John

Baseball For Breakfast: The 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard

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In the world of baseball collectibles, few items hold the mystique of the elusive 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard, a collectible so scarce that most collectors won’t ever lay eyes on one in person. Luckily, for avid fans of Willie Mays seeking a connection to the baseball legend’s collaboration with ALAGA, there exists a moderately more accessible treasure — an advertising poster. In this piece, I’ll chat about the details and scarcity of both items while also discussing a few of ALAGA’s magazine and newspaper ads featuring Mays and another baseball luminary, Hank Aaron. 

The Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company

According to their website, the Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company was established by Louis Broughton Whitfield, Sr., along with his wife, Willie Vandiver Whitfield, in 1906. The first can of ALAGA syrup was packed in January 1907, and by 1920, “Alaga Syrup had grown into a national brand thanks to the revolutionary manufacturing methods which brought ALAGA syrup to customers throughout the country in metal cans, a remarkable packaging and distribution feat for its day.”

ALAGA Truck

WSFA News 12 published a piece about the company in celebration of it being over a century old. In it, they mention that the company has had some pretty big names endorse the product over the years, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clark Gable, Bear Bryant, Shug Jordan, and Nat King Cole.

1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard

The year of issue of the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard is approximate. Mays is pictured in a New York Giants cap (they moved to San Francisco in 1957), and ALAGA syrup ads featuring Mays started showing up in 1955 in Ebony Magazine, among other publications, making a 1954 date seem reasonable. 

The front of the 3-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ postcard features a borderless black-and-white portrait with a facsimile autograph.

1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Front

The back has an advertisement for ALAGA syrup, which states, “Willie Mays says, ‘I was raised on ALAGA Syrup’ on the left side with a postage stamp square on the upper right and space to write a note to the right of the ad.

1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Reverse

PSA has only graded the previously pictured example (it resides in the current number 1 ranked Willie Mays Master Set on the registry), and unfortunately, I can’t make out any postage cancels for dating. While the SGC Pop Report doesn’t include the card, and I haven’t run across any Beckett-graded examples, the Trading Card Database includes the following example:

1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – TCDB

Given the postcard’s rarity and Mays’s popularity, I couldn’t even begin to estimate its price.

1960s Willie Mays Alaga Syrup Advertisement Poster

Now, if you’re a Willie Mays fan and enjoy having syrup with waffles (order intended) as much as I do, you might want to try and grab one of the 1960s Willie Mays ALAGA syrup Advertising Posters for your collection. They’re approximately 10″ x 20″ and one-sided; it reads ALAGA Syrup along the top, followed by a picture of Mays in the middle with a quote from him reading: “Say hey! Love that real ribbon cane flavor”, followed by a bottle of soup with waffles along the bottom. Goldin sold the following example in April 2017 for $255. 

ALAGA Syrup Advertising Poster Featuring Willie Mays

The posters aren’t super common, but they aren’t as scarce as the postcard. There was a single copy on eBay in Nov 2023 for $539.99 (it was framed and JSA authenticated), and besides the Goldin copy I already mentioned, there have been a few other sales over the years, too. For example, SCP sold a framed copy in November 2010 for $428. Heritage has sold a handful of them, including a framed copy in October 2020 for $192, a lot of three in 2019 for $264, a single copy for $120 in October 2017, another for $199.50 in December 2016, and another in June 2016 for $203.15.

Willie Mays and Hank Aaron ALAGA Syrup Newspaper and Magazine Ads

I mentioned earlier that ads featuring Mays and ALAGA started appearing around 1955; they had quite a nostalgic appeal. In two of the following examples, Mays says he was “raised on Alaga Syrup.” And one says, “It brings back bright memories every time I taste it.” 

ALAGA Ads Featuring Willie Mays

I believe the ads ran for about ten years, starting in the mid-50s; the rightmost Mays Ad, dated to 1963, uses the same image of Mays but includes french toast instead of waffles.

