Rugby-Pioneers: The mother of all rugby trade cards...

26/06/2007

The mother of all rugby trade cards...

I am regularly displaying some of these wonderful so-called Baines Cards (pls check these other ones...)... I should have approx. 70 of them now (but some being better than others, say...)

Everything you should know about these collector cards produced by Mr John Baines of Manningham, Bradford between 1887 and 1920 is explained at LDauctions.com, where you'll also have to opportunity to browse a fantastic on-line collection consisting of more than 300 cards !

This morning, I have received a new Baines card that tells nothing about rugby history, but interesting however... Let the people at LDauctions explain "...the cards are regularly in very poor order, i.e. rough edges
and very tatty. How on earth can this happen to cards in almost every
collection ?

According to this card the children of the era played a game called "who's nearest", with... yes, you've guessed it... Baines Cards. The picture clearly shows the children throwing Baines's against a wall and then bouncing back onto the pavement"...

Poor boys who don't care about XXIth century collectors searching for cards in good condition...