Featured Post

Original Allen & Ginter Week: Wild Animals of the World

The original Allen & Ginter cards are known for a couple of things.  First, they have some great imagery packed onto a small-sized card.  Second, the sheer variety of subjects in the various sets is astounding.  Yesterday, I showed a card from the General Government and State Capitol set.  From the rather stoic set of government buildings, we move to a much more varied (and worldly) set called "Wild Animals of the World."

Just like with the Government set, I only own one of the 50 cards in the Wild Animals of the World set - my representative happens to be an Indian Rhinoceros.

According to what I could find online, the Wild Animals set appears to be from 1888, meaning I now have at least one Allen & Ginter card representative from 1887, 1888, and 1889!  Like most cards of the era, my copy is a little rough in terms of condition (that crease does go through the card basically). However, I still love it - and as a collector who doesn't mind condition as much, I have no plans to ever get rid of this one!

The back of the card is in somewhat better shape - at least the crease isn't as noticeable.  I like being able to read the entire 50 card checklist as well.  However, if you find the small image hard to read, here is the entire checklist for the set.
  • Aardvark
  • American Wild Cat
  • American Elk
  • Ant-eater
  • Beaver
  • Black Bear
  • Buffalo
  • Chamois
  • Dromedary
  • Duck-billed Platypus
  • Eland
  • Elephant
  • Giant Kangaroo
  • Giraffe
  • Gorilla
  • Grizzly Bear
  • Hippopotamus
  • Hyena
  • Ibex
  • Indian Rhinoceros
  • Jaguar
  • Leopard
  • Lion
  • Lynx
  • Monkey
  • Musk Ox
  • Opossum
  • Otter
  • Painted Ocelot
  • Persian Gazelle
  • Polar Bear
  • Porcupine
  • Prong-horn Antelope
  • Raccoon
  • Red Fox
  • Reindeer
  • Rocky Mountain Sheep
  • Sea Lion
  • Senegal Antelope
  • Stag
  • Tapir
  • Tasmanian Devil
  • Tiger
  • Virginian Deer
  • Walrus
  • Wild Boar
  • Wolf
  • Yak
  • Zebra
  • Zebu


The Allen & Ginter sets aren't just about buildings and animals...join me the rest of the week for some more goodies.  And yes, you will eventually see that I do own more than a single card from a couple of the old sets (plus I'm actively trying to complete the fish set)!

Comments