The American Caramel company originated in 1898 when two of Hershey's main competitors merged and purchased the Hershey caramel operation. Between 1908 and 1927, they issued 13 different series of cards as inserts in their boxes of caramel candies. (They may have issued others as "strip cards" which have not been recognized as from their company.) All of these issues are identified in the E-Catagory by the American Card Catalog. Their earliest issue, from 1908 - 1910, is designated E91, and consists of three distinct series (E91-1, E91-2 and E91-3). Each of these releases contains 33 players from three different teams. E91-1 and E91-2 contain players from the Athletics, the Cubs and the Giants. E91-3 contains players from Pittsburgh, Washington and Boston.
Their signature issue was the E90 series, issued between 1909 and 1911. The main series (E90-1) contains a total of 120 different cards, most of which were issued in 1909. The two other series, E90-2 and E90-3, were both released in 1910, and contain players from Pittsburgh and Chicago (both AL and NL), respectively.
In 1915, American Caramel returned with a 48 card series (E106) including players from all three major leagues. While the artwork was taken from the E90-1 set, some team designations are different. This set was the only series American Caramel issued between 1911 and 1921.
American Caramel returned in 1921 and 1922 with four sets, designated E121 (Series of 80), E121 (Series of 120), E122 (Series of 80), and E120 (Series of 240). The E121 and E122 sets are closely related in style and player list. Variations on team identification, name and position occur through the sets. Unlike the earlier issues, these four sets are all black-and-white. The E120 set, released in 1922, has a different design on the front, and was printed in green (NL) or brown (AL) ink. On the back are team checklists.
The final release by American Caramel came in 1927, with a 60 card set (E126). The style is reminiscent of the E121 and E122 sets. Unlike most issues at that time, the backs were numbered.
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American Caramel E90-1 (Set size 118)
