Lot 5.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #88-Christy Mathewson. The 1914 Cracker Jack of Mathewson has become one of the most sought after cards in the hobby. Issued in the first series of 144 Cracker Jacks, the illustration is a fairly bland horizontal pitching pose. When the 1914 series proved to be a success, Rueckheim, the makers of Cracker Jack, expanded the set in 1915 to 176 subjects and for some unknown reason changed the Mathewson to a much more attractive portrait pose. The 1914’s have always been far more difficult and the Mathewson is the most significant star to have any change in the two series. It’s become the most valuable Cracker Jack, surpassing Joe Jackson. The offered card is a nice one. No creases, minor soiling, rounded corners and a clean back. An excellent copy went in the December Sothebys auction for $34,500. A fair-good one went in our November auction for $19,000. Near Excellent. Minimum Bid $10,000.

Lot 6.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #103 Joe Jackson. Beautiful card of Jackson with minor product stain. Nicely centered and a clean card with square corners. Minimally excellent. Minimum Bid $4,000.

Lot 7.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #30 Ty Cobb. At first glance an astounding card. Beautifully centered, no product stains or creases. As clean as can be. Closer inspection reveals it may be 1/16” short. If it were a common card I’d ignore it, as 1/16” isn’t indicative of trimming. However the possible shortness needs to be mentioned. Ex+-mt card with note to the 1/16”. Minimum Bid $1,500.

Lot 8.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #99 Frank Chance. The Christy Mathewson is the most sought after card in the 144 series because of the pose change. The Chance should be even more desirable. Though Chance doesn’t have Mathewson’s stature, he is only in the 144 Series. The card has light product staining on both sides, is well centered and has nice corners. Near excellent. Minimum Bid $2,500.

Lot 9.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #17 Roger Bresnahan without the number on the rear. Without question the rarest card in the 144 series and the only known variation. Bresnahan was printed with and without the “17” on the back. The variety without the number, obviously a printing flaw, is extremely rare and I have seen only three examples in over 25 years. The offered card has light staining on the rear, a couple of minor blemishes on the front, no creases and is a nice very good. Minimum Bid $3,000.

Lot 10.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #57 Walter Johnson. Very light crease in the upper right, barely visible from the front. Some product stain, mostly visible on the back. Nicely centered. Very good. Minimum Bid $750.

Lot 11.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #68 Honus Wagner. Very light horizontal crease, otherwise a beautiful card. Well centered, sharp corners and amazingly no product stains. Gd-vg. Minimum Bid $750.

Lot 12.  E145 1914 Cracker Jack. #65 Tris Speaker. Beautifully centered, light product stains on the rear and the very slightest wear on the corners. Excellent. Minimum Bid $500.

Lot 13.  Two E145 1914 Cracker Jack Hall of Famers. 61-Ray Schalk and #136 Rabbit Maranville. Both ex+-mt or near mint. No product stains, well centered, clean backs. Beautiful cards. Minimum Bid $500.

Lot 14.  Five E145 1914 Cracker Jack Hall of Famers in excellent condition. Includes 6-Plank (excellent), 43-Marquard (vg+-ex), 52-Wheat (excellent), 70-Clarke (ex+) and 73-Carey (excellent). Minimum Bid $750.

Lot 15.  Extremely nice group of 22 1914 E145 Cracker Jacks grading excellent +. Minimal product staining and good corners and centering. Cards included are 13, 25, 76, 78-81, 84-6, 90, 102, 105, 107, 121, 123, 125, 127, 130, 132, 137 and 144. Minimum Bid $1,000.

Lot 16.  Nice group of 17 E145 1914 Cracker Jack Hall of Famers. Group consists of 2-Baker (vg), 3-Tinker (vg), 7-Collins (vg-ex), 12-Mack (vg-ex), 14-Crawford (gd-vg), 18-Evers (vg), 19-Bender (vg), 23-Comiskey (gd), 32-Brown (ex), 35-Hooper (ex), 36-Walsh (vg-ex), 37-Alexander (gd-vg), 66-Lajoie (gd-vg), 69-McGraw (vg), 75-Huggins (vg), 77-Jennings (ex) and 133-Rickey (fair). Minimum Bid $1,000.

Lot 17.  Group of 9 better 1914 E145 Cracker Jacks — 4 premium players and 5 144 Series rarities. The premium players are 22-Wood (ex), 39-Gandil (vg-ex), 94-Cicotte (vg) and 134-Marsans (ex). The rarities are 48-Lord (fr-gd, piece off upper left corner), 60-Zeider (ex), 62-Cashion (vg-ex), 93-Pratt (vg-ex) and 111-Callahan (ex). It should be noted that the rarities are only in the 144 Series are are considerably underpriced in the price guides. Minimum Bid $1,000.

Lot 18.  Group of 24 1914 E145 Cracker Jacks. All cards are excellent. There is a minimum amount of product stain and the cards have relatively sharp corners. The group includes 20, 24, 26-8, 33-4, 42, 44, 51, 53, 54-5, 72, 74, 89, 97-8, 101, 115, 124, 135, 141 and 142. Minimum Bid $1,000.

Lot 19.  Remaining group of 57 1914 E145 Cracker Jacks. Includes 1, 4-5, 8-11, 15-6, 21, 29, 31, 38, 40-1, 45-7, 49-50, 56, 58-9, 63-4, 67, 71, 82-3, 87, 91-2, 95-6, 100, 104, 106, 108-10, 112-4, 116-20, 122, 126, 128-9, 131, 138-40, 143. Group would grade very good +. About 18 cards have a crease or other problem other than product staining and would grade less than vg. Minimum Bid $1,250.

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