Possible New Issue Discovered - Susmans Department Store

[Lucas00]

Hi Folks, I've had the pleasure of purchasing this photo/premium of Vinegar Bend Mizell. The autograph is Genuine and not a stamp. It measures about 3 1/4 by 5 1/2
The back is blank.

Listed below the photo It says:
Compliments of Susman's
1114 North Market St.
Furniture - Appliances - Jewelry - Sporting Goods - Toys

Whatever person/kid owned it did not like Susmans advertisment being there. And scribbled it out in blue pen.

The uniform Mizell is wearing is from the 1956 season where the Cardinals removed the birds on the bat and added a small sleeve patch of a bird holding a bat. His last season with the cards was only a few starts into 1960.

So that would date this photo/premium somewhere between 1956 and 1960 maybe 1961 at the very latest.

I scrubbed the internet and couldn't even find this release mentioned. Looked back through the history of net54 and the word Susman/Susmans or Susman's has never been mentioned before. The only thing I could find was an old newspaper ad for the store.

Has anyone ever seen another one of these before? Or heard of the release in general?

I'm going to simply Dub the Issue as "Susmans Department Store"
It makes the most sense to me.

Would love you alls input!

Thanks,
Lucas

[sflayank]

Great find

[Chris Counts]

There's a c. 1956 team-issued Cardinals postcard on eBay right now, and it looks almost identical. The only difference is that yours has an ad front and a blank back, and this one has an autograph front and a little bit of text on the back. The seller is calling it a 1953-55 postcard, but as you mentioned, Vinegar Bend is wearing the one-year 1956 jersey.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

There's a c. 1956 team-issued Cardinals postcard on eBay right now, and it looks almost identical. The only difference is that yours has an ad front and a blank back, and this one has an autograph front and a little bit of text on the back. The seller is calling it a 1953-55 postcard, but as you mentioned, Vinegar Bend is wearing the one-year 1956 jersey.

Chris, Saw that one. Definitely is the same image, but I believe they're a standard 4x6.

I wonder if the whole teams '56 pc was altered with branding and used as a premium by susmans. Or if it was just Bends.

[doug.goodman]

Congrats, very cool find.

[nolemmings]

Looks like it may have been an in-store promotional giveaway. This is from
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; 05 Dec 1956, Wed · Page 47

[nolemmings]

And this one from the same paper 11/25/1956, p.21


plus another from 12/16/56:


I found similar ads from December 2 and 7, but I think you get the idea.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Looks like it may have been an in-store promotional giveaway. This is from
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; 05 Dec 1956, Wed · Page 47

WOW! Amazing Detective Work Todd. That is seriously amazing. Thank you for sharing!!
Would love to see one of Kenny, and it looks like Don Joined in for the fun a bit later on as well. Just awesome.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Wonder what toy Ken Boyer would have suggested?

[Directly]

I will see a dealer next month setup for a sport card show he owned a furniture in the city, during the 1960's-being a long time collector he might be familiar with the issue.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Directly

I will see a dealer next month setup for a sport card show he owned a furniture in the city, during the 1960's-being a long time collector he might be familiar with the issue.

That sounds like a good lead. Please Keep me posted.

[Vintagedeputy]

I was just about to offer a guess when I read Todd’s post with the player appearance. I was going to suggest that it was something specially printed for the store for players to autograph during an appearance.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by sflayank

Great find

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Congrats, very cool find.

Thanks fellas!

[abothebear]

Great find! And great probable mystery solving. This has been a satisfying thread to read.

[ClementeFanOh]

Agreement with Abothebear, well done by all! Trent King

[Lucas00]

Thanks again for the nice words!

Have had quite a few folks reach out to me interested in this piece. I still have it, and haven't decided I want to let it go. This isn't a bst post but what would interest me the most would be something of my player pc, Red Schoendienst. If anyone runs across this and has something scarce of Red I would love to talk 😊.

[Lucas00]

Got this issue added to tcdb 😁

https://www.tcdb.com/ViewSet.cfm/sid...nals-Postcards

[Casey2296]

Congrats Lucas,nice job getting it added.

On another note, why don't ball players have cool names like "Vinegar Bend" anymore.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Congrats Lucas,nice job getting it added.

On another note, why don't ball players have cool names like "Vinegar Bend" anymore.

Because their agents probably conduct comprehensive marketing research on any potential nicknames...and these days, most "cool" names would offend at least one survey respondent.

[dbrown]

I did a little searching and found this image of the Ken Boyer from Susman's, on worthpoint. Not the same typography/layout as Bell, so is it the same issue?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...als-1763560361

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by dbrown

I did a little searching and found this image of the Ken Boyer from Susman's, on worthpoint. Not the same typography/layout as Bell, so is it the same issue?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...als-1763560361

Really good detective work, this design is definitely later and is changed. Looks like they dropped the sporting goods and put the address at the bottom. The Mizell is a modified 1956 cardinals team issue. Kenny looks early 60s? Not exactly sure. I think with most that will be found, they will probably always be autographed to the kids they were helping.