Frankford Yellow Jackets - Major Score???

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Okay...I have to catch my breath because my brother just brought me some stuff he got today that belonged at one time to Ed Weir who was a part of the first College Football Hall of Fame class and also a member/coach of the famed Frankfort Yellow Jackets...I just want to show a few of the items and then maybe ask someone more knowledgeable if they can tell me the about rarity of NFL contracts and Frankford Yellow Jackets items. Ed Weir is a legend in Nebraska football history...I'm still trying to catch my breath.

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Posted By: Max Weder

Dan

It's football. You can catch your breath


(cool stuff, nonetheless)

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Max, I am born and bred Cornhusker Red.

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Posted By: Keith

Great find. I collect FYJ stuff and it is hard to come by. Especially this kind of stuff, the only thing that you see on occassion are programs and even those are scarce. If you every decide to move it, let me know, this stuff is right up my alley. (ps I would love to see the rest of the stuff_

Keith

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Posted By: Alan

Dan -

WOW !!!!
That is impressive !!!

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Posted By: Joseph

A great find... and it's BASEBALL, too!

Page 2 of the wonderful letter contains reference to Cal Hubbard, pro & college football HOF and seminal major league umpire. Simply fantastic!

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Posted By: ErlandStevens

Both of these items are on eBay. Are you the seller?

Here's a link to the letter...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320151313197&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=011

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Yes, I am selling them for my brother...I should have mentioned that, but this is not the appropriate forum for listing or advertising ebay auctions...my brother is letting me keep one of the letterheads. There is another contract that may go on ebay or it may be sold to a local college football collector...there are also a few more letterheads, but I don't know if they will go to ebay either. I was hoping to get input into the history of these types of items and I got a lot of help and advice through email. I don't mind that people emailed me about it and I am very grateful, but I wonder why people don't like to post here. I had no ulterior motive in posting these as I don't even know a single collector who is a regular poster that collects NFL memorabilia...I was just excited about this stuff and it just fell into my brother's lap yesterday out of the blue. If it were mine I'm not sure I could part with it... Unless you are from Nebraska or collect vintage Nebraska football items you just don't know how big of a star Ed Weir is in that circle.

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Posted By: Max Weder

Dan

I don't think anyone on the memorabilia board should get fussed if people specifically plug their auctions or post their wants [basball books, Vancouver and Western Canada cards, photos, ephmera--oh wait did I just say that? ]. This was discussed when this forum started.

They're kept off the main board, as it tends to be too hard to follow and creates clutter, but half the posts there are either solicitation for wants or hyping a future sale in a subtle manner.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Max

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Posted By: ErlandStevens

I wasn't trying to stir up trouble by pointing out the eBay listings. I'm not a frequent poster, and I don't know everyone's eBay IDs.

I collect samples of team letterhead, and your listing certainly caught my eye. In the past year one (maybe two) Frankford Yellow Jackets letters have been on eBay. I didn't record the closing price for some reason. Prices can really vary. For example, in the past year two Oorang Indians letters have been listed (like the one that Leon has on his site). One went for $412 (02/16/07) and the other went for $61 (05/06/07)! I didn't note any condition/content differences. Frankford doesn't have the Thorpe clout like the Oorang sample, but NFL material so early is scarce.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Erland, you by chance didn't bid on that Nebraska Indians letterhead that was on ebay about two years ago did you? That one ended up going for $700+ with me as the underbidder...I only bid that high because I didn't think I'd ever see another one and was surprised that someone else wanted it as badly as me. I sure wish I knew who has that one now.

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Posted By: ErlandStevens

Dan, I do remember the Nebraska Indians letter, but $700 is way out of my league. I don't think I even bothered bidding on it. I knew I wouldn't be able to even sniff that letter because of the Native American link. Native American and Negro League (with affiliated minor leagues) letters leave me in the dust every time. One exception - a 1942 Winston-Salem Pond Giants letter.

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Posted By: andy

Hi Dan,
I couldn't resist throwing this one up for you. An African American on an early Husker squad....

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Very nice Andy...where did you come up with that one? There was a bunch of that kind of stuff in Mastro a couple of years ago that all came from a local guy who used to own one of the coolest restaurants you will ever see. It was called Bob's Gridiron Grill and it was packed full of Husker memorabilia going all the way back to the 1890s...it was like eating in a museum.

I may have to figure out a way to talk you out of that pinback along with those Omaha Robin Hood photos that belong to your dad.

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Posted By: andy

I hate to tell you this but it was about 10 bucks at an antique shop a few years back. Actually, I guess that's a good thing - it's still possible to stumble upon neat items out there. By the way, you'll have better luck getting this pin than those Robin Hood's (assuming that i have any say in the matter -

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Ha! I'm trying to figure out who the African American player is on that pinback. The first African American to play at Nebraska was George Flippen, but I'm pretty sure that he was gone by 1904. If I figure it out I'll let you know...I know that Nebraska was one of the first schools to integrate, but some teams refused to play them and I think it was somewhere around 1910 that Nebraska excluded blacks from playing on the team until I think about the 1940s or maybe even a little later than that. Gayle Sayers who is from Omaha went to Kansas because of what he called a racial inequality at Nebraska.

That a huge score for $10.

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Posted By: andy

i corresponded with someone about a year ago who knew this player and his story. i have to leave for a while but when i get back i'll dig in to my old emails. in the meantime, here's the postcard that he sent me to confirm it was Nebraska...

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I thought that image looked familiar. At Huskers.com there are no African Americans in the team photo for 1904, but there are for 1905.

http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=4&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&KEY=&Q_SEASON=1905