The 1920’s may be regarded as the ‘Golden Age of Sport’ for the 20 th Century, but they sure didn’t produce a heck of a lot of baseball cards. While the first two decades of the century provided us so many great tobacco and caramel issues, the 1920’s are more of a bridge between the bygone tobacco era and the dawning of the gum era spawned by Goudey’s initial issues of the early 1930s. That is why we consider the American Caramel E121 Ty Cobb SGC 40 that we’re offering on eBay right now so special. It’s one of just a handful of trading card issues that shows players from the Roaring 20’s as baseball ushered in the dawn of the first New York Yankees dynasty. It was a time when Cobb and other greats of the game ran into Yankees legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The game was starting to change from the Dead-ball era into a long ball hitter’s league, but Cobb’s greatness and baseball smarts weren’t going anywhere . . . not yet, anyway, as he would bat no lower the .323 during the decade including .401 in 1922 and although he did NOT win the batting title. Included in the 1921 American Caramel Series of 80, this black and white card features the Georgia Peach as he began the final third of his career with the Detroit Tigers. Cobb signed as player-manager prior to the 1921 season and he would later move to the Philadelphia A’s to conclude his stellar career. One of three Cobb cards in the E121 set, this one features him throwing with a teammate in the background and, of course, carries an ad from the Pennsylvania-based candy company on the reverse. It’s an appealing card from a set that’s both attainable and highly valuable. If you’re a collector that values great cards of great players and you’re looking to find a set that best portrays an important and largely unrepresented era, we recommend that you give this issue and this card serious consideration.
