The 1910 Piedmont brand series of baseball cards is one of the more obscure issues from the early 1900s. Produced by the American Tobacco Company as a tobacco card incentive, the Piedmont set showcased players from that previous 1909 baseball season. What makes these cards particularly interesting is the timing of their release and some of the specific players that were included from that time period.
Released in early 1910, the Piedmont cards came out during a transitional phase for baseball cards. The dominant tobacco companies at the turn of the 20th century, like American Tobacco and their competitors, had largely abandoned inserting cards directly into tobacco products by this point. These insert cards had comprised the early tobacco issues from the 1880s-1900s. Dedicated baseball card sets purchased separately were not quite commonplace yet either. The 1910 Piedmont set seems to have been a late specimen of the tobacco-inserted model as well as a precursor to standalone baseball packs.
The 100 card checklist featured many top players of the day but with an emphasis on the American League, reflecting its growing popularity coming off its first decade of existence competing with the National League. Stars present included Nap Lajoie and Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers, Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia A’s, and Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators. It also recognized talents even beyond the American League, with contributors like Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants making appearances.
Beyond just the players, the 1910 Piedmont set is noteworthy for documenting baseball during another transitional year. The 1909 season had seen Connie Mack begin his record 50+ year managing career with the A’s and also witnessed the Major Leagues’ first-ever trade as the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired then-ace pitcher Babe Adams from the Boston Doves (later Red Sox). More recognizably to modern fans, it was the year an 18-year-old pitcher named Walter Johnson made his debut with the Senators, hintings at the dominance to come.
The card design itself utilized a simple color portrait format, with the players’ jersey depicted and their team names below. Perhaps the most identifiable visual element was the bold “Piedmont” brand name taking up the bottom third of each card front. On the backs, production details identified American Tobacco Company and noted the cards were “not for resale.” Condition challenges stemming from their age mean high grade Piedmont specimens suitable for set building are scarce to find today. Their place as a bookend issue between tobacco insert and true paper-trading card eras makes them an intriguing microcosm of baseball card history.
While stars of the day like Collins, Cobb, Wagner and Mathewson got their shining representations, perhaps most illuminating from a historical lens are some of the less heralded names that made the Piedmont checklist. Pitchers like Louis Drucke of the St. Louis Browns and Doc Newton of the Chicago White Sox were just starting to make their way but would fade from the Majors not long after. Infielders Freddy Parent of the Cleveland Naps and Heinie Groh (later of “$100,000 Infield” fame) with the Reds had reasonably successful careers yet are more footnotes today.
Then there were others like outfielders Ollie Pickering of the Naps and Barney Pelty of the Red Sox who had only brief Major League cups of coffee in 1909 yet still earned the honor of a Piedmont card. Such inclusions offer a snapshot of the disposable nature of early 20th century ballplayers’ careers as well as reminder of how many once-familiar names have been lost to history. These marginal players made the Piedmont set more representative of the full season and league but in retrospect show which stars truly stood the test of time.
Perhaps no name from the 1909 season better demonstrates that phenomenon than a young rookie pitcher issued card #96 in the Piedmont series – Joseph Jefferson Jackson of the Cleveland Naps. “Shoeless Joe’s” MLB debut season was relatively undistinguished, with a 4-3 record and mediocre stats foretelling little of his eventual Black Sox infamy. His dismissal from the game via ban directly after 1920 would relegate him to one of baseball’s ultimate footnotes, with even his one-time “cardboarding” potential erased. Today his 1910 Piedmont remains a prime example of how ephemeral early careers could seem at the time versus their impact seen in hindsight.
In total, the 1910 Piedmont cards showcase a baseball world and league settings in the midst of growth and change on multiple levels. Their release bridged eras of baseball card distribution just as the players and teams depicted were shaping the early 20th century game. Modern collectors seeking to understand and piece together that transitional time must include this relatively obscure but illuminating 100 card set within context of the whole baseball card story. While rarer and pricier than later T206s or Eddie Plank cards, the 1910 Piedmonts offer a rich historical slice into the sport’s formative decade.
