Hi-
I am a frequent attendee of antique paper and ephemera shows. At these shows, this style of stamp is known as a "poster stamp". Within the poster stamp world, this is considered to be Ruth because of a contract that is signed by Ruth with the Youth Companion magazine. Supposedly, this contract is at the baseball hall of fame. I have heard this from multiple poster stamp dealers. Interestingly, these can be had in beautiful condition at paper shows for less than 100.00, and usually less than 50.00, so the identification of Ruth does not mean much to these dealers.
I have two, one in my Red Sox collection for Marquard and the other in my Hall of Fame collection (also Marquard). One I found in a scrapbook, but the other (in really nice shape) I got for 40.00 at the Hartford paper show about a year and a half ago.
I have never seen the contract, and for all I know it could have been for something that was not produced. I only want to clarify why at least some dealers label it as Ruth.
Alan
|