Product Details

1941 Goudey Baseball marks the final product from the popular, but short-lived, vintage brand. Although the checklist is unlikely to wow many collectors, the colorful release maintains solid value in high grade.

After not releasing any new sets following 1938, Goudey reappeared in 1941 with a design that came in four different colors. As one of three national sets issued that year, 1941 Goudey Baseball seemingly chose an advantageous time to return to the hobby based on a year that saw Joe DiMaggio produce a record hitting streak, Ted Williams hit .400 and the very first Yankees-Dodgers World Series.

However, the link (or lack thereof) between the 1941 Goudey Baseball set and the year's baseball season might explain why Goudey hadn't been issuing many cards. While DiMaggio and Williams were setting records, they aren't found anywhere in the set. In fact, out of the 33 cards, only two Hall of Fame players (Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott) make an appearance. The fact that many of the remaining players are obscure names appearing on their only cards might excite some team collectors, but the general hobby has shied away from it.

The basic 1941 Goudey Baseball design can be underwhelming, with a black-and-white player photo, a Big League Gum baseball graphic, and nothing at all on the backs. However, what makes 1941 Goudey cards stand out is the brightly colored background. Each card can be found with four different colors, making for a master set of 132 cards. Yellow is the most common color, followed by blue, green and red.

Many 1941 Goudey Baseball cards are found severely off-center or mis-cut, which affects value and makes high grade examples tough to locate. While some collectors have ventured to collect a master set, 1941 Goudey is considered complete at 33 cards, regardless of the background color. Cards #21-25 appear to have been short-printed, but none of the names are especially notable and Morrie Arnovich carries the most value.

Without backs to hold biographies and statistics, the player information on each card is sparse. 1941 Goudey Baseball cards only include the player's name, team, position and card number. The only exception shows up on Hugh Mulcahy's card (#1), which mentions that he was the first player to enter the U.S. Army due to the draft that began before the '41 season was underway.

The reference to the army on Mulcahy's card foreshadows the events of the next several years, when card production was largely halted as the United States entered World War II. This was because many of the necessary supplies for cards as well as gum were needed to support the war effort. The Goudey Gum Company was still around for a short time after the soldiers came home but never released another set of baseball cards.

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