This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/11/2019
Though the M101-5 collection is commonly referred to as "The Sporting News set" it was not produced by The Sporting News. The set is an independent creation of printer Felix Mendelssohn, who produced the blank-backed cards with the vision of selling them to various companies to put their advertising on the reverse and distribute them as baseball-themed business cards. Exhibiting actual black and white photos in contrast to the colored lithographs utilized on most other tobacco and candy cards of the era, the Mendelssohn produced series allowed collectors a more intimate opportunity to see real photos of their diamond favorites. As a nationwide publication with a direct connection to baseball, the Sporting News was a perfect match and one of the first companies to sign on, quickly becoming Mendelssohn's largest client. The large majority of M101-5 cards carry either The Sporting News back or a blank back. Many other clients signed on as well, one of which was a small baking company in Washington D. C. who bought the cards to help promote their "milk-made" bread; Holmes to Homes. With one card distributed per large loaf of bread and 200 cards in the set, the population of each card carrying the Holmes to Homes back likely didn't reach far into the double digits. An offer on the Holmes to Homes ad back had collectors redeeming the cards for sports equipment and various other prizes, further limiting the number of examples left in circulation. Holmes to Homes even ran an ad in the local paper to announce the top redemption winners. While we will never know how many sets were ordered or if they were all stamped with the Holmes to Homes back, we do know that no more than two examples of any subject have been graded by PSA or SGC. A total of 80 cards combined have been submitted to the two grading companies, making it the most scarce of all the M101-5 variations. Before 2007 the total known population of all M101-5 Holmes to Homes backed cards was in the single digits when a small find discovered in Virginia brought the total to fifteen. Mile High Card Company is proud to introduce six newly discovered examples, and for the first time, the grand prize of the series has arrived! Presented is the first known Babe Ruth rookie card to carry the Holmes to Homes ad back. Graded SGC 1, the card clearly shows plenty of character with creases running through the image and several areas of missing paper on the reverse, but none of that matters given its importance as the one-and-only known example of Babe Ruth's rookie card with this ad back. The image of the young Red Sox hurler is still quite delightful, well centered on the glossy canvas with the name and team at the bottom projecting boldly. It isn't often that a baseball card hits the market that is truly a one of a kind item, and what better item to fill the bill than the rookie card of the greatest athlete in sports history.