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    Base ball & Cracker Jack : A Prized Story
    Base ball & Cracker Jack : A Prized Story
    Base ball & Cracker Jack : A Prized Story
    Ebook191 pages1 hour

    Base ball & Cracker Jack : A Prized Story

    By Erik Varon

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    About this ebook

    The start of the twentieth century saw growth, reform and conflict. America's Pastime mimicked the changes taking place in society as baseball introduced the dawn of the Dead-ball Era. But within the baseball experience, something extraordinary was about to take place: a bond between the well-established confection, Cracker Jack, and the game of baseball began to take shape. Follow along as this Prized Story negotiated conflicts such as a competing Federal League and a World War, intertwining forever by the 1908 hit song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMaracaibo Publishing
    Release dateJul 8, 2024
    ISBN9780999055939
    Base ball & Cracker Jack : A Prized Story

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      Book preview

      Base ball & Cracker Jack - Erik Varon

      Praise for Base Ball & Cracker Jack

      Erik Varon captures the history and the magic of the Cracker Jack ballplayer cards from the 1914 and 1915 seasons that were placed into a box of Cracker Jack. His prose displays their statistics in an interesting manner. The general history of the Cracker Jack Company is well-researched, and I feel that he will start a new renaissance of interest towards the Cracker Jack ball player cards, as well as the prizes themselves. A must-have book for baseball card collectors, and Cracker Jack collectors.

      —Alex Jaramillo, author of Cracker Jack Prizes and a baseball card/Cracker Jack prize collector

      Erik Varon has given us a very interesting primer on the relationship between Cracker Jack and Major League Baseball. He discusses the history of the confection and the many prizes inserted in Cracker Jack boxes over the years including an in-depth look at one of the greatest baseball card collections in existence. An informative read!

      —Tom Zappala, author of The Cracker Jack Collection: Baseball's Prized Players

      As a Cracker Jack prize collector who enjoys digging into the history about as much as the collecting, I was thoroughly impressed and entertained by Varon's depth and breadth of research in drawing the parallels between the growth and development of national baseball and Cracker Jack. Whether the reader is a casual observer or an avid collector, there are fascinating and revelatory correlations to be discovered by the baseball card fan and the Cracker Jack prize aficionado alike, with the prized lagniappe of some images seldom seen.

      —Jim Davis, Charter Member, Cracker Jack Collectors Association

      I was impressed with how well-researched [Base Ball & Cracker Jack: A Prized Story] was and I was also impressed with how [Erik Varon] weaved the Cracker Jack brand into its place in American history.

      —Al Crisafulli, Auction Director, Love of the Game Auction House

      Copyright © 2024 by Erik Varon

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the email address below.

      Maracaibo Publishing

      [email protected]

      APrizedStory.net

      Book Production by Ruth Schwartz, Wonderlady Books

      Book design by Erik Varon

      See pages 97-100 for all photo credits

      Ordering Information:

      Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the email address above.

      Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

      Names: Varon, Erik, author.

      Title: Base ball & Cracker Jack : a prized story / Erik Varon.

      Description: First edition. | [Eagle, Idaho] : Maracaibo Publishing, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers: ISBN: 978-0-9990559-2-2 (paperback) | 978-0-9990559-3-9 (ebook) | LCCN: 2024912421

      Subjects: LCSH: Baseball--United States--History. | Baseball cards--Collectors and collecting--United States. | Cracker Jack (Firm)--Collectibles. | United States--History--20th century. | United States--Social conditions--20th century. | BISAC: SPORTS & RECREATION / Baseball / History. | ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES / Sports Cards / Baseball. | HISTORY / United States / 20th Century.

      Classification: LCC: GV863.A1 V37 2024 | DDC: 796.357/0973--dc23

      Acknowledgments

      I want to recognize those who contributed to this project. Without these individuals’ input and assistance, this work would be incomplete. I owe an enormous debt to Tony Andrea, Tony Bell, Al Crisafulli, Jim Davis, Aidan Jackson-Evans, Dean Faragi, Jason Glasser, Brady Hill, John Horne, Alex Jaramillo, Troy Kinunen, Alexandra Lane, Bryan Lenz, Robert Lifson, Lew Lipset, Andy Madec, Bill Mastro, Jesse Merch, Paul Mifsud, Matthew Nye, Tom Price, C. Paul Rogers, Geoffrey Ross, Linda Stepp, Steve Suckow, John Thorn, Ron Toth Jr, Agnes Varon, Emily Varon, Patrick Varon, Ryan Varon, Cliff Walker, and Tom Zappala.