Hank Aaron was featured in various similarly written ads for ALAGA syrup, and the right most of the following four was published in 1966. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any Hank Aaron postcards featuring the ALAGA brand. Also, the third Aaron ad may actually be a poster.

ALAGA Ads Featuring Hank Aaron

This ad featuring Mr. and Mrs. Aaron is my favorite; those pancakes look delicious!

ALAGA Ad Featuring Mr. and Mrs. Hank Aaron

Conclusion and Further Reading

I actually didn’t know the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard existed until I stumbled upon it while flipping through the first few pages of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards. Though ownership remains a distant prospect for almost everyone, the poster is a more attainable quest—a cherished piece rumored to have found favor with Mays. I also love it when there are items that bridge the gap between collecting, baseball history, and Americana!

A 1948 Leaf Boxing Complete Set on an Uncut Sheet

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Leslie Hindman Auctioneers ran The Official 14th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention Auction on July 22 and 24, 1993. This 1948 Leaf boxing complete set on an uncut sheet was one of its standout items.

The sheet was lot 482 and was described as follows, “1948 Leaf Boxing Complete Set Uncut Sheet, 49 cards make up this rare sheet. Joe Louis, Jake LaMotta, Tunney, Conn, Corbett, Jack Johnson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Jack Dempsey, etc. Sheet is in excellent to mint condition. $5,000/7,000.”

I’m unsure what it sold for in 1993, but REA re-sold the 17 x 20-inch sheet in the fall of 2020 for $3,120, describing it as having a Vg appearance despite numerous imperfections.

The Artwork for John Schweder’s 1952 Bowman Rookie Card

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Here’s the original artwork used for John Schweder’s 1952 Bowman football rookie card. REA sold it for $1,800 in the fall of 2014, but its sales history goes back to Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989 and the 13th Annual NSCC Auction in 1992.

Here’s a bit of the auction history for the card (as much as I could find): first, it was included as an individual lot, 68C, in Guernsey’s Topps Auction in 1989. It sold for $800 plus the 10% buyer’s premium. Here’s a scan of it in the catalog.

Then, it was included as part of Superior Galleries Official 13th Annual National Sports Collectors Convection Auction in July 1992. A color photo was included on the Color Plate 1 page at the front of the catalog (it wasn’t common to include color photos of every item in early ’90s catalogs) and in B&W above its description that simply said “1952 Bowman Football Artwork of John Schweder. A very rare item in Near-Mind condition.” The estimated value then was $1000-1200.

Finally, in the fall of 2014, Robert Edward Auctions sold it for $1800. They included the following item description including the details about the item having been a part of a museum’s collection:

One-of-a-kind original artwork for 1952 Bowman football #72 John Schweder short-print rookie card (Pittsburgh Steelers). This is the actual artwork used in the production of both the 1952 Bowman Small and Large Football series.Original artworks from this set are extremely rare. This artwork has survived beautifully, with bold colors, a flawless surface, and only light wear to the corners. The reverse bears standard production-related remnants along with the pencil-written name of the player. The artwork measures 4 x 6.25 inches and is in overall Excellent or better condition. 

The item in this lot is part of the deaccessioned property of a prominent northeast museum which has selected Robert Edward Auctions to handle the sale of donated sportscards and memorabilia in an effort to fund purchases more in line with the mission and goals of the museum.

And just for completeness, here’s an example of a high-grade Bowman Large variation of Schweder’s card that Memory Lane Inc. sold for $1171 in January 2023.

1911-16 T216 Mino Ty Cobb

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This was the only known T216 Ty Cobb Standing Mino Cigarettes card in May 1992, as featured in the catalog of Richard Wolffers Auctions, Inc.

The lot, number 102, was titled and described as follows in the catalog:

1914 T216 Mino #16b Ty Cobb (Detroit Americans, standing), fairly well centered, gorgeous colors, fabulous gloss with a trivial surface wrinkle at the bottom right, this is the only known Ty Cobb “Mino” and, as such, one of the great tobacco card rarities, Ex-Nr Mt.

The estimated value was $7000-8000.

