Posted By:
Paul MuchinskyPaul,
This item is a most unusual collectible. Biologists classify things by "order" and "type" and so, to show the similarity among categories of living things. But even they got stumped with the oddest oddball among living things, the platypus. It simply didn't "fit" into any known classifications, so undaunted, they gave it a classification of its own (in Latin, of course), "sui generis"--a type unto itself. This ribbon defies classification. I don't know what it is, but I know what it is not. It never hung below a pin. Why? There is no "margin" at the top of the ribbon. If you attempt to insert it in the 3.5" pin of Wills of the same vintage, you wind up covering up a portion of the top of the ribbon. Bad idea. What is it made of? Woven silk. Ever seen one of those before in the hobby? I haven't. Outside of the hobby, what might it look like? The closest thing would be a high-grade bookmark. I have seen similar items of the same quality, but with religious symbolism, to be used as bookmark in reading the Bible. Wills was a fine ballplayer, but I would not elevate him to religious proportions. In conclusion, I utter the words that many "experts" are never heard to utter about anything they are asked to authenticate--"I don't know".
Paul M.