Sometimes, the details can make all the difference.
In the case of the newly discovered Babe Ruth rookie card, which sold Sunday night at Robert Edward Auctions for $812,724, that detail was its rare Morehouse Baking card back, the only known example of Ruth’s 1916 card to feature the advertisement on its reverse.
Found at an estate sale in Danvers, Massachusetts, the one-of-a-kind variant of Ruth’s famed rookie card, which shares an image with the more well-known Sporting News example, marked the first time anyone had documented a Morehouse back on the Ruth card. A few dozen examples with the same back have been graded for other players from the set.
According to the auction house, the history of the card dates back to 1916, when a Chicago-based publisher named Felix Mendelsohn distributed a 200-card set, including one featuring an image of Red Sox rookie pitcher Babe Ruth, to various companies throughout the country for distribution and, importantly, the addition of their own custom advertising on the card backs.
The Sporting News was the most eager participant of this opportunity, but a total of 18 companies used cards from the set in their own promotions.
The Morehouse Baking company of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was one of these companies, inserting a card alongside a loaf of bread to encourage sales.
Of the top sales from the 1916 Ruth card, the top four belong to Sporting News examples, with the record coming in at $1.77 million for an SGC 7 example.
Sunday’s sale at REA places fifth among sales of the Ruth card and the top sale of a non-Sporting News back.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.