Touring the World

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Picked this up on ebay<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/2701445150_ff1ce26f68.jpg"><br /><br />Anyone else have world tour photos or ephemera to post?

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Have had this for a while<br /><br /><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/133860706_5e0b8f502d_o.jpg">

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Posted By: <b>Aaron M.</b><p>Max, great pick-up. I've always liked the cover graphics on that booklet. You also got an enormous bargain (I think an instance of a seller not properly listing his item as a program). I've seen it sell for over $1,000 on major auction sites in the past. Great job!

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>Great pickup Max....I think Clint may be looking for one of those World Tour booklets. They made a stop in a small town in Kansas where I believe the ballpark still stands today with a sign memorializing the game. I've seen a few of those available just in the past 3-4 months (two on ebay and one in a Hunt's auction). I did not however see the one you picked up.<br /><br />Some day I would dearly love to find anything involving Spalding's World Tour stop in Nebraska in 1888.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Dan- I assume you have a copy of Palmer's Athletic Sports in America. Definitive book on the 1888 tour.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Palmer also wrote another book on the 1888 Tour. It's called: "Sights Around The World with the Base Ball Boys: Most Interesting Sketches of the Famous Sights of the World as They Were Seen By The Gay Travelers on the "Round The World" Tour of American BaseBall Players". I believe much of the text is reprinted from his 1888 book, and there are no beautiful colour photos.<br /><br />Here's a bookseller scan of the 1888 book (again from Between the covers)<br /><br /><img src="http://pictures.abebooks.com/BETWEENTHECOVERS/501661072.jpg"><br /><br />The edition pictured is the plain binding. There are at least two other types of bindings, and a salesman sample of the book (which is the coolest of all). I'll try and dig up a scan of the latter.<br /><br />The 1888 book is common. The on-line prices are high, but the book does show up on ebay regularly, selling in the $300 range.<br /><br />Max<br /><br /><br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Max- in the back of the 1889 Spalding Guide there is an ad for "Athletic Sports", with the plain cover version offered for $3.50 and the Morocco cover for $5.00. That is an enormous amount of money for that era, when the Guide itself could be purchased for a dime. It's clear the book was aimed at the wealthy, and it may explain why so many survived. Who would throw out such an expensive book?<br /><br />I am not aware of the salesman's sample you cited. Do you have a scan (or a description)?<br /><br />"Sights and Sounds...", which was published in 1893, is just a rehash of parts of the 1888 book. But it is clearly scarcer.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Here are images of Athletic Sports<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/2703935288_92b477c65c.jpg"><br /><br />Salesmen's sample<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2703113725_7b327c14b7.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/2703113857_38f49b8a16.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/2703936364_14f8595cdc.jpg"><br /><br />Max

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Barry<br /><br />I just used the Inflation Calculator and what cost $5.00 in 1888 would cost $114.01 in 2007. An expensive book indeed.<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Thanks for the images. So the salesman's sample used the fancy cover but was much thinner. Never saw one of those.<br /><br />I think the book was more expensive than even what you cited, based on cost of living. I would guess the typical worker only made about $10 a week in the late 1800's, so the book would equal half a week's pay. Nobody makes $228 a week today (I hope).

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Posted By: <b>George Dreher</b><p>Barry, I know an elderly woman who works 40 hrs per week at the local KMart and she brings home less than $228 per week after taxes and other mandatory payroll deductions.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>That is very sad indeed...and for every worker who takes home $200 a week, there's another hedge fund manager making a billion a year!

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Mr. Dorskind has just emailed to inform me that only two hedge fund managers are purported to be making a billion dollars a year. So I need to revise my post.<br /><br />Please change "hedge fund manager" to "any generally overpaid profession." <br /><br />Or change "a billion a year" to " alot of money." Thank you.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>Here's another world tour piece, this one by Ring Lardner. It has a suede-like cover<br /><br /><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/400791481_2e6fdfb1ab.jpg"><br /><br />Max

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Posted By: <b>Rob D.</b><p>Thanks for getting the thread back on track, Max.

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Yes, sorry for that digression.<br /><br />The Ring Lardner article is, I believe, only the second piece he ever got published. That fact is hyped in the rare book market.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>I'm still looking for Zanzibar, Barry <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Max- I know that is a comic reference to something, but unfortunately it went over my head.

