SOLD!
1910's Beer Bottle from the Tavern Belonging to Babe Ruth's Father.
When the first representation of this exceedingly rare bottle hit the auction block in 1999 it was touted as the only known example, and realized over $5,000. The tremendous response sent collectors scrambling to find another specimen, and sure enough, a second and third were located. Only a handful of others have come to market since.
Offered here is a bottle from the Baltimore tavern that once stood on the current site of Camden Yards' center field, where the Babe tended bar as a young man during the off-seasons of his Boston Red Sox years. The ancient glass still holds the residue of father Ruth's brew, and bears the lettering "Staten Island Bottling Company, George Ruth's Prop'r, Trademark Registered, Baltimore, MD,
This Bottle is Registered, Not to be Sold." It's a piece sure to thrill the cultured Ruth collector who appreciates the Babe's early Baltimore history, and the difficult relationship he had with his father that caused him to spend his formative years at St. Mary's Industrial School rather than in the home of his parents.
There is however debate by vintage bottle collectors as to whether these examples were actually from George Ruth's Tavern or another George Ruth from that time frame, none-the-less a tremendous conversation piece at the fraction of major auction houses prices. And one still sold at Heritage auction in 2005 for $1553.50 !!!!!!!! even with that debate disclaimer.
http://sports.ha.com/c/search-result...be+ruth+bottle
AN AMAZING ADDITION TO ANY RUTH OR BASEBALL MEMORABILIA COLLECTION