Depression Era Football Cards Include the National Chicles, The Sport Kings and...The Mayfair Candies!


In the mid 1990s, another Depression era football set drew the attention of advanced football card collectors. This issue is the 1937 Mayfair Candies set of 24 football premium cards.

A major reason collectors are looking hard at the 1937 Mayfair set is the intriguing discovery that the set contains a previously unknown Red Grange card.

The Mayfair Candies set was recognized as a separate issue by pioneer collector Jefferson Burdick. In Burdick's classic book on trading cards, American Card Catalog, Burdick labels the Mayfair set with the formal designation R343 "Touchdown 100 Yards."

Physically, the Mayfair cards are smaller than most modern trading cards, measuring just 1 ¾ X 2 ¾ inches. The card fronts are full color. The grey colored card backs convey information about the free football promotion Mayfair Candies sponsored through the middle of February, 1938.

Despite the identification by Burdick, the hobby has remained largely ignorant of the Mayfairs, partly because of their extreme scarcity and partly because of the difficulty collectors have in categorizing the cards.