I can't help falling in love with you

or

My first glimpse of the 1910-1911 T3 Turkey Red Cabinets.

Jed Drinkwine had a nice offering of these cards at the recent card show. According to The Catalog, the

"Turkey Red cabinet cards were obtained by mailing in coupons found in Turkey Red, Fez and Old Mill brand cigarettes. Turkey Reds measure 5-3/4" x 8", and feature full-color lithograph fronts with wide gray frames."

"The series consists of 25 boxers and 100 basebaseball players. Coupons issued in the cigarette boxes indicate the first 50 baseball player cards were produced for spring, 1910, delivery, with the 25 boxers produced later that year and the final 50 baseball players issued in 1911."

"Backs are known in three styles: 1) checklist with no ordering information, 2) checklist with ordering information, and, 3) with an illustrated ad for Turkey Red cigarettes. The checklist backs are found on both low-and high-number cards, the ad backs are only on cards #77-126."

To me, the cards had a camel-colored edge, not gray. The colors were striking and the cards looked like they were printed yesterday, save for the wear. I wanted one. Couldn't afford it. And seeing as how I've promised to take my wife on a cruise to someplace warm for our upcoming 20^th anniversary, I won't be getting one this year.

The above photos, which I took at the recent card show, don't do them justice.

Here are some links for more info and better photos of the T3 series:

* Craig Diamond's T3 Turkey Red site

* Vintage Cardboard's T3 Turkey Red reference page

* Dave's Vintage Baseball Cards

* T207.com's T3 Gallery

* ebay.com's current listing of T3 Turkey Red cards

* PSA's T3 HOF set registry (there are 25 Hall of Famers in this set)

* My old friend, Orval Overall (image hosted at CenturyOldCards.com)

If you want to impress your friends and dazzle them with your disposable income, Robert Edward Auctions will have a 1911 T3 Turkey Red #9 Ty Cobb PSA EX 5 up for bid (est. $10,000/$15,000; res. $5,000).