First December Pickups

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Posted By: Keith

Here are a couple of my recent pickups.

First an 1891 North Carolina Football player Cabinet photo; marked with a fraternity affiliation on back. Any other fraternity men on here? I was in Sigma Phi Epsilon in college.
Also it appears to me that the melon ball he is holding sports a very faint '90 on it.







Second, I had the pleasure of having a transaction with Bert Bell's son recently, and had a very long conversation with him on the phone. What a great guy with some amazing stories. He surprised me with the these two 1940's payroll checks of the Philadelphia Eagles, signed by Bert Bell.

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Posted By: Mike H

Neat little (3/4") pinback from a cereal company in the 40s and 50s

[IMG][/IMG]

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Posted By: Keith

Doh, called the photo 1901 rather than 1891; and for some reason I couldn't edit the post.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Very nice checks, Keith. Bell is a very typical case-in-point of an autograph being extremely rare until the family lets go of checks, documents, etc. Bell's signature was worth a lot of money at one point, but his son ended up selling a ton of signed material a few years back. Did he just give these to you? I really like the double-signed one you have depicted.

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Posted By: Joe

Keith,

Nice pic. I, too, was in Sig Ep - Buffalo State. I believe your guy's fraternity is Phi Gamma Delta, although my Greek is a bit rusty. Back in the day getting that wrong would've meant pushups - which I could actually stand to do now, come to think of it.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I won this today on an ebay live auction....I really did not think my bid would hold up and I completely forgot about the auction until a few minutes ago. It's a Honus Wagner decal bat.

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Posted By: Mike H

I missed that auction Dan. Great pick-up. Can you post the link please?

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Posted By: Keith

Great Bat Dan - nice pickup. Nice to meet a fellow Sig ep on here Joe. I went to Philadelphia University (Textile when I was there) You are right on the Phi Gamma Delta. I remember having to recite the Greek alphabet three times in the time it took for a match to burn out - ah fond pledging memories. Jodi, yes he did just give them to me after finding out I was an Eagles collector. He's a great guy and regailed (sp?) me with several stories about his dad during our phone call. As a thank you for the checks, I surprised him with an additional item he wasn't expecting. The bottom check mentions that it is for Advances to MacMurdo and Oneill for travel. I am pretty sure they were coaches in 1940, and MacMurdo was a player for the Birds in the late 30's.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Here's the link Mike...it came up in my daily search for "Baseball" in the other antiques category. Not sure too many people check that category.

http://tinyurl.com/ywe2nd

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Posted By: Mike H

how long is your bat Dan? Nice price imo

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I don't know Mike, it looks short to me, but I would guess it's at about 32". At least I hope it's that long. Still a good price though IMO.

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

Dan:

Congrats on a GREAT pickup! That Bat is sweet, and you really "stole" it at that price. Hard to believe the seller would not think to put "Honus Wagner" in the subject heading... I bet that omission cost him a few $$$.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I'm not sure the sellers even had a clue that it was a Honus Wagner bat. Or even if they know who Wagner was? This was the only baseball item in the entire auction.

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Posted By: Clint

Dan, great bat and a nice price also. Post some pics when you get it.

Clint

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Posted By: CHRIS DAVID

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Posted By: Keith

I have been trying to pickup one of these for years, and finally did in an auction last night. This pretty much completes my Eagles Kail collection. It is a 1960's Fred A Kail Eagles Stadium Ashtray.



Next is a 1907 U. of Penn vs Amherst Baseball program.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Just BINed this on ebay Thursday night and the seller just delivered it to me personally. c1980s Husker baseball jersey with a nice Big 8 tag on it.



edited to add: this is a gamer if it wasn't obvious...seller bought it from UNL's "garage sale" about 15 years ago.

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Posted By: Joann

I may have posted the Oval Cab in the past. I don't remember exactly. It's been awhile since I've picked anything up. But the oval is becoming one of my favorites. I like the TExtor too, but it is pretty banged up.


Check out the shoes.





Again with the inappropriate shoes. What is it with these gals playing in heels?




Not much to look at, but for $15 the price was right. It's not a PC, it's slightly bigger. Anyone from Ky familiar with the city or name?

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Posted By: Randall Adams

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Posted By: andy

1952 Stamp Book for the Junior Booster Club in Sacramento...

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Randall, ever figure out what issue that Van Oeyen pin is?

