Vintage Detroit Tigers figural ashtray
 

I'm a collector of vintage pre-1950's Detroit Tigers memorabilia. I was excited to recently add this figural ashtray to my collection.

Would another collector happen to know the approx. time frame this was issued or any other information on it. I'm thinking the 1930's time frame?

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/sayheyki..._9969_0002.JPG
http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/sayheyki..._9970_0002.JPG

Great piece. I would agree 30's or 40's. Found one in a Hunt Auction.
http://www.huntauctions.com/phone/im...110&lot_num=51

I had seen the offering on eBay myself.. I think mid 30s It looks to be in great condition.

Albert

Very nice pick up and looks much better the sellers photos. I believe the signature has shown up on a few other chalkware figurals. A tough one for sure and could be from the early 40's. I believe the seller stated this came from an estate of a player in the Tigers organization and he had sa few other items from the person. One would assume this should date from the time he was active with the team. Congrats!!

Mine came from Ralph Winegarner who played in the 30's. I always assumed it was from the 30's.

Great piece. My snipe didn't go through and I'm sorry I missed it!

There is also an identical Pirates version, which is even neater, IMHO.

In retrospect am very sorry I let mine go about 15 years ago. I'd just started collectong figural baseball pieces, and never realized at the time that these would be so scarce. Seems like one turns up only every 8-10 years!

I was thinking late 30s - early 40s on the timing. Wonderful pickup, yet too bad about the snipe misfire, Mike. I switched to Gixen about 6 years ago, and have never missed a bid. All things considered, I'd like to have seen the real market value of this one!

Snipe? What's a snipe? :D

Great pick up!

I've been huntin' for 'em for years, but never managed to bag one of the wiley critters. Apparently they're about as elusive as one of these ashtrays! :(

Cool item. As one unfamiliar of this collecting area, I could see having one on display on my book shelf. And I don't smoke.

She Hey- I just noticed the Hunt Auction figural has a wooden baseball bat affixed to the ash tray but your piece does not. Clint's example appears to have some missing paint in the area where a bat would have been affixed suggesting it may have had a bat at some point. Your example looks as if a bat was never present showing no missing paint or chips. I am thinking maybe these were offered either with and without the bat or some vendor at the time decided to modify the piece and add this feature. Either way with or without the bat a rare piece. I wouldn't think the figural without the bat would impact value too much if at all, especially if added later on.

Was wondering the same about the Wood Bat...

The Bat looks like an "add-on" to the Hunt example, but the location of Clint's paint chips would indicate that a Bat once rested on his example as well.

More important question for Clint...

What the hell is that scary looking Head inbetween Chief Wahoo and the Cardinal? A decapitated Dizzy Dean? It looks like Sid from Toy Story got to that one :eek:

A friend of mine had this baseball head. It took me awhile to pry it from him. I believe it's a carnival figure, possibly a bank. I've never seen a complete example or even an incomplete one except for this head. Would love to find a whole one some day. The detail is amazing.

Here's a side view.

That's cool, Clint.... thanks for the close-up image. Very detailed and unique!

Is it, by chance hollow at the base of the neck? If so, it could be a Cane-topper... similar to the Jackie Robinson Heads that were made as Carnival Prizes. Really nifty!

I don't think it would be a cane topper as my mother had several of those and this is much bigger and heavier. Plus most of those are porcelain and this is chalk. I'm pretty sure it was part of a larger statue.

After purchasing the Figural ashtray I was contacted by another seller on Ebay. He indicated that he actually had a photograph of the ashtray (not the exact same one) in a child's Christmas photo. The photo is dated 1943, so it would have to made prior to that.

I agreed to purchase the photo from him.

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/sayheykid1954/DSC01426.JPG
http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/sayheykid1954/DSC01427.JPG

That is too cool! Interesting to see that one has the Bat.

I've sometimes bought early photos of Pennants displayed at people's houses and in the stands at stadiums. Few things as sweet as finding a vintage photo of a piece you own. :cool:

I was recently contacted by the grandson of the original sculpture on the Detroit Tigers figural piece. My buyer information was given to him by the seller.

