Recently I found some interesting cards relating to American military men. These were included as a subset in the Topps Heritage product. It seems that there is alot of these inserted into the baseball sets and some non-sports sets.
Although the card below depicts Teddy Roosevelt - it is one of his fellow Rough Riders whose boot leather is displayed on the card- one such Maj. General Austin may have wore these in a charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. Austin was actually Captain of the 71st Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry entering the war. His wife was also related to President John Adams.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidf2qSvxzo7leZ3yJ90RjNvxUiqItSuQsUBhw5vdAlaI26MdAuGYCiXuDhNPny7YXJFFDt7HOA4NTZr7ciVngd7Wqy8WogPL1QYN8W0T295DqOYhtxyQhGXBYFAqyMahuNIh1lMd3SyoQf/s320/2009_American_Heritage-Farrington-boot.jpg)
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When I was growing up, I always wanted the cool G.I. Joe set with all the accessories - guns, rifles, granades, maps and, of course, a jeep.
What we could afford was the card set made by the Whitman Publishing Company in 1964. It was a good looking colorful set. The G.I. Joe card game was just one of many themed play sets made by Whitman.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3SruAcJ3NMq8rBm9WejBnXWaduDSfI3HHLiNg_rJgHCpJ2FpwUQdUpku0EV1uYR2LA7celhBNZ8foqt3Pk4-Ecb3LWghxnmip-LWPGdFhg0ZxtTq1iu9eilbRC_selUK6EgEkB5VICKC/s320/1965_GI_JOE.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVzb4jTmip1TKS6yJLpTKlhY5xfTYIgjE5zWlJ2f8xbtBUZrzNvZz5Jrs64QdWPu-kb4OUZqn9qt-EhnNa7qNybrMfm8zyUzs6Td9HPXLKf_D8LTgXqt_2-udzzTe0Obc7KOTY1oKWor0/s400/1965_GI_JOE-suites.jpg)
One of the drawbacks of today's issued sets is that they are aimed at strictly at adults. A little more play and a little less labor would be a good advice for the hobby.