Once in a while, a new hobby discovery turns the collecting world on its ear. With decades of people collecting and cataloging cards, how is it that there can be an undiscovered card issue? And yet it’s happened in recent memory, with the 1921 Herpolsheimers, 1916 Tango Eggs, and 1920 Peggy Popcorn sets, among others. Other times, a discovery sheds light on the origins of an obscure set.
In late 2007, a donut box – yes, a donut box – was discovered, featuring 18 cards of various Americans printed directly onto the box. Collectors could finally see the origin of the Doughnut Corporation of America’s “Thrilling Moments” cards. The box sold for a staggering $17,500 at auction.
The individual cards, part of a 72-card set, were meant to be cut out of the box and affixed into an album called “Thrilling Moments in the Lives of Famous Americans.” The album contained biographical information on each of the 72 subjects, some of which included Abraham Lincoln, Charles Lindburgh, George Washington, Sitting Bull, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Teddy Roosevelt, and more.
Presented here is the Knute Rockne card from that scarce and fascinating set. Rockne, the famed Notre Dame football coach credited with popularizing the forward pass, is an example of how American sports intertwine so closely with historical and political figures throughout the nation’s history. The card, clearly hand-cut from its original home, pictures Rockne with the words “The Football World Will Never Forget Him” superimposed over the card. Graded Authentic by SGC, we’re proud to have this interesting and scarce card in our inaugural auction this fall.
Is this card a 1 of 1? Any others surface after the 2007 discovery?
Perhaps my writing on this wasn’t clear, because I received a few emails on this.
These cards had been available for some time, and this is not one-of-a-kind by any means. SGC has graded 4 and PSA has graded 2. It was the box that was “discovered” in 2007 (although I’m aware of at least one collector that owned two boxes before the “discovery” was announced) and brought to auction. When the box was discovered, collectors finally learned where these cards came from.
This is just a really cool card.