WWII Commando-Ranger (R34)
W.H. Brady Company, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA

Series Title: Commando-Ranger
American Card Catalog Number: R34
Issued by: W.H. Brady Company, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Country: United States
Number of Cards: 70
Card Dimensions: 2.45 × 2.7 inches
Circa: World War II
Checklist: Download

Background

The Commando-Ranger (R34) series of 70 World War II gum trading cards preceded the Allies in Action (R11) 140 card set. Both series were published by the W.H. Brady Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Both series featured a five panel card front that featured simplistic wartime artwork. The five panels included: (1) top panel with series title, (2) center panel with artwork, (3) bottom panel with card title, (4) blue or red left side V (Victory) panel, and (5) red or blue right side V (Victory) panel. As with the Allies in Action series, the Commando-Ranger series appears to have been issued in ten seven-card strips of sequentially numbers cards.

This is the point where things start getting a little confusing! It also appears that each card may have been printed with both Red-Blue and Blue-Red side panels. Tables 1 and 2 below show some of the R34 side panel color schemes that we have seen to date. One possible explanation of this anomaly could be the actual printing process. Instead of printing one set at a time, the printers may have stacked the sets and printed 2, 4, 6 etc. sets at one time. If this were done, the second sequence would start with a blue panel on the left side rather than the red panel.

Now that we’ve confused you on that issue, here’s one more fly-in-the-ointment. There appears to have been at least five different printings of the set. The five back variations are shown below. So if you were to collect all of the cards, you might be looking at (70 cards × 2 side panel variations × 5 card backs =) 700 cards!

Table 1 - R34 Color Scheme 1 - Left Panel Red

Color Scheme 1R34 Card Numbers & Border Colors
Strip 1 (Cards 1 to 7)  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  
Strip 2 (Cards 8 to 14)  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  
Strip 3 (Cards 15 to 21)  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  
Strip 4 (Cards 22 to 28)  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  
Strip 5 (Cards 29 to 35)  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  
Strip 6 (Cards 36 to 42)  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  
Strip 7 (Cards 43 to 49)  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  
Strip 8 (Cards 50 to 56)  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  
Strip 9 (Cards 57 to 63)  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  
Strip 10 (Cards 64 to 70)  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  

Table 2 - R34 Color Scheme 2 - Left Panel Blue

Color Scheme 2R34 Card Numbers & Border Colors
Strip 1 (Cards 1 to 7)  1  2  3  4  5  8  7  
Strip 2 (Cards 8 to 14)  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  
Strip 3 (Cards 15 to 21)  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  
Strip 4 (Cards 22 to 28)  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  
Strip 5 (Cards 29 to 35)  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  
Strip 6 (Cards 36 to 42)  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  
Strip 7 (Cards 43 to 49)  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  
Strip 8 (Cards 50 to 56)  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  
Strip 9 (Cards 57 to 63)  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  
Strip 10 (Cards 64 to 70)  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  

Card Back Variations

To date, we have been able to identify five different types of R34 card backs … there may be more! At this point we are simply referring to them as Types 1 thru 5. Features of each of the card back variations are shown below.



Type 1 — Copyrighted W. H. Brady Co., Eau Claire, Wis.



Type 2 — ©printed by W. H. Brady Co., Eau Claire, Wis.



Type 3 — No Credits
(This card Back is devoid of copyright bylines.)



Type 4 — Copyrighted W. H. Brady Co., Eau Claire, Wis.
This card has a very light green checkerboard around the perimeter of the card.
The text and checkerboard pattern are all in a light-green.
The light green ink is very difficult to read.



Type 5 — Copyrighted W. H. Brady Co., Eau Claire, Wis.
This card seems to be identical to the Type 4 Back, except it is printed with black ink.
The text and checkerboard pattern are all in black.
The card was most likely issued after the light green Type 4 card.
The added contrast of the black ink makes the card much easier to read.

Wrapper or Packaging Scheme?

There appears to be at least one wrapper design associated with the Commando-Ranger series. The wrapper shown below was sent to us by collector John Moran. The wrapper design and text leads us to several additional questions: (1) Which printing series was this wrapper from?; (2) Was the card issued with candy or gum … or anything?; (3) How was the House of Merrick, Oak Park, Illinois associated with the W. H. Brady Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin?; (5) Why were the titles different … Commando-Rangers vs Commando-Ranger? … etc. Maybe its time to contact the Oak Park Historical Association! Again thanks to John Moran for the scan.



"Commando-Rangers Wrapper

Image Guide

Strip No. 1 - Cards 1 to 7

Strip No. 2 - Cards 8 to 14

Strip No. 3 - Cards 15 to 21

Strip No. 4 - Cards 22 to 28

Strip No. 5 - Cards 29 to 35

Strip No. 6 - Cards 36 to 42

Strip No. 7 - Cards 43 to 49

Strip No. 8 - Cards 50 to 56

Strip No. 9 - Cards 57 to 63

Strip No. 10 - Cards 64 to 70

References

  1. John A. Shupek: Card images via the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.
  2. John Moran: Wrapper image from the Moran Collection
  3. Richard Lapoint: Card images from the Lapointe Collection




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