Quote:
Originally Posted by mjkm90
Where did all the figural pieces, pinbacks, advertising, etc go?!?!?!? He could have one of the auctions of the decade if he went that route.
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Greg is correct. Most of the truly high end material was sold privately, while some of the museum-quality material (especially photographs) was sold through a few Robert Edward and other auctions in the years
before the store actually closed. The HOF also bought some material directly. One thing to know is that the
collection actually belonged to two separate men: the original shopkeep and his long-time understudy who bought the store and was buying the collection piece-by-piece over at least its final seven-year period. I have no idea how it was divided between them, but there were singular pieces that have yet to appear in any public sale or auction.
The store owned, for example, one of the HUGE original 1939 "Cooperstown Baseball Centennial" wooden signs that were produced by the city for the HOF opening in the same year. The last owner once told me that it was probably the most valuable single piece in the collection, as fewer than four of the original signs were extant--and one of those was in the HOF. Could you imagine THAT in an REA? I am plagued by the question of who got the "Base Ball Today" horse-worn canvas sign that I lusted over for many years. The owner would never talk seriously about selling it.
It was very strange looking at the recently-completed Leland's auction and seeing some of my old items (e.g. the Adirondack bat rack and many of the early gloves) gone to new homes. A grim reminder that some of my particular contributions weren't exactly high end. None of the highest-quality items that I sorely regret selling or trading showed up in the Leland or any other auction I know about. Someone may have moved in quickly on them. There are many things I'd love to own again (but I suppose we all sing that song.)