candy - Klein
1933 World Wide Gum (V353) - #21 Collins, #28 Bartell, #38 Brickell

1934 Diamond Matchbooks (Silver Border)
Have - Bartell, Chiozza, Collins, Elliott, Fullis, Hendrick, Wilson
Need - Allen, Hansen, Oana, Schulmerich

1934 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-4) - #6 Wilson/Schulmerich/Bartell/Hurst

1934 Goudey
Have Complete Set - #33 Hurst, #55 Holley, #87 Darrow, #91 Camilli

1934 Goudey World Wide Gum (V354) - #6 Elliott, #7 Lucas, #9 Heathcote, #80 Hurst

1934 Butterfinger Premiums (R310)
Have - #33 Holley, #65 Wilson
Need - #2 Bartell, #27 Grabowski

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318)
Have - #38 Wilson
Need - #4 Bartell, #74 Fullis, #76 Allen, #104 Haslin, #150 Camilli, #176 Vergez, #185 Klein

1934-36 Diamond Stars (R327)
Have - #15 Bartell, #22 Wilson, #40 Ryan, #41 Hendrick, #80 Chiozza, #92 Allen
Need - #21 Vergez (Phillies variation with green back)

1935 Diamond Matchbooks
Have - Klein, Wilson
Need - Allen, Chiozza

1935 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-5) - #9 Wilson/Collins/Ryan/Watkins
1935 Goudey 4-in-1 (R321) - Have - Allen/Brickell/Jonnard/Wilson
1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks - Allen, Chiozza, Hansen, Kleinhans, Moore, Wilson
1935-37 George Burke Photo Stamps - Fletcher, Klein, Passeau
1936 Diamond Matchbooks - Klein
1936 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-6) - #6 Wilson/Davis/Camilli/Moore
1936 Goudey - Have - #5 Camilli
1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premiums - #A1 Allen, #A13 Camilli, #A24 Davis, #A41 Grace, #A107 Walters
1936 National Chicle Pastels (R312) - Camilli

1936 National Chicle Fine Pen Premiums (R313)
Have - #20 Camilli, #21 Camilli/Jurges, #46 Gomez, #112 Whitney
Need - #84 Moore/Wilson

1936 S and S Game (WG8)
Have - Camilli
Need - Klein

1936 World Wide Gum (V355) - #61 Walters, #99 Wilson, #103 Grace
1937 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-7) - #6 Whitney/Walters/Camilli/Moore
1938 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-8) - #6 Whitney/Walters/Klein/Arnovich
1939 Father & Son Shoes - #1 Arnovich, #5 Davis, #8 Klein, #9 Martin, #10 May, #12 Mueller, #13 Mulcahy, #15 Passeau, #16 Scharein

1939 Play Ball
Have Complete Set - #12 Martin, #28 Johnson, #33 Young, #37 Davis, #45 May, #46 Arnovich, #63 Mueller, #98 Whitney, #127 Brack, #145 Mulcahy

1920-1929 Phillies Want List / 1940-1949 Phillies Want List

1934 and 1935 Diamond Matchbooks

At the recent Valley Forge baseball card show, I added nine different matchbooks to my collection, not exactly knowing what I was adding.  The matchbooks seemed extremely reasonably priced, and I hadn't seen anything like this before, so I was intrigued.  I went through the dealer's box labeled "1930s Matchbooks" and pulled out every Phillie I could find.  (As an aside, it was during my search that I finally met fellow collector Steve F. and his son Sam.)


It turns out the matchbooks I bought come from two different sets - a 200-matchbook set called the 1934 Diamond Matchbook - Silver Border set and a smaller 24-matchbook set called the 1935 Diamond Matchbook - Black Border set.  I found this listing in the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, and I thought I'd list the description of the set verbatim here:

During much of the Great Depression, the hobby of matchbook collecting swept the country.  Generally selling at two for a penny, the matchbooks began to feature photos and artwork to attract buyers.  In the late 1930s, several series of sports subjects were issued by Diamond Match Co. of New York City.  The first issue was a set of 200 baseball players known to collectors as "silver border" for the color of the photo frame on the approximately 1 1/2" x 4 1/8" (open) matchbooks. 

Player portrait or posed photos are printed in sepia on front, and can be found bordered in either red, green, blue or orange (although it is unclear whether all players can actually be found in the red version), theoretically creating an 800-piece color variation set.  The player's name and team are printed on the "saddle" and there is a career summary on back, along with a design of glove, ball and bats.  Matchbooks are commonly collected with the matches removed and the striker at the back-bottom intact.  Pieces without the striker are valued at 50 percent of these listed prices.

Given that last part, my matchbooks would be valued less than those with the striker intact, but I'm still happy to have them in my collection.  It looks as if there are 11 Phillies matchbooks in the set, so I'm missing four of them for a complete team set.

From the 1935 Diamond Matchbooks set, I added the two shown here and I need two more to complete the team set.  Chuck Klein is shown wearing a Cubs uniform, and the online databases I checked list this as a Cubs card.  However, I'm classifying it as a Phillies card given that's the team listed.