The Tommy Harper Baseball Card the World Awaited
Hot dog! Hit Dog! Origin Story!
1964 Kahn’s Tommy Harper (#11) - Card of the Day
When it comes to beautiful cards that also strike an emotional chord for me, there is no beating the 1964 Kahn’s Wieners set. Here, let me give you some evidence and whet your appetite before we continue:
The Cards the World Awaited
Kahn’s was established in Cincinnati, so it’s not surprising that their initial black-and-white baseball card issue, in 1955, focused solely on the Reds. That debut set came sans hot dogs, distributed instead at a promotional event.
By 1956, though, the cards were packaged with wieners, and I remember reading about Kahn’s cards very early in my collecting life.
I was amazed that any of them could have survived and only slightly sickened by the unsightly stains that decorated the few examples I could find at local card shows.
By 1964, the Kahn’s offering had been colorized and expanded to include players from other teams. What’s more, card fronts had been stripped of all design elements except for the large (3″ x 3-1/2″), nearly square photo overlaid with a facsimile autograph.
Card backs were pretty raw, showcasing player biographical information plus a block of text atop the Kahn’s slogan: “The Wiener the World Awaited.” All of it was rendered in a font you might have found on a typewriter in your dad’s (or granddad’s) high school typing class.
Those choppy backs lent a campy quality to the cards that made them feel very “vintage” and admittedly encouraged you to turn back to the card fronts.
That’s OK, though, because all the magic happens in those blue-sky images of young men in the primes of their lives, doing what they love. Heck, they’re doing what we all love — playing ball.
And of all the happy fellas captured by Kahn’s shutters, none will make you happier than Tommy Harper on card #11.
In 1964, Harper was just 23 years old and coming off the first season in which he saw regular playing time. Most of his starts came in right field during 1963, and he’d flip to left for 1964.
The results were just OK, but by 1965, Harper was the Reds’ starting left fielder, no questions asked.
On that 1964 Kahns’ card, though, he’s mock-fielding a ground ball at third base, stopping to pose and smile for the camera on his way up into his throw to first. His Reds’ pinstriped vest, pants, and hat are perfectly accentuated by his red T-shirt.
The stands are empty behind him, but the sky has just the right amount of puffed little white clouds to make you think that maybe you’re dreaming the whole thing.
Could this baseball paradise really exist?
Could a young man really get to spend his days on the ball field rather than in an office or a factory or a classroom?
Tommy Harper’s big, gleeful grin tells you that maybe he’s had the same moment of doubt but has already pinched himself.
In that instant, he’s wide awake and living all our dreams.
And Kahn’s caught it all on one of the best baseball cards of 1964.
Today, Tommy Harper, purveyor of green-cathedral dreams, turns 84 years old.
Great Scott! What a Trade!
Later in his career, Harper played for the 1969 Seattle Pilots, then stuck with the team when they became the Brewers. After their second year in Milwaukee, the Brew Crew traded Harper, Pat Skrable, Lew Krausse, and Marty Pattin to the Red Sox for Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, Jim Lonborg, Don Pavletich, and George Scott.
Harper had some big seasons for the Red Sox, including maybe his best all-around campaign in 1973.
Scott, meanwhile, became a home run champion for the Brewers, topping the American League with 36 long balls (and 109 RBI) in 1975. He also appeared on some pretty nifty baseball cards, including that 1974 Topps you see up there, the one that evidence suggests Mo Vaughn used as his swing template.
Read all about that card right here.
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Happy Monday…
Hope your playoff dreams are panning out…
And don’t forget there are only 17 more sewing days before All Hallows Eve. Better get hoppin’ if you don’t yet have your duds in order.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
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