      Additional thanks to the resources provided by the following entities: Baker Library at Harvard Business School, Grey Flannel Auctions, Heritage Auctions, Illinois Library, Library of Congress, Love of the Game Auctions, Mears Online Auctions, Metropolitan Museum of New York, Mile High Card Company, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and Museum, Potter and Potter Auctions, Robert Edward Auctions, Society of American Baseball Research, the San Diego Public Library, Sotheby’s Auction, and the University of Illinois.

      Dedication

      To Richard, Art, and John,

      Thank you each for helping direct this young novice on his life journey.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      First Inning: The Dead-ball Era

      Second Inning: The Federal League

      Third Inning: A History of Cracker Jack

      Fourth Inning: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

      Fifth Inning: 1914

      Sixth Inning: 1915

      Seventh Inning: The Great War (World War I)

      Eighth Inning: Cracker Jack in the Post Dead-ball Era

      Ninth Inning: Cracker Jack Collectability

      Conclusion

      Cracker Jack Checklists

      Photo Credits

      Bibliography

      About the Author

      Endnotes

      Introduction

      The Old Ball Game. This phrase is more than just a sentimental expression for describing the sport of baseball. It conjures up the game’s storied past. Long before baseball became America’s pastime, its title was spelled as two words, base ball. The term base ball, like the game and America itself, has evolved over time.

      It was during America’s Reconstruction Era that The New York Times began hyphenating the two words, base-ball. In the mid-1880s, newspapers such as The Washington Post, Atlanta Constitution, and the Times eliminated the hyphen, thus converting it into one word, baseball. Other newspapers, such as The Trenton Evening Times continued to adhere to the old notion that baseball isn’t baseball at all, but base ball. Professor of history at South Suburban College and editor of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Origins Committee Newsletter, Bruce Allardice adds, The two-word ‘base ball’ usage lasted far longer than previous scholars have thought. 1896-97 marks the time when baseball came to be used more often than ‘base ball.’

      Meanwhile, it was with much optimism that America transitioned from the 19th century to the 20th century. It was a time of great inventions, creativity, growth, and reform. Known as the Progressive Era, the first two decades saw new regulations imposed, population growth, and conflict. Baseball, or base ball, mimicked these changes. Like America’s Progressive Era, the start of the 20th century saw the dawn of a new Dead-ball Era in the sport.

      As the Dead-ball Era got underway, an array of new rules were implemented. With the United States population increasing from 76 million in 1900 to 105 million by 1920, the popularity of baseball also increased; this prompted the creation of new venues capable of facilitating larger crowds. Quickly becoming America’s favorite pastime, the country could not get enough baseball, as evidenced by the start of a new Federal League in 1914. With the Federal League wanting an equal footing to that of the baseball establishment, soon great conflict fell upon the game. But within the baseball experience, something extraordinary was also taking place. When a Vaudeville performer wrote Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1908, he cleverly designed the melody to not only describe a couple going on a date at the Old Ball Game, but he also incorporated the confection Cracker Jack as part of the song. A bond between Cracker Jack—which already had established itself as a favorite American brand—and the game of baseball began to take shape.

      Like all long-term relationships, baseball (or base ball) and its counterpart, Cracker Jack, have their individual histories and, like bookends, now have a conjoined story. Unlike any other examination over the past century, this book will, in illustrated and documented forms, detail A Prized Story of baseball, Cracker Jack, and how they became and remain deeply intertwined.

      Finally, while some newspapers used one phrase or the other to describe baseball at the start of the 20th century, baseball’s official guides, Dewitt, Spalding, and Reach, continued to use the two-words base ball until 1941. In 1943, the new official guide, The Sporting News, adopted the word baseball, ending the long-running feud.

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