Joy of a Completed Set – 1963-64 Parkhurst Part 2

That Leaf post the other day generated about 20% of all the page views that I’ve ever had at this place.  It was quite the day.  I should probably write that sort of thing more often.  🙂

This post will have the middle third of the set.  This comprises the last part of the Montreal portrait shots, the entire Red Wings team and the first part of the full-body Leaf cards.  One of the most famous vintage cards ever made is in this part of the set, along with a couple that are interesting for different reasons.

I notice that the images of this set tend to make the cards appear to have slightly rounded corners.  This comes from shrinking the images and also from the fact that most of the cards are sitting in penny loaders within the sheet.  They’re all pretty square in reality.

Page 5 – cards 33-40

The players depicted are John Ferguson (RC), coach Toe Blake, Bobby Rousseau, Claude Provost, Marc Reaume, Dave Balon, Gump Worsley, Cesare Maniago (RC).  The last two Habs RCs in the first part of the set are here.  John Ferguson was such a big part of those Habs championships and is perhaps the biggest tough guy of the era, so it makes sense that his RC is tricky and a tad pricey.  Cesare Maniago was a solid goaltender in the post-expansion era but barely played for the Habs – he was most recognized as a North Star.  His RC is tough only because his other RC is tough.  That one is last in the set and is one of the more visually interesting cards.  This one is meh, but basks in the reflected glory of the second card.  Nice shot of the Gumper, who had just arrived from New York.  He’d lose his spot to Charlie Hodge this year, but would come back in ’64-65 and be a mainstay for years.

Click here for the image of the back of the cards.

Page 6 – cards 41-48

The Red Wings cards with the images superimposed on the US flag are probably the most visually-impressive of all the cards in the set.  The red and white team uniforms just work with it in a way that the other cards don’t.  The players depicted are Bruce MacGregor (RC), gaping hole, Pete Goegan, Parker MacDonald, Andre Pronovost, Marcel Pronovost, Bob Dillabough, Larry Jeffrey.  Other than Pronovost and MacGregor, this is a group of secondary players.  All the star power was left for the next sheet.  MacGregor was a pretty solid scorer for a number of years.  Dillabough didn’t play a lot for the Wings.  I think of him mainly as a Seal.  Marcel Pronovost and Larry Jeffrey would be traded to the Leafs in 1965.  This Wings team made the 1964 Cup Final.

So what’s with the gaping hole?  That’s card 41 – Alex Faulkner.  Alex was the first Newfoundlander to make it to the NHL and he’s the only graded card in the set.  I’ll probably crack him because I hate graded cards, but I have not done so yet.

Faulkner also had a card in the York Peanut Butter set for ’63-64, but that’s it.

Click here for the image of the back of the cards.

Page 7 – cards 49-56

The heart of the Red Wing lineup – players pictured here are Ian Cushenan (OK, maybe he wasn’t really part of that), Alex Delvecchio, Hank Ciesla, Norm Ullman, Terry Sawchuk, Ron Ingram, Gordie Howe, Ed Joyal.  The Howe card at #55 is one of the most famous vintage hockey cards in existence and the most expensive card in the set.  Terry Sawchuk would leave Detroit after the Final and head to Toronto, the team that he lost to.  Hank Ciesla has had his head placed on Marcel Pronovost’s body.  I suppose it was easier to do this than to airbrush a Red Wing uniform onto him.

Click here for the image of the back of the cards.

Page 8 – cards 57-64

Players depicted are Floyd Smith (RC), Vic Stasiuk, Bill Gadsby, Doug Barkley (RC), Allan Stanley, Don Simmons, Red Kelly, Dick Duff.  Stasiuk was a member of Boston’s famous “Uke Line” in the 1950s.  Gadsby was a mainstay on defense for Chicago, New York and Detroit.  For a long time, he held the record for the longest career by a player who never won a Stanley Cup – that may have since been surpassed, I’d need to check.  Leaf goalie Don Simmons only played three seasons with the team and won a Cup in each of them.  Probably should have kept him around, but Terry Sawchuk was a more than reasonable upgrade.

The full-body cards, which start on this page, were only created for Toronto and Montreal.  The players appear in the same order as the portrait shots, which makes it really easy to see where Parkhurst monkeyed with things.  This becomes evident over the next couple of pages.

Click here for the image of the back of the cards.

The next post will finish off the set and other than the Red Wings, I think it’s the best part of the set.  I like the full-body shots because there is more variation in their appearance.