Bromides were generally sold in hanging bundles called "taba". Each taba consisted of many single card paper "packs", composed of pieces of newspaper tied together with a string. When the purchaser requested a "pack", the candy store owner removed a random pack from the taba. The purchaser was then able to open the pack to see which card he had received. Very occasionally, we run across an original, unopened taba from the late 1940s. This uncatalogued taba appears to have been produced in 1947, but it is somewhat confusing. The card on the cover of any taba is generally an example of the card issue found in the individual packs. In this case, the cover card depicts pitcher Susumu Yuki, a pitcher for the Nankai Hawks. This is odd considering that the taba cover indicates that the taba features members of the Yomiuri Giants. As a result, we decided to remove two packs from the taba to see examples of cards found inside. Not to our surprise, we discovered two cards from an uncatalogued issue featuring members of the Yomiuri Giants, as advertised on the taba cover. Therefore, we must draw the conclusion that the original card on the taba cover was removed or fell off at one point, and a card from a completely different set (the Yuki card) was used as a replacement. In a stroke of luck, one of the newspaper pieces used for one of the removed packs contains the date of July 28, 1947. Therefore, we were able to determine the year of issue of the taba without removing any additional packs. At any rate, the taba contains an extremely rare early postwar issue.

Size: Each card is 1 7/8" x 2". The taba is 5" x 3 1/2".

Condition: The taba itself grades Vg/Ex and most likely has had the cover card added later. The cards inside should be Nm/Mt and Mint.