Baseball and football matchbooks

I picked up a nice little lot of sports matchbooks. There were nine total.

Three were baseball "cards" from the 1936 Diamond Match set. I got a green-bordered Bob Garbark. I got a red bordered one a while back so now I am one short of a rainbow. Yes, border color variations predate Topps by quite a bit!

I also got a red border and a blue border "card" i this lot. Both of these pitchers would go on to pitch a no-hitter in the 1940s.

I also got my first 1930s football "cards" in this lot. Edgar Manske is on the '37 Diamond Matchbook. Manske was the last college player to play without a helmet. He later taught biology at Berkeley High School for 20 years. The two Washington Commanders came on "cards" issued by Ross Jewelry in DC. The player photos are actually on the inside of these matchbooks - the outsides have the Ross Company address and a team schedule ('39 for Jim Karcher; '40 for Clem Stralka). Stralka later coached for 30 years at the US Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island.

There were also three "miscellaneous matchbooks". One is for the Cleveland Athletic Club. The other two are for baseball teams, and I already had them so they are up for trade. The Mets matchbook is probably 1970s; the Brooklyn Dodgers matchbook is from 1939!

Here are the backs of the two matchbooks up for trade. You can see the '39 Dodgers schedule. My other copy of this matchcover also is missing the striker (it was common in those days for collectors to remove them) so you can't tell what your winning letter is.