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1935 National Chicle Football Stars – Football’s Holy Grail of Collecting
In 1935 the National Football League was still in its infancy. Having begun in 1922, the league
had only eight teams, and three of those teams would eventually change names or cities.
National Chicle was a chewing gum company at the time located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Their only venture into sports cards at the time had to do with baseball, but they felt there was
an opportunity to issue a football set. This really hadn’t been done up to that point, so they
created a “Football Stars” set—becoming known later as the National Chicle Football set. Each
card had a painted likeness of a player of the time in various action poses.
The Art deco style set of the time consisted of a total of 36 cards that were actually
released in two series. The first release consisted of 24 cards, and the second release
consisted of a paltry 12 cards. A total of 6 players in this set were Hall of Famers. These
included some of the biggest names of the era—including Knute Rockne and Bronco Nagurski.
Even the most casual sports fans have heard of the famous Knute Rockne. This Rockne card
was a tribute to his work at Notre Dame since he had passed away in 1931. All of these cards
are also considered the players rookie card except for the Rockne. His first card had been
issued in 1933 in a Sport Kings Set.
The Nagurski card (#34 which was released in the second series) is considered to be
one of the toughest finds in all of collecting. Basically, it is referred to as the “Honus Wagner
card of football”. The reason being that the second group of cards was distributed on a much
more limited basis. It is believed that the second series may have only been distributed in cities
that actually had a team at the time. The back of the card did state that there were a total of
240 different players that would share their football playing tips, but it is believed that National
Chicle either started to run out of money or saw sluggish sales, which brought a stop to the
cards after only 36. National Chicle was in the business to sell chewing gum after all, and this
new football league was only 13 years old at the time.
Other cards that are difficult to come by in any type of decent condition are the #1 Dutch
Clark and #36 Bernie Masterson cards. Many of these cards suffered the same fate as the
legendary 1952 Topps baseball card of Andy Pafko. Being at the front or back of a series is
tough. These cards were either marked up by rubber bands or stuffed in a pocket without any
protection from the other cards.
There have been three major finds of National Chicle cards since their original issue
in 1935. There was the Oklahoma City find and the Pennsylvania find back in the 1970s,
which even had some unopened packs to its credit. The third find was just recently from a
Pennsylvania family in which the son submitted a large amount of high grade cards including
the 1935 National Chicle cards. The Heaney collection as it has become known had 10
Nagurski cards in varying condition which the father, Jim Heaney, had amassed over his
Acquiring one of the most coveted cards in all of football card collecting is going to cost
plenty though. As I write this article there is only one listing on eBay for a Nagurski PSA VG-3
going for a cool $6,000. Good luck with putting all 36 cards together and happy collecting!
Written by: Kenneth Alcott
In 1935 the National Football League was still in its infancy. Having begun in 1922, the league
had only eight teams, and three of those teams would eventually change names or cities.
National Chicle was a chewing gum company at the time located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Their only venture into sports cards at the time had to do with baseball, but they felt there was
an opportunity to issue a football set. This really hadn’t been done up to that point, so they
created a “Football Stars” set—becoming known later as the National Chicle Football set. Each
card had a painted likeness of a player of the time in various action poses.
The Art deco style set of the time consisted of a total of 36 cards that were actually
released in two series. The first release consisted of 24 cards, and the second release
consisted of a paltry 12 cards. A total of 6 players in this set were Hall of Famers. These
included some of the biggest names of the era—including Knute Rockne and Bronco Nagurski.
Even the most casual sports fans have heard of the famous Knute Rockne. This Rockne card
was a tribute to his work at Notre Dame since he had passed away in 1931. All of these cards
are also considered the players rookie card except for the Rockne. His first card had been
issued in 1933 in a Sport Kings Set.
The Nagurski card (#34 which was released in the second series) is considered to be
one of the toughest finds in all of collecting. Basically, it is referred to as the “Honus Wagner
card of football”. The reason being that the second group of cards was distributed on a much
more limited basis. It is believed that the second series may have only been distributed in cities
that actually had a team at the time. The back of the card did state that there were a total of
240 different players that would share their football playing tips, but it is believed that National
Chicle either started to run out of money or saw sluggish sales, which brought a stop to the
cards after only 36. National Chicle was in the business to sell chewing gum after all, and this
new football league was only 13 years old at the time.
Other cards that are difficult to come by in any type of decent condition are the #1 Dutch
Clark and #36 Bernie Masterson cards. Many of these cards suffered the same fate as the
legendary 1952 Topps baseball card of Andy Pafko. Being at the front or back of a series is
tough. These cards were either marked up by rubber bands or stuffed in a pocket without any
protection from the other cards.
There have been three major finds of National Chicle cards since their original issue
in 1935. There was the Oklahoma City find and the Pennsylvania find back in the 1970s,
which even had some unopened packs to its credit. The third find was just recently from a
Pennsylvania family in which the son submitted a large amount of high grade cards including
the 1935 National Chicle cards. The Heaney collection as it has become known had 10
Nagurski cards in varying condition which the father, Jim Heaney, had amassed over his
Acquiring one of the most coveted cards in all of football card collecting is going to cost
plenty though. As I write this article there is only one listing on eBay for a Nagurski PSA VG-3
going for a cool $6,000. Good luck with putting all 36 cards together and happy collecting!
Written by: Kenneth Alcott
