1908-09 Rose Co. Postcards Honus Wagner - SGC FR 1.5

One of the highly coveted Honus Wagner cardboard heirlooms is this extremely obscure SGC 1.5 FR 1908-09 Rose Co. Postcard reflecting superb aesthetics for the grade. Issued in 1908, a year before Wagner’s hallowed T206 subject was issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC), it resides as one of only nine SGC encapsulated examples. Most significantly, it portrays the iconic Carl Horner portrait pose affixed to the “Holy Grail” T206 Wagner, with this issue joining the 1903-04 W600 Sporting Life Cabinet and 1910 D322 Tip Top Bread Honus subjects as the handful of Wagner issues boasting that exact same image (w/Wagner’s timeless portrait illustration facing towards the right). In 1908 and 1909, the Rose Company produced a set of postcards considered to be one of the most ornate relics extant. The Rose Co. aggressively advertised in 1908 trade newspapers, announcing they would be offering 12 different players for each of the 16 MLB teams (originally 192 subjects). Later updates included eight additional MLB players as well as a 14-card set featuring players from the New York State League’s Scranton Miners, updating the total known subjects to 214. Issued during the 1908 campaign, this season would see baseball’s greatest all-time shortstop pace the Senior Circuit in almost every major offensive category including Batting Average (.354); Hits (201); Doubles (39); Triples (19); Total Bases (308); R.B.I.’s (109); Stolen Bases (53); OPS (.957); and offensive WAR (11.4). Only Tim Jordan’s 12 home runs prevented Honus from seeping the board with Wagner’s 10 round-trippers placing him second. Indeed, this incredible season was one of Wagner’s finest professional performances, with the “perfect” shortstop claiming his sixth National League batting title, on his way to a record eight batting championships. The perfect dynamic duo, this Rose Co. Postcard’s 1908 birthday is a grand testament for that remarkable campaign, with the great Honus claiming his first and only World Championship in 1909, the second year of the Rose postcards’ distribution.

We cannot overemphasize the utmost importance of the classic black & white portrait Wagner pose that immediately captivates the most sophisticated enthusiasts. The staggering rise of Wagner’s T206 value into the multi-millions for even “Authentic” specimens has spread like a brushfire to other similar portrait illustration Wagner cards exhibiting a similar Carl Horner pose. Cards such as Wagner’s 1910 E90-2; 1910-11 M116; 1903-04 W600 Cabinet; 1906 Fan Craze, and 1908 Rose Co, Postcard, just to mention few, have realized extraordinary pricing upticks over the past several years. That said, these newly elevated price tags are not even a fraction of Wagner’s T206 subject seven-figure values, with the W600 Cabinets and 1908 Rose Postcard depicting population numbers far less than their T206 brethren. The card itself reveals an imposing black & white Honus portrait pose originally struck at the turn of the 20^th century by the legendary Carl Horner, one of baseball’s most exalted photographers. Presenting itself in splendid VG+ fashion, only a diminutive surface abrasion situated in the upper left quadrant (between the gold embossed bat and baseball), as well as a rectangular strip of adhesion near the verso’s left edge (from assumed scrapbook removal) account for the assessment. Most significantly, the breathtaking Wagner portrait image, elaborate gold embossed oval/bat designs and tranquil green setting form an awe-inspiring “trifecta” turning back the clock to an era when the “Flying Dutchman” was embarking on a career for the ages, ultimately promoting renowned HOF manager John McGraw to quote: “I name (Honus) Wagner first on my list, not only because he was a great batting champion and base-runner, and also baseball's foremost shortstop, but because Honus (Wagner) could have been first at any other position, with the possible exception of pitcher. In all my career, I never saw such a versatile player.” While some additional negligible imperfections include even corner wear, a few faint wrinkles barely visible to the naked eye, and general toning on the unmarked postcard’s back, it is the captivating central image that certainly “steals the show.” It came as little surprise in 1936 when the baseball writers selected Wagner as one of our National Pastime’s five HOF Charter Members (joining Ruth, Cobb, Mathewson and Johnson in that super elite class), with this extremely scarce 1908 Rose Co. Postcard conjuring up vivid memories of the immortal Johannes Peter “Honus” Wagner and his unparalleled standing in baseball history!