Adding New Elements to Card Printing —Cagle

STRINE PRINTING had always been something of a mystery. For years, the company had avoided publicity, preferring to keep a low profile. So when the assignment to profile the pride of York, PA, came along, I fought to hide a smile. All I knew about Strine was that it prints Topps trading cards.

Since a majority of my own 30-year collection was likely pressed at Strine, I knew a tour was in order. Dave Kornbau, vice president of operations, provided an extended stayover in the card division and related his own role in some of the most ballyhooed, valuable and highly desirable cards printed since the 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie. They are commonly known as memorabilia cards—where every piece of equipment or uniform imaginable is incorporated into the card itself (see the cover article on page 22).

Kornbau was personally in charge of harvesting the handle of a Babe Ruth bat, cutting it into thin wood chip portions that would then be sandwiched by two pieces of cardboard, with a diecut window, to showcase the piece of baseball history. Kornbau later heard that these Ruth bat cards were fetching thousands of dollars on the secondary market.

Due to the nature of the production, clearance is given to a precious few who can venture into “the cage,” where Strine keeps its stash of uniforms, bats, balls of all sports, and even auto racing tires and lug nuts. A single baseball jersey can be cut into 1,500 swatches, or grids as Kornbau calls them, so a single jersey can populate any number of different issues. A set of wooden templates are used for cutting the bat chips.

Despite the delicate process in dealing with vastly different substrates, few problems are experienced in the production process. Kornbau pulled out a small box of cards that didn’t make the grade, and demonstrated how the cards are assembled.

Clearly, Kornbau and his team enjoy their work, and it’s apparent in the quality of craftsmanship.

PLATES GET HAMMERED: Last month a treasure trove of printing plates used by banks to make ornate currency—plates that had sat in the archives of American Bank Note for roughly 150 years—went up for auction, according to the Associated Press.

A New Hampshire firm, American Numismatic Rarities, examined and catalogued more than 200 tons of plates. About 900 of the plates were used by banks for printing money—a commonplace practice before the federal government began printing money in quantity during the 1860s—and upwards of 20,000 plates were used for other notable printing jobs.

According to the AP, American Bank Note (formed in 1858 by the consolidation of seven engraving/printing firms) inherited the plates from its individual companies. Among them were plates for producing ads, letterhead and stock certificates.

The plates were purchased in 2004 by John Albanese of Archival Collectibles, Far Hills, NJ, the AP reported. Albanese tapped American Numismatic Rarities to catalog the massive collection in preparation for auction.

The first auction, slated for August 11, included an engraved cylinder used to print tickets to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, the scene of President McKinley’s assassination. Other items included Vignette plates that portrayed Americana scenes or landmarks to help stylize money, checks or advertising, among other things.

Future auctions, according to the AP, will include plates for the RCA Victor dog, early Campbell’s soup ads and invitations to the 1884 dedication of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal.

GET THE TAG NUMBER: When you commute 35 miles into Philadelphia every day, getting cut off by another motorist is a routine hazard. And, when the offending vehicle is three to four times the size of your own, you grit your teeth and brake.

One recent incident involved a large truck that had apparently just made a delivery. The gentlemen pulls out into the road, blocking both this writer’s lane and the oncoming traffic, maneuvers a three-point turn, then continues on his merry way...which includes clearly blowing through a red traffic light.

This driver may have gotten away without a traffic citation, but we refuse to shield him from the light of justice. The writing on the side of the truck, as it zipped past the red arrow, read “McCormick’s Bindery.”

So beware; you never know when a faster turnaround time is going to occur at your expense.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: In the August B&P, Bruce Deron was erroneously listed as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam war. He was in fact a weapons specialist on DaNang Air Force Base.

Deron, the president of Waymart, PA-based SG Printing, will be presented medals earned for his actions during the war. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) will present Deron with replacement medals for some that had been misplaced, as well as new ones for events that had went officially unnoticed.

—ERIK CAGLE