He said that his grandfather was the sculptor of the piece and hand painted them himself. When completed he presented the Detroit Tigers front office with one. They told him to immediately stop making them, he wasn't sure exactly why. Because of that the grandfather said he believed he only made 4 of them.

He was surprised to see it on Ebay in the completed listings.

Surprising, and that number seems low. I think we've just about accounted for all 4 of them in this thread alone. :rolleyes:

Did he say if the Grandfather also sculpted the Pirates version? There is a virtually identical Pirates piece out there, but with a Pirate figural instead of a Tiger.

I can check with him on the Pirates version. Do you have a photo of it?

Nope- unfortunately not :(

Owned it over 10 years ago.

Today I didn't strike out at the antique show! :D

That's really nice. With a hang tag too.

Congrats. Gotta love the original tag. Wow.

Congrats on your super rare find!!!. Obviously the tag wasn't made for the piece but looks great on it.

Can you tell us the story of how you found it and what the seller said about it?

WOW!!!!! :eek: :D :eek: :D

speaking of ash trays
 

came across this in case anyone is interested, I know there are a few St Paul Saints collectors on here, have at it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1930s-St-Pau...gAAOSw23NZpJNy

Here is a front and back of the tag. The man I bought this from said the tag was on it when he bought it. He believed it was original to the piece and I had my doubts. The ashtray was sitting in the corner of an upper glass display cabinet and was one of the first things I spotted. He had some other various figurals but this one stood out to me pretty quickly. The antique show started at 9am yesterday morning. I got there about 12:45pm and luckily found this around 1pm. I was speed walking through the place too because I needed to pick my daughter up from school :)

Very nice.

Congrats!

Pretty sure the reference to a bread company pegs the tag as a bread tie. I have seen these for the cardinals on the thirties.

So, it's vintage but necessarily connected to the ashtray?

Yes... both pieces are vintage, but are completely unrelated.

It makes a nice companion piece, IMO.

Is it possible, as I don't know how the ashtray was made available back then, that it was some sort of Bread promotion? Mail in some bread tags/receipts and receive a free Tigers ashtray?

maybe someone will come forward who has the loaf of bread this came with.

Im guessing the sculpture numbered these as they were made. This one is #4

Very cool, Michael!

Two other members posted pictures of their ashtrays. I wonder which numbers they have, if any? I see both of them were here recently.

Mine doesn't have a number on bottom but has 1932 written on it.

Interesting info guys Thanks for sharing!

I wonder if they were made by a sculpture club/ art class etc

Haha. I do have the exact same 1934 wards bread tag for the champion cardinals somewhere...will post if I can track it down.

Thanks!!!
 

Happy to say I am the proud owner now of one of these Tiger ash trays. Big thanks to Michael for giving me the opportunity to purchase it. My only issue now is trying to decide what room to display it in.

It looks like it found the perfect home. Congrats!

Thanks for update Stephen!
Enjoy it. Looks like it belongs there:)

Echoing the previous two coments, it's a perfect fit!

Nice display, Stephen.

I really doubt it...

These are a bit more polished/professional looking than an art class or sculpture club could produce. I've seen at least 8 - 10 of these over the years, and they are all pretty uniform/identical in appearance. The biggest mystery is whether the wood bat once resided on all of them, or if some were simply made without it. Many (without the wood bat) have paint chips or pock marks exactly where the Bat would have rested.

There is also a Pittsburgh Pirates version that I used to have (with no wood bat). I sold it for way too cheap a price, and have never seen another one since then. Should've kept it, or at least photographed it I suppose, but didn't realize I'd never see another. :mad:

lots of stuff I wished I took pictures of or thought about getting DVD's made with stuff that went down the tube with a harddrive

Stephen,

Looks great in either area. You have some great items for display and this Tiger piece fits along nicely. Congrats on the pickup.

Stephen,
That looks awesome. Congrats! :)