Indian Fever
A collection of postcards, pinbacks, pennants and whatever else seemed like a good idea
Van Patrick postcards
Click here to view a gallery of Van Patrick postcards
Of all of the team-issued Cleveland Indians postcards throughout the past 50-plus years, the Van Patricks of 1947 easily rank as my favorite — not to mention the most challenging to collect.
The easiest way to identify a Van Patrick postcard is by the printed message on the reverse:
Dear Fan:
Here's your autographed photo of ____ _____.
Cordially,
Van Patrick
Van Patrick was an Indians broadcaster, so the assumption is made that the postcards were mailed to fans who wrote Patrick requesting a player photo. Why a fan would think to send a broadcaster a request for a photo or postcard of a player isn't readily apparent to me.
A checklist compiled by postcard expert Dan Even lists 26 different postcards, with Bob Feller appearing in two different poses. All players in the Van Patrick series can be called at least "scarce," but for some reason Eddie Bockman almost always appears on collectors' want lists.
The names of the players I use in the gallery are how they appear on the postcard.