Mantle Dexter Press Postcard - RR Auctions
 

Anyone follow this auction? I was a bidder for a bit but quickly got outbid. I can’t see it in their completed listings, so not sure whether it was pulled or, if not, what it ultimately brought. It was a weird image, and the handwriting on the back reminded me of the Brace/Burke postcards. So had some questions about if. Would love to hear if anyone here got it or knows more about it.

Chris, I saw that auction too and was interested. I don’t know anything about the postcard but once it got $1500 or so I stopped watching since who knows the real story behind it...

I figured it would be on your radar. It’s an interesting piece but bizarre to me that it’s not showing up in the sold category. Makes me wonder if it was pulled and, if so, why. It’s a weird piece.

AustinMike, where are you? You had to have been watching...

Hey Chris, still in Austin enjoying the great winter weather! :p

But seriously, unfortunately, RR Auction isn't on my list of auctions to watch, so I totally missed the item. The only Dexter Press Mantle post cards that I am aware of are the ones from 1970 (with Joe D.) and 1971. These are fairly common so I'm pretty sure these are not what you're talking about. Now you have me very curious about what I missed.

Haha, I bet you are :). There are also the 1966 and 1967 portraits, and another postcard with a dexter press back that I am now blanking on but may have been one of the Holiday Inn Postcards (confirmed it is the black and white postcard). This one was an image from 1956 of him wrapping his leg before a game. It had a Dexter Press back and then had his name handwritten on the back with the date of the photo as was done with the Brace postcards.

Mantle
 

Here it is

Thanks! Did you by any chance get it or see whether it sold and for how much? I couldn’t find it in my bidding history or their completed sales.

Mantle
 

No idea if it sold
I'm not sure it's real

Dexter Press produced at least three Holiday Inn Postcards from the late 50's - 58 HI B&W, 59 HI Batting/kneeling, and 59 HI Marquee/Dining Room. Of course the dates could be off, that is just how PSA labels them. Two have the same font but the B&W is different as was the RR example. But who knows if the RR was legit...

Cached web address: https://webcache.googleusercontent.c...&ct=clnk&gl=us

An odd difference is that the HI examples have is that they all say color made by Dexter Press, West Nyack, NY and the RR example shows a location of Pearl River, NY. Pearl River was the original location of Dexter Press founded in 1928 from a quick google search. They moved to West Nyack in 1952. The question then would be is the image from 1951 or 52?
The RR example also mispelled "Genuine"...

I have the Portrait cards and Coca Cola premium cards, but since they're not post cards, I didn't mention them. :)

I have the first two post cards you mentioned (I'm not interested in the last one because it doesn't have Mantle's image on it), but had never looked at the backs close enough to notice they were produced by Dexter Press.

The "one cent" postage indication is interesting. Based on the following, it had to have been made prior to 1952.

[source: https://www.fortlewis.edu/finding_ai...ardDating.htm]

One easy way to approximate when a postcard was mailed if the cancellation date is unreadable is to know the changes in rates for mailing postcards. The following table comes from Historical statistics of the United States: colonial times to 1970, and Statistical abstract.

1872 1 cent
1917 2 cents
1919 1 cent *
1952 2 cents
1958 (August 1) 3 cents
1963 (January 7) 4 cents
1968 (January 7) 5 cents
1971 (May 16) 6 cents
1974 (March 2) 8 cents
1975 (September 14) 7 cents **
1975 (December 31 9 cents
1978 (May 29) 10 cents
1981 (March 22) 12 cents
1985 (February 17) 14 cents
1988 (April 3) 15 cents
1991 (February 3) 19 cents
1995 (January 1) 20 cents

*The postcard rate was increased from 1 cent to 2 cents as a wartime measure. When World War I ended at the end of 1918, the rate was lowered to its pre-War level of one cent. Allmer states (p. 17) that postage was raised briefly from 1 cent to 2 cents in 1917-1919 and in 1925-1928; the conclusive raise to 2 cents was in 1951.

**The U.S. Commission (Rate Board) over-estimated revenue needs in 1974 and was forced to reduce postage rate in 1975.

The postage rate for post cards went from one cent to two cents on January 1, 1952. In 1956 the postage that would have been required is two cents. So, unless the post card was erroneously printed requiring a one cent stamp, any reference to 1956 is wrong.

Mantle seriously hurt his knee in the 1951 World Series and obviously didn't play again until the 1952 season. That means the photo could be no earlier than 1952, well after the post card postage rate was raised to two cents. Which makes me agree with Larry. I'm not sure it's real.

Mike...good find about the price of postage.
Glad I backed out since it may or may not be "Geniune" :)

It is definitely “Geniune” Ben! Not sure it’s real either and glad others were suspicious. It’s an ugly image to use. I’ll email the auction and see what happened.