Andy, cool item...probably not easy to find with a full page of stamps.

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Posted By: andy

Hi Dan,
I would also think the stamps help it. Here's another with a few references to Edmonds field. I'm also adding another pic I thought you'd like.
-A

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Oooooooh. Thanks for the pic of the Stuart telegram...I'm drooling.

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Posted By: andy

I thought you might like that one. Here's two more pretty neat ones. There was also a letter from Branch Rickey inviting young minor leaguers to a camp.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Sweet. All of this came from Stuart's estate sale huh? Did you go or just your dad? btw. in case you weren't aware, Dick Wagner was the GM of the Lincoln baseball club at the time Stuart hit his 66 homers. He later went on to work in the Cincinnati Reds front office. He just passed away about a year ago.

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Posted By: andy

Hi Dan,
Not really an estate sale...just a private deal.
-A

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Went on a mini buying trip today to one of my favorite small towns and picked up a few cool items.

Stopped in the first antique shop and headed for my favorite booth and picked up this Lefty Grove glove...kinda smallish so I think it's a youth glove. Needs some help, but for $15 I wasn't going to leave it there.





Also picked up this niftly little paper doll from 1894 McLaughlin's Coffee...Never seen it before. She folds over. I had to buy about 20 other dolls just to get this one, but I'll sell the rest on ebay and easily make my money back.


Next stop I found a nifty Wahoo Main Street postcard which clearly shows a banner hanging over the street that says "Baseball Today". Wahoo is the home of Sam Crawford.


Also solved a mini mystery of mine as I've always wondered what year this Cornhusker baseball team photo is from...I found a 1930 Nebraska Yearbook and it contains the exact same photo with all the players named...coached by John "Choppy" Rhodes a Nebraska baseball and football legend. He also coached the U of Wyoming in Football and was on Dana X Bible's football coaching staff when he was at Nebraska. The photo is the 1929 team.

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Posted By: Mark

Nice pickups, Dan...

Looks like a successful little excursion you had. Condition is rough, as you say, but Lefty Grove endorsed gloves are very very tough.

Regarding the paper doll... she is adorable, and in great shape for one that old. But what is she holding... a catchers Mask? Very cool piece!

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

She is indeed holding a catcher's mask.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Forgot that I picked this nifty little gem up too...

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Posted By: andy

here's a pretty neat KH from the late 50's Eastern League. Either Tigers or Cubs affiliate.

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Posted By: Joann

Hey Dan,

Check this out. Not a recent pickup but might be from the same series as yours. I got if from the BST awhile ago.

A few things of interest:

At National this year Terry Knouse had a few of these - don't remember exactly but one was a basketball player, plus a few others. There is actually another piece to the ones he had. It was like a two-sided skirt or petticoat and top - something like that - and was a separate piece that slipped over the head. You could pull a tab and "lift" the skirt to see what was underneath.

So mine is definitely missing the top piece. The girl is clearly in underwear, while yours looks more like a full outfit itself. Somehow the top piece left the arms/hands, etc in the "right" position - didn't cover them up or whatever - so yours could maybe have had a top piece even though she is holding the mask. Mine is MacLaughlin and has an 1894 date on it.

Second thing that I just couldn't help but notice on mine - just a wierd little oddity. I was struck by how exacting my front and rear views were in terms of matching up the picture. Every flower, leaf, bat position, etc, is exactly correct from the front to the back - meaning consistent as to the front of a person and the same picture from the back.

Except her feet! Check it out: In the back view, the girl's right foot (and foot to the right in our view) is clearly forward. But in the front view, the forward foot is the girl's left foot (to the right in our view). So they went to really painstaking care to get each flower and leaf right, and then got the feet backwards! That means ... nothing, really. I just couldn't help but notice it.

Cool pieces, that's for sure.

Joann

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Below are three pickups for December so far, and probably this is it for the month. I did get one other very special item in Leland's which hasen't arrived yet, so will wait on that one.

