1880s John Clarkson-as-pitchman advertising piece

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Posted By: <b>Joseph</b><p>Until a Hunt's auction a few weeks ago, I was unaware of this piece. Lo and behold, the<br />item has turned up in the most recent offerings from both Mastro and Lelands! Amazing how that happens. The wheel is an advertising vehicle for a farming equipment company, it is segmented into eight wedges (both sides) and folds into one wedge that is shaped like a slice of pizza.<br /><br />One wedge depicts what appears to be an image of Hall of Famer John Clarkson, with the words "Positive Delivery". Some pitchman! I doubt Clarkson was paid for the use of his image, but what I'm wondering is...who WAS the earliest ballplayer to be used as an advertising pitchman??<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w150/base_ball2007/clarkson.gif">

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Posted By: <b>CarltonHendricks</b><p>The first piece that comes to mind is the 23 1/2" tall x 18" wide poster for E&J Brewery that featured Cap Anson and Buck Ewing. I found a photo on capanson.com, here's the link to the page where it can be found:<br /><a href="http://www.capanson.com/baseball_cards.html" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.capanson.com/baseball_cards.html</a><br />By the way, anyone know who has that site? It's great!<br />

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>I believe it's maintained by Howard Rosenberg, author of the 4 anson books featured on the site. Howard has occasionally posted on net54<br /><br />Max

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Posted By: <b>Andy Broome</b><p>I wonder what dates the piece to 1880's? If it is the same Walter A. Wood Company that I am thinking of, they opened in 1913.<br />Do you have the auction listing? <br /><br />Andy<br /><br />Edited to add I found that apparently there are two companies named Walter A. Wood. The later company, which is the one I am thinking of, is a machine supplies company, not a farming machine company. The farming machine company is much older.