Now, concerning the claim of it being the only known Ty Cobb Mino back, Love of the Game Auctions wrote a piece about a rare T216 Honus Wagner with a Mino back that they were auctioning and said, “population reports for this issue are unreliable as they do not accurately reflect either the different variations of the set’s cards or the three different backs, it is our belief that there are fewer than a half dozen graded Mino Wagners in existence.” The grading companies each slab them a little differently. PSA puts “T216 People’s Tobacco” on the slab’s flip without a year and does not designate the back type but does add a glossy designation. SGC differentiates the set by the back, either “1911-16 Mino Cigarettes,” “1911-16 Kotton Cigarettes,” or “1911-16 Virgina Extra,” for example.

I did find the following scan of a Ty Cobb Mino on Flickr, with the description “T216 Ty Cobb—Standing—Mino—SGC 10.” It does share a couple of markings with the example in Wolffers’ catalog, but I can’t imagine they would have described this card as Ex-Nr Mt. So, it looks like there are at least two copies in the hobby.

If you want to know more about the set, Pre-War Cards, and Louisiana Cards have nice set overviews, and PSA has the following set profile online:

The T216 baseball set is a product of the People’s Tobacco Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, and was printed with various cigarette advertisement backs including Kotton, Mino and Virginia Extra. Produced from 1911 to 1916, the People’s Tobacco Co. issued this 73-player set over several season and displayed similar images to those of their contemporaries such as the E90-1 and E92 releases. The players hail from the American, National and short-lived Federal (1914-15) Leagues with the images appearing in full-color with his surname, position, team an league printed along the bottom border. The Kotton Cigarettes brand is far scarcer than the other two issues. Kotton offers two variations with one style having glossy image front while the second can be found on very thin stock paper, making high-grade example difficult to find. The backs are printed in black with the Kotton, Mino and Virginia Extra names as well as People’s Tobacco Co. Ltd. Chock-full of Hall of Fame talent, this unnumbered set is anchored by three Ty Cobb variations Christy Mathewson (2) Eddie Plank, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner (3), Hooke Wiltse and Cy Young, among many others.

Cardboard Dream Teams: Baseball Card Teams to Make Any Sorter Proud

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Kudos to Sports Card Magazine and its readers in late 1993 for the “All Most Valuable Rookie Card Team,” along with the Best Name, Not as Famous, and All Ears Teams.

Before I share the article, I have to question why the author acknowledges that the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle isn’t his official rookie card but still includes it!! Okay, it’s a great card, whatever, but then at least give me the Worst Haircuts of All-Time Team!

The All-Most Valuable Rookie Card Team

The All-Best Name Team

The All-Not As Famous As The Other Guy With My Name Team

The I’m All Ears Team

Who among you has all the cards on one of these teams?

The 1990 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson Autograph Was The First Major Chase Card

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Upper Deck brought the first premium product to the hobby with their 1989 baseball set. They backed that release up in 1990 with another innovation, the first major chase card. Topps inserted 2500 copies of a signed and numbered Reggie Jackson card in the 1990 Upper Deck baseball high series. They called the promotion Find ‘”The Reggie.”‘ The card was like a myth!

First, Upper Deck inserted a header card into packs explaining the chase. The header card has the Baseball Heroes logo on the front. The back said that Upper Deck inserted a 9-card Reggie Jackson Baseball Heroes set in packs and that he signed 2500 cards that baseball artist Vernon Wells created. The header also explained that the signed cards had a unique hologram to differentiate them from the other Wells’ drawn Reggie cards.

1990 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Header Card – Front
1990 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Header Card – Reverse

Here’s an example of the front and back of a 1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Autographed Card.

1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto – Front
1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto – Reverse

You can see that he both signed and numbered each card. Also, on the back of the card, notice the diamond-shaped hologram near the top. Unsigned Checklist cards (card 9 of 9) have circular holograms.