Tennis Gal poster 26" tall x 20 1/5" wide framed


The Champion Tennis Shoe poster with the gal tennis player I got out of a James Julia auction. They had it in a grouped lot of five signs, so I had to bid on the whole lot to get it, click this this link http://www.jamesdjulia.net/atd/nov07/catalog_detail_shots.asp?Details=8043 to see the whole lot. I got them all for $345.00 including premuim, plus $68.00 shipping. I took a little chance and opted to ship them the cheapest way, ground with no insurance...as I couldn't, if it got broke, see filing a claim for one poster when the whoe lot went for $345...they'd pay me $60.00 if I was lucky. Julia did an excellant job packing them. On the back it says Copyright 1903 United States Rubber Co American Lithograph Company. Little creasing at the top, and a little hole in her dress, but pretty good over all condition, and already $framed$ I'm very pleased with it, and a buddy wants it whenever I want to move it.

Winslow's Skates poster 25" tall x 18" wide framed

I got the Winslow's Skates poster at a bottle show of all places, in Auburn Calif. in the Gold Country above Sacramento. Great show, biggest bottle show in Calif. Went to early entry day and a guy had a bunch of signs. Actually I posted about fifty photos of the show on my site if you want to see them, here's the link: http://sportsantiques.com/49erbottleshow12_07.htm Got the poster for $150.00...lotta bang for the buck! The gal has a hockey stick in front of her which I think is neat...I thnk Winslow's was the biggest skate company in the country at the time...made ice and roller skates. The background graphic is unusual in that it looks like wood paneling.

Gillies Coffee tin 4 3/8" tall x 5" wide






I got the mustard yellow Gilles Coffee tin with football graphics on eBay for $80.00. It's from around 1890, and very rare. I have a red one in better condition which you can see in the photo above with my other tins (old photo), which I got from John Buonaguidi for I think it was like $500.00...so $80 isn't bad. My red one has a lid, and the graphics are stained on this yellow one. Actually you can read more about the red one on my site, in this page link below, which I wrote back when I got it:
http://sportsantiques.com/whatsnewarchivepage.htm This yellow color is my favorite color tin. I was in Adamstown once and saw a c1880-90 sperm oil tin this color, with an illustration on the front of a bicycle rider coming right at you thru a wheel with spokes. It was the best thing I saw in the whole town, but wouldn't you know it...it was priced out of reason (I thought at the time anyway) at $1,200.00, and it was near mint!...but I was on my way to a National, and figured I'd need the money there....It was at South Side Antiques as I recall and the managment would'd let me take a photo which killed me! Anyway, back to this coffee tin...I had to take a shot of the dead spider inside...gives it that virgin just found in a barn feel. If you can believe it, the Gillies Coffee Company is still in buisness in Brooklyn!! and they have a website!!! http://www.gilliescoffee.com/ How's that for full circle? When I got the red one, the girl I was seeing at the time ordered some Italian Roast from them...it was good coffee!

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Couple snapshots of Babe Ruth playing golf in 1936

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Dan, nice snapshots of Ruth..where did you get them, what does somthing like that go for?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Carlton, I got them off of ebay for $19.99...I was the only one that bid. A real bargain at $10 apiece in my opinion, but there is not much interest in Ruth snapshots in which he is not in a baseball uniform. Not sure why, but that's okay with me as I'll pick them up every time at that price.

Fan taken snapshots are a favorite area of collecting for me:
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/nudan92/Hall%20Of%20Famer%20Photos/
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/nudan92/1937-41%20Brooklyn%20Dodgers%20Spring%20Photos/
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/nudan92/Minor%20League%20Snapshots/
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/nudan92/Vintage%20Baseball%20Snapshots/

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Great buy! I like photos that personalize a player, like that show them in a personal environment

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Great photos Carlton...do you know what the significance of the bat he's pointing to is? I wonder how many of those items on Gehrig's walls are accountable in collections today?

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Posted By: David Atkatz

Beautiful photos, Carlton!

(If you ever decide to part with any of them, please let me know.)

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Posted By: brock

If you are ever looking to sell one please contact me.

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Amigos, Sorry but I took photos of those photos at the 2006 National, in Hunt's booth. I'm not even a photo guy and I was taken with them. Actually I wrote a little about them which you can read in my 2006 National story on page 3 in the Hunt's booth coverage, click below:
http://sportsantiques.com/06natpage3.htm

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

I am stoked... my final purchase for 2007...

This rare depiction of the Brooklyn Bum has been on my Pennant want-list forever. This is one variation you simply NEVER see. I finally nailed it down at what I feel was a really good price.

Had to out-dual Dave B. (who currently appears to be on a pennant rampage) for this one. A bit unusual, in that these "confrontations" have been going the other way as of late!