Dean Brothers Rice Stix Companion piece?

[bn2cardz]

A while back I picked up this photo. It appears to be a premium and it matches closely to the design of the Rice Stix products. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this item. I know this isn't a vintage card, but since my question is about its relation to some vintage cards I thought this was the appropriate section. Thank you.

Rice-Stix related image Dean Bros St. Louis Cardinals by andy neubert, on Flickr

Edit to add that it is approx 8x10

[Leon]

As a collector of Premiums that is what it looks like to me. Maybe there was a small stack no the counter and given out at the store, who knows? Neat item. If you ever want to sell I might be interested.....thanks for sharing.

[bn2cardz]

The reason I believe it was a premium is due to the gloss finish. If you look at the top left there is a bit of toning. That is actually where that gloss is starting to separate.

I do have a personal friend that is the curator of the St. Louis Cardinals Museum. He also authored the "Redbird Relics" book put out by the museum. When the book came out I asked him about this piece and he says he has never seen it. He said it became a very early marketing campaign using the "Me and Paul" slogan, so he thought it was interesting that if this was a premium it predated putting that slogan on it. Of note the shirt boxes that have the similar picture has the "Me and Paul" slogan on it. He really didn't know, though, if it was part of that or where it came from.

I was just hoping maybe another collector may have one, because it would be very strange for a single premium to exist still. I did buy this from Lew Lipset, but he didn't really have much information about it either.

[TexasLeaguer]

I have one too. I had never seen another. I also have a postcard with a similar image. I really don't know anything about them.

[bn2cardz]

Originally Posted by TexasLeaguer

I have one too. I had never seen another. I also have a postcard with a similar image. I really don't know anything about them.

That is great. I figured there had to be more out there, but I couldn't find any evidence of them. I had heard of the postcard, but hadn't done any research on finding one.