I’ve read from a pair of sources that Jackson added the inscription “Mr. October” to every 100th card, meaning that 25 of these special variations should exist: cards 100, 200, 300, etc. However, I read on a forum that he added the inscription to every 50th-numbered card, and I found the following photo of a card sold back in July 2016, serial 850/2500, with the inscription. So, every 50th having an inscription makes more sense; however, another collector told me it’s every 25!

1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Inscription – Front
1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Inscription – Reverse

Collectors have discovered two other fun card variations: Harmon Killebrew also signed card 573/2500 (he had 573 career home runs), and Willie Mays also signed card 660/2500 (he had 660 career home runs).

1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Harmon Killebrew
1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Willie Mays

In terms of forgeries, indeed, some exist. No one thinks Reggie signed any circular hologram cards in person, so I wouldn’t risk buying one that doesn’t have the diamond-shaped hologram. It is possible that Upper Deck printed a few replacement cards that would have a diamond hologram but no serial numbers, as Upper Deck probably kept a few if a collector pulled a damaged card and wanted a replacement.

Now, 2500 autographed cards may sound like a lot, but companies printed A LOT of cards during this era. Folks have estimated that Upper Deck printed about 200M cards for high series boxes making the odds of hitting a Reggie auto about 1 in 148 boxes.

But as the guy who runs the Unopened Archive, I have to talk about the products you need to find if you want to try and pull your own Reggie Jackson Heroes Autograph. As I wrote, the cards came in the 1990 Upper Deck High Series product, and high Series cases sell for around $650 these days, despite some sellers listing them for well over $2k on eBay.

1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series Case – Angle 1
1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series Case – Angle 2

Factory-sealed wax boxes generally sell for around $35 (shipped).

1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series Box

For completeness, here’s a photo of the front and back of a foil pack.

1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series Foil Pack – Front
1990 Upper Deck Baseball High Series Foil Pack – Reverse

Now, back to the individual cards. 2500 cards were released, but some have probably made it to the garbage dump. The PSA Population report can be a little weird to interpret for autographed cards, but it looks like they have encapsulated ~200 cards.

Regarding cost, graded samples sell for between $550 and $600. Serial 1221 sold for $565 in June 2022.

1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Inscription – 1221/2500

Serial 2337, a BGS-graded card, sold for $605 in July 2022.

1990 Upper Deck Heroes Reggie Jackson Checklist 1-9 Auto With Inscription – 2337/2500

Serial 1026, an SGC-graded card, sold for $554 in December 2024.

A slew of raw examples have sold for between $325 and $455 in the past few years, but the gap between raw and graded has been closing more recently.

Upper Deck had a lot of success in its early days, partially thanks to the Heroes Chase series that they continued in subsequent years and sports. They were all numbered to 2500. 1991 Upper Deck baseball had “Find the Nolan” (Nolan Ryan). 1992 Upper Deck baseball had autographed Ted Williams cards and dual autographs of Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan. In 1991, Upper Deck football had chase cards for Joe Namath and Joe Montana. 

While companies overproduced their base cards at this time, Upper Deck set a new path for what the industry would become. Upper Deck’s Heroes series gave them the edge for a few years until another innovation emerged: the first refractors from the 1993 Topps Finest baseball set. But more on them another time. Happy collecting!

A Bob Feller Popsicle Advertising Display

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I’m lucky my office/Hobby Library walls don’t have any space left, or I’d be all over vintage baseball star advertising memorabilia like this ad for Popsicle featuring Bob Feller. Popsicle is Topsicle!

Mastro offered this one in their Fine Sports Auction catalog in November 2000. It was described as “a classic original window advertising display, circa 1948, picturing a ‘cartoon’ image of World Champion Indians ace Bob Feller endorsing his favorite summertime treat. ‘Popsicle is Topsicle!’ is the pitch, and the vibrant display vividly recalls the days of Mr. Softee and the Good Humor Man. In exceptional Near Mint condition with incredible color. The display measures 8” x 17-1/2.”

Memory Lane Inc. has sold one of these, perhaps the same one, twice, most recently in August 2018 for $565 and $352 in September 2007.

Also, Dreamsicle featured Feller in its ads at this time.