Contact Us

Rare 1914 B18 Baseball Blankets with Ty Cobb Purchased by Just Collect

Legendary Baseball Players on Unique Collectable from Cigarette Packs in 1914

April 02, 2025

One of the most unique collectables in the hobby have been discovered and purchased by Just Collect. These 1914 B18 Baseball Blankets originate from an odd place and include some of the greatest players of all-time!

Photo Sep 16 2024, 11 30 09 AM

Well before you opened up wax packs of sports cards to find a stick of gum and players you idolized, tobacco companies were the ones distributing the cardboard treasures. To help promote their loose tobacco and packs of cigarettes, brands would place a baseball card inside of their product. The most famous tobacco set is the 1909-11 T206 release. What we have here today comes in from a very outside-of-the-box idea from over a Century ago!

1914 B18 BASEBALL BLANKETS COLLECTION

What could Egyptienne Cigarettes do differently than all other tobacco companies at the time to set themselves apart - to stand out in the world. While tobacco brands like Piedomont and Polar Bear put a baseball cards inside their packs, Egyptienne decided to offer a baseball keepsake in a more memorable fashion.

A "blank" made of felt was folded nicely and placed inside a pack of Egyptienne Cigarettes! Each side is 5 1/4" in length. In total, 90 players were depicted on the front of the 1914 B18 Baseball Blankets set. The square-shaped blanket has a the shape of a baseball diamond! Imagine a baseball infield with first, second, third, and home and that's the design Egyptienne used. Each player can be seen in the middle of the Blankets along with flags for their league and team.

The set is filled with Hall of Famers such as Walter Johnson, Casey Stengel, and Miller Huggins. The star of the set is the player you see in our first photo below - Ty Cobb! The highest batting average for a career belongs to The Georgia Peach with a .366. In his career, Cobb 12 batting titles! More than just a hitter for average, Cobb showed off his power by leading the league in home runs in 1909. A menace on the base paths, Cobb also led the league in stolen bases fix times.

Many 1914 B18 blankets still have the original folds from their days sitting inside of a pack of cigarettes. Back in the early 1900's, people would sew the blankets together to make pillow cases, too. You thought putting your Mickey Mantle cards in your bike spokes as a kid makes you kick yourself today - imagine using your Ty Cobb as a pillow!

These B18 blankets were part of a huge collection we purchased from a lifelong collector named Uncle Curtis. When we traveled to appraise the collection, we were amazed by both the volume and variety of cards, premiums, and memorabilia. We paid Uncle Curtis $77,000 for "The Nebraska Collection." For the first time, we are sharing the collection of 1914 B18 blankets!

Photos of the 1914 B18 Baseball Blanket cards from The Nebraska Collection:

Do you have 1914 B18 Baseball Blanket you'd like to sell and you'd like a free appraisal? Just click HERE:

The Nebraska Collection was so massive, we are still going through it! Keep checking back here on our Just Collect blog as we feature different sets and items.

Here is an interview Leighton did with Uncle Curtis:

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

Travel to Us

If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.

Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

Meet in New York City

If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.

SHIP your collection

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.