1979 “Airplanes” (F180)
By: John A. Shupek (skytamer.com)

• Series Title: Airplanes
• American Card Catalog number: F180
• Issued by: Esskay Meat Products
• Issued with: Esskay Meat Products
• Country: USA
• Number of Cards: 20
• Card Numbering: unnumbered
• Type of Card: Mail Order or Point of Sale Premiums (unconfirmed)
• Card Dimensions: 64 × 89 mm
• Circa: 1979
• Checklist: Download Checklist

Overview — A Little History About Esskay Meat Products, Baltimore, Maryland ^1,2,3,4

The company was founded in 1858 by German immigrant William Schluderberg. William and his brothers Conrad and George all purchased land in Highlandtown to open butcher shops. William's company name was the Schluderberg Meatpacking Co. Esskay Meats was a meat based company, located in Baltimore, MD. They specializing in hot dogs, sausages, and ham. The company has its roots in a 1919 merger between the separate meat packing concerns of William Schluderberg and Thomas J. Kurdle. The resulting entity was initially known as the Schluderberg-Kurdle Co., but soon became popularly known as “Esskay”, based on the phonetic pronunciation of the founders' paired initials … S and K, which as late as 1966 was still slaughtering its own cattle, and promoting its products through the slogan “Taste the difference Ka-wality makes!” Esskay's main meat packing plant was located in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood at 3800 E. Baltimore Street until 1993. Esskay was a trade name for the company's products. Its corporation name was amended to Esskay, Inc. on January 17, 1989. It was acquired by Smithfield Foods in 1985 and today is an Independent Operating Division of Gwaltney and Smithfield Packing. Its Baltimore plant was closed in 1993, because its structure would not be strong enough to support 10-ton ham-boiling machines the company was planning add to its operations.

1979 Esskay Meat Products “Airplanes” (F180) Overview

During 1979, Esskay Meat Products of Baltimore, Maryland, issued a 20-card set of “Airplanes” trading cards that were available via their Esskay Meat Products. These cards were issued in sets of four in unique envelopes that listed it's contents. It is likely that these cards were either mail order or point of purchase premiums, as the product would have likely resulted in significant staining if included with the product. The artwork and relative scarcity of these cards makes them one of the more desirable food issues of the 1970s. The cards measure 64 × 89 mm, and are assigned the American Cards Catalog reference number F180.

The fronts of the 1979 “Airplanes” cards feature color artwork of the subject aircraft surrounded by a thick black rectangular border. A thin white margin surrounds the rectangular border. The title of the card is denoted with bold “Old English” font lettering. The Backs of the cards are printed with black ink on white stock and consists of three vertical elements: (1) the card title, (2) descriptive text, and (3) the Esskay logo.

The following reference card shows the fronts and Backs of a typical 1979 “Airplanes” (F180) card. Click on the card images to reveal full-size computer enhanced 600-dpi images of the card.

1979 Esskay Meat Products “Airplanes” (F180) Image-Guide

The following 1979 “Airplanes” (F180) 20-card set by Esskay Meat Products, USA, Image-Guide shows computer enhanced images of the fronts and Backs of the 20 cards in the F180 set. Behind each thumbnail image is a 600-dpi computer enhanced card image that you may access. In addition, directly beneath the Image Guide, in tabular form, are links to the original scans used for this series.

1979 “Airplanes” (F180) Checklist

We have provide two versions of the 1979 “Airplanes” (F180) 20-card set issued by Esskay Meat Products, USA. An 8½ × 11 inch PDF version, and the web version shown below. Click on the PDF graphic below to access the PDF version.

Contributors

John Shupek — John is retired Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineer that lives in Southern California. John's 36 year aerospace career/adventure started in the mid-1960s when he worked for Pratt & Whitney at their “FRDC” … Florida Research and Development Center, West Palm Beach, Florida. John was part of the P&W jet engine design team for the CIA/USAF's Lockheed A-12/SR-71A “Oxcart/Blackbird” engines (J58/JT11D-20). He also worked on the RL-10 rocket engine and the JTF-17A which was P&W's entry into the United States' SST competition between Boeing and Lockheed. Several years later, John moved Back to California and worked at the AiResearch Mfg. Company at LAX and Torrance. He originally worked on the thermal design of the HRE (Hypersonic Ramjet Engine) which was a supersonic combustion Mach 7 ramjet engine that was to be tested on the North American X-15. John did about three more years of jet engine design work before he disappeared for 13 years into the classified DOE “GCEP” (Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Plant) Atomic Energy program for the enrichment of U₂₃₅. After the GCEP program was cancelled by the DOE in 1985, John was hired by Northrop Aircraft to do the thermal design for Northrop's entry into the ATF (Advanced Tactical Fighter) competition, the Northrop YF-23A “Black Widow II” stealth supercruise fighter. He also worked on the Northrop Grumman B-2A “Spirit” stealth bomber. After several years on a classified stealth missile program, John worked the remainder of his Aerospace career as one of Northrop Grumman's Program Directors on the United States Navy's F/A-18E/F “Super Hornet” jet fighter program.

During John's career at Northrop Grumman he served for five years as Northrop's “Vintage Aircraft Club” Commissioner and the Curator and Webmaster for the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, California. Several years later, John was the volunteer webmaster (for about 3 years) for the Yanks Air Museum, Chino, California. He also served as President and webmaster for two different NPO's after his retirement. The Whittier Historical Society & Museum and Whittier Meals on Wheels.

John's love of aviation history and aviation photography lead to the establishment of this Skytamer.com website in 1998. The Skytamer.com site has continued to expand and will always grow and will never be completed. It's sort of analogous to a snowball rolling down a hill without any trees to stop it. In approximately 2002, John remembered that he had collected Topps “Wings” (ACC# R707-4) airplane trading cards while in High School. Somehow the cards had disappeared over the years. So at this point, he started to re-collect airplane trading cards via eBay and become an airplane card “Image Collector” rather than a “Card Collector” per se. After John scans an airplane card for the website, he has no further use for it and he puts it Back into circulation via eBay. John's mission statement for the Skytamer.com is basically to restore and preserve high-quality card images/artwork associated with the various airplane card sets from the early 1900s to the present. These cards are wonderful historical “snapshots” into aviation history showing which aviation events and aircraft were important at that point in time. For the Skytamer.com website, basically if it is a trading card collection that features things that fly, but doesn't have feathers, it eligible for the consideration on the Skytamer.com website. John always welcome inputs and high resolution scans (600-dpi) that can be used on this website. John can be reached via the “Contact Us” navigation button on the left.

References

1. Esskay Meats History
2. Esskay Meats
3. Baltimore Highlands
4. Esskay Logo
5. Burdick, J. R. "Exhibit Series." The American Card Catalog. East Stroudsburg, PA: Kistler Printing, 1960. 184-85. Print.
6. Watson, James C., M.D. "Airplanes." Non-Sports Bible (NSB). Vol. I. Chelsea, MI: Sheridan, 2007. 43. Print.
7. Shupek, John A. "Airplanes (F180) Esskay Meat Products." The Skytamer Archive (600-dpi Image Scans). Skytamer Images, Whittier, CA, 2014. Digital Image Database.