1929 Churchman - Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth is the giant of the game. Baseball, a popular sport in the U.S., exploded in popularity as Babe Ruth dominated the game and demonstrated what was possible in the batters box. As the popular and important figure he was, he had many cards. All manner of products tried to use Babe's popularity to their own advantage through promotional tie-ins. The Churchman cigarettes card was not one of them. The set is of sports and games in many lands. The U.S.A. had baseball and football (I believe it is of a Notre Dame game) in the set. If you notice on the card's back, Babe Ruth's name is not even mentioned. The text is mostly about how the sport related to England. Churchman's promotion was for British card collectors and their primary focus seemed to be quality. You can see from the close up on the banner of this website that the lithographic detail is impressive.

Baseball cards in the 20s are almost all black and white. And no more lithography. What that means is that this British oddity is one of the few color examples, and it also happens to be of one of the finest examples. The composition comes from a famous photograph o Babe playing against a Japanese team during a barnstorming tour in Japan. This is my favorite Babe Ruth card. And it is one of the few affordable Ruth cards (or was until this year, prices are going up like crazy).