Today's cards are from a really oddball set.
These are the two Cubs in the ten card set known as the Ajax Dog Food set. The design is pretty minimal.... player's last name, one stat, the Ajax logo. The back is blank.
Here's where is gets really strange. Do a Google search for Ajax Dog Food. You won't find anything. The brand doesn't exist. The cards are one of those Broder-type sets from the '80s. It is unlicensed, yet used logos. Of course, you wouldn't really care about being licensed if you are making up a fake dog food company.
From what I could find, the cards were sold at shows at a time when collectors would scoop up anything. Seems kind of crooked yet kind of ingenious to make up a brand and sell the cards. And in those pre-internet days, you couldn't check into the Ajax brand. Collectors probably assumed it was a brand sold in other parts of the country and bought the cards.
If you go to all that trouble to make the cards, I wonder why the set was made so small, just ten cards. Seems that you'd make more money if the set had more players. Ingenious maybe, but not smart.
Very weird (and interesting). Maybe Ajax was just some bored dude's dog.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the Davis, I was confused as to why a dog food company would be open 24 hours! I guess I give them points for creativity in pretending to be a sponsored issue. Looks like the cards themselves are pretty, um, bare-bones.
ReplyDeleteI assume it means 24 home runs.
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