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>I do not have Palmer's book Barry...Do you have one? I'm wondering if there is even any mention of the two games played in Nebraska? In the one game played in a small town in central Nebraska the grandstands collapsed.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>I'm not that funny Barry. I only managed to watch one season of Seinfeld before it drove me into nothingness (and not watching it)<br /><br />Zanzibar is Mr. Lardner's first published work in book form<br /><br /><img src="http://pictures.abebooks.com/PRINROW715/270034350.jpg"><br /><br />gently offered at $15,000 on the internet<br /><br />Ring Lardner -- 1st Edition 1st Printing -- FINE/NONE -- copy of Zanzibar: A Comic Opera in Two Acts. 8vo. Unpaginated, [28] pp. "Book by Harry Schmidt. Lyrics and Music by Ring Lardner." This fine copy is bound in the original gray paper wraps, lettered in gilt on the front wrap, and sewn with a single thin, red cord - a perfect match with Bruccoli and Layman's copy. Ring Lardner (March 6, 1885 - September 25, 1933) was born the youngest of nine children to the wealthiest couple in Niles, Michigan; he enjoyed his family's own baseball field, tennis court, and stable of horses - all surrounded by several acres of land. After years of homeschooling from his mother, Lena, and a private tutor, Lardner attended Niles High School from 1897-1901, where he began his career in song as a member of a quartet. He embarked on his literary career soon after, composing the class poem for his graduating class of 1901 - when he was only 16 years old. This poem, which found its way into the Niles Daily Star on June 14, 1901, was the young writer's first published work. With a high school diploma up his sleeve, Lardner moved to Chicago after graduation; giving up his job as an office lackey, though, he returned to Niles before the end of 1901. Even so, Lardner returned to Chicago in 1902 to enroll in the Armour Institute's engineering program. Unfortunately, he failed his classes, was kicked out of school, and once again returned to Niles in 1903. During this time, while we was performing trivial jobs for the Niles Gas Company and was only 18 years old, Lardner began working with the Niles American Minstrels. The comic opera "Zanzibar" was the resulting product. This two-act, heartwarming farce was performed at the Niles Opera House on April 14, 1903. In addition to composing the lyrics and music, Lardner played the role of Shylock - the young man who assumes the throne after being mistaken for the Sultan. Fred D. Cook, who was at that time the editor of the Niles Daily Star and sometimes performed small printing jobs on the newspaper's presses, published this comic opera, making "Zanzibar" Lardner's second piece of published work and his very first work to be published in book form. Lardner wouldn't publish anything else until four of his songs came off the press in 1910, the first being "Little Puff of Smoke, Goodnight". Lardner's second book wouldn't be published until March 3, 1914, when he and Edward Heeman collaborated on "The Home Coming" - a private publication that was not issued for sale. Though Lardner had been routinely contributing to "The Saturday Evening Post" since March 7, 1914, not until July 10, 1915, when "Bib Ballads" hit stores, did Lardner finally see his first regularly published book. Considering the small scale of Fred D. Cook's print jobs (having enough machinery for a town of only 4,000 people), it is safe to assume that the print run for "Zanzibar" was extremely small. According to Bruccoli and Layman, there is only one known copy: the personal copy of Ring W. Lardner, Jr., which they used to complete their bibliography. Needless to say, this book is exceedingly rare. This wonderful copy, purchased from Michigan bookman Don Allen over 30 years ago, has since remained in the possession of a private collector. Aside from some very light and scattered foxing, this book is in perfect condition - even better than the copy photographed for Bruccoli and Layman's bibliography. (Bruccoli & Layman A 1) Published by: Fred D. Cook, 1903. Bookseller

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Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Okay, I didn't know Zanzibar was his first work. Thank you.

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Posted By: <b>Clint</b><p>A little town in my home state secured a spot on the 1913-1914 World Tour. It, in my opinion was the greatest game ever played in Kansas. <br /><br />I've visited the tiny town of Blue Rapids, Kansas not expecting to find much. I was very surprised by the reaction of the town. Everyone knew of the event and was very knowlegeable of it. A particular bank practically shut down to show my father and I an original broadside from the game. They took us to a special room in the bank and let us take pictures of it. It was a spectacular piece that I'll show later when I find the pictures.<br /><br />The City Hall also had a showcase of original pictures and a couple of tickets from the event. They let me make copies of the pictures and I was lucky enough to find a couple of tickets myself. Pretty rare tickets considering only approximately 3000 were made.<br /><br />I've included this link which details the events of the day.<br /><a href="http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/BlueRapids/baseball.htm" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/BlueRapids/baseball.htm</a><br /><br />Clint<br /><br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217103081.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217103110.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217103145.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217103162.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217103215.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>Great stuff Clint! I've been through Blue Rapids many times driving right past that ballpark.<br /><br />Now why did the travelers eschew Nebraska??? They went from Ottumwa, IA up to Sioux City, IA then on down to Kansas. They could have easily made a stop in Omaha or Lincoln.

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Posted By: <b>Clint</b><p>Dan, you had to put up guarantee money to secure your spot. The newspaper accounts tell how much it was. I can't remember how much now. Blue Rapids had some investors who went together to get the game. The teams had a choice of either taking a percentage of the profits or a lump sum. This game they took the percentage.<br /><br />I'll try to dig out my other stuff when I get a chance.<br /><br />Clint

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Posted By: <b>Clint</b><p>Dan, I found my other information. You had to put up a $1000 dollar guarantee to get a spot on the tour. The teams then had the choice of either taking the $1000 or 80% of the gate. <br /><br />Sorry for the poor picture on the broadside. It really doesn't do it justice. It lists some of the players who were supposed to be on the tour. Joe Jackson is listed but didn't play. <br /><br />Clint<br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217172410.JPG"> <img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1217172484.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>Blue Rapids should consider doing a re-enactment of the game in 5 years for the 100th anniversary. I'd drive down there for that.

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Posted By: <b>Clint</b><p>Dan, check this site out. It would be cool to see a re-enactment of the game. I'd go too.<br /><a href="http://www.baseballinternational.com/worldtourpix.htm" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.baseballinternational.com/worldtourpix.htm</a><br /><br /><br />Clint

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Posted By: <b>Dan Bretta</b><p>I'll bet that wasn't cheap. I would give my left ... to go on a world baseball tour like that.

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Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>There is a recent book published on the tour<br /><br /><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SvGoHxOAL._SS500_.jpg">