Perfect Together: Panini and an E120 Throwback Set

Featured Cards: 1922 American Caramel Series of 240 (E120), Lee Meadows; 1922 Neilson’s Chocolate (V61) Type 1, Wilbur Hubbell; 1922 Neilson’s Chocolate (V61) Type 2, Lee King; 1922 W573, Joe “Goldie” Rapp

I’m going to revisit my 2014 Wish List post again focus on the idea of a throwback set that harkens to the 1922 American Caramel Series of 240 (E120) set. A previously mentioned that the set was good candidate for such an endeavour for a few reasons: it hasn’t been used previously as the basis for a full retro-themed set, sepia parallels actually make sense in the context of the set, and the fact that the set was repurposed frequently at the time provides historical material for parallel backs. Take a look at the following:

Right there, you have three different backs. There’s also the blank-backed 1922 W573 strip cards that otherwise used the same front, as well as the 1922 Cream Nut/Goodie Bread and 1922 Leader Theater sets, complete with their own backs. You’ll even note that the sets that originally reused the E120 design are tinted a different color. No need to come up with different excuses for parallels — it’s already there in the set.

What’s really interesting about the E120 set, however, is that it would be a perfect fit for Panini. For starters, notice the team designation at the bottom of the card. Yes, “PHILADELPHIA NATIONALS.” Already, no reason to worry about those pesky copyrighted team names there. Furthermore, many of the cards use photos with no noticeable team insignia — at least, they’re missing from three of the four cards highlighted in this post — which means the final photos would both clear Panini’s legal hurdles and be appropriate to such a throwback set. Replicating the original black-and-white appearance (aside from any tinting variations) of the cards would make the deletion of such trademarks that much harder to discern in the final printed product.

So, I’m hoping Panini takes note — yes I will be posting this suggestion to their social media sites. I’m not looking for credit; I would just like to see properly executed attempt at such a set. That means “action” photos taken from similar angles and posed shots that replicate those seen in the original American Caramel set. This can be done, and I would love it.

1922 American Caramel Series of 240 (E120)

Card dimensions: Approximately 2” x 3½”
Additional Information/14,000 Phillies Commentary: The cards are unnumbered, so the players are listed in alphabetical order and numbered accordingly — the numbering shown below comes from SCD’s 2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. Beckett, instead lists the cards in alphabetical order within team, with teams themselves listed in alphabetical order, and numbers accordingly. So, in the Beckett checklist the Phillies are assigned card numbers 196-210.

The set is designated as “Series of 240” (the number of total cards in this set) in an effort to further differentiate it from the 1922 American Caramel Series of 120 (E121). As is the case with the 1921 American Caramel Series of 80 (E121) set, the cards in this set were also used as the basis for numerous other sets subsequently released. These sets include, but are not limited to: 1922 Cream Nut/Goodie Bread, 1922 Neilson’s Chocolate Type 1 (V61), 1922 Neilson’s Chocolate Type 2 (V61) & 1922 W573. Amazingly, the design of this set has not been recycled in a modern issue.

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Walter “Huck” Betts Art Fletcher Walter “Butch” Henline Wilbert Hubbell (first name shown as “Wilbur”) Lee King Roy Leslie Lee Meadows Frank Parkinson Jack Peters Joe “Goldie” Rapp Jimmy Ring Colonel Snover Curtis Walker Fred “Cy” Williams Russ Wrightstone

1923 W515-1

Set Type: Primary
Card dimensions: Approximately 1⅜” x 2¼”
Additional Information: A strip card set, the artwork and checklist is identical to that in the 1923 Fleer and the 1923 W515-2 sets. The cards are blank backed, but bear numbers just before the player’s name at the bottom of the card.

7 23	Clarence Walker Lee Meadows