Mrs. Sherlocks Pins

[ksfarmboy]

Not sure if it is well known how these buttons were distributed and why. I ran onto to this yesterday while leafing through and old ball players scrap book. He (Ralph Winegarner) was included in this set. Thought it might be of interest to some of you.

[springpin]

Clint,

Fantastic historical piece! It is VERY rare to ever find anything about the origin of old sets. This was from 1933, the heart of the Great Depression.
Thanks for sharing.

Paul

[Scott Garner]

Hi Clint,
This is very cool! I never knew that was the back story.
I have a Monte Pearson pinback from this set when he was a Toledo Mud Hen. Monte Pearson went on to pitch the very 1st no-hitter at Yankee Stadium in 1938.

[ksfarmboy]

Glad you guys find it as interesting as I do. I don't have your book Paul so I wasn't sure whether you had seen this or not. Kind of neat it came from one of the players featured in the set too.

[springpin]

Clint,

There is an uncanny analogue between the Mud Hen pins and the Jackie Robinson/Brooklyn Eagle pin. To the best of my knowledge there is no surviving Robinson pin with the letter "R" on it, because they could be redeemed for a baseball autographed by Robinson. These Mud Hen pins came in a loaf of bread, and could be redeemed for a ticker to a Mud Hens game. This set is not extremely scarce. I wonder if shoppers saved the pins instead of trading them in for tickets, or if after the season the Mud Hens front office decided to sell them or give them to fans instead of destroying them.

This set is one of four from the same era. The same bread company sponsored all of them. This first set was made in 1920 for the Toledo team, the second was made in 1922 for the Toledo team again, the third set was made in 1924 and featured MLB stars of the day, and this fourth set was from 1933. Your discovery provides the only known explanation for how at least one of these sets were distributed. I wonder if the other three sets were distributed in the same way. The three minor league sets typically sell for around $400 each. The MLB set typically sells for over $2,000. If the method of distribution was the same for all four sets, and the production runs were comparable, the higher price for the MLB set would not be based on differential supply. Additionally, the MLB set contains the fewest pins (10).

Is your scrap book item a page from a newspaper, or is there printing only on one side? As you can tell, it got my interest.

[sayhey24]

Clint,

That is terrific -- I absolutely love companion pieces like that. Great discovery!

Greg

[ksfarmboy]

Thanks Greg I'm glad this is new information. It's always nice to know the history behind our collectibles.

Paul from what I could tell it wasn't from a newspaper. I stopped to look at it closer as I thought the same thing. It might have been an insert to a newspaper though. I assumed it might have been a preliminary item given to Winegarner. It's thin paper stock.

I do not own this page from the scrapbook but did obtain several that were related to Kansas. I could probably get this page for you if you are interested in owning it.

[springpin]

Clint,

The real value of the paper is the critical information revealed by it. I don't collect paper items, but this is a real gem from a historical perspective. I have been reading old newspapers on microfiche to learn about information that helps me solve some pinback mysteries. The fact that your paper is NOT from a newspaper makes it all the more miraculous that you have it. Newspaper inserts do not get entered into microfiche. Here is a rare case of the pins being more plentiful than the insert that explains their origin. It is likely the only surviving specimen. Thank you for the offer, nonetheless. It would make for a fabulous display if matted and framed with the corresponding set of pins.

Thanks again for sharing this amazing find.

Paul