Need help with sign and ball

[Vintagedeputy]

Hi everyone! Just found these items at an antique store. Can’t find any info on the Burdette sign except that it may be from around 1957. Possibly a window display piece? I found nothing in a quick internet search.

The ball is new in the box and marked AAA. The seller said that he has one at home that’s from an identical box that was opened, and it’s a AAA International League ball with the presidents name. I’m guessing 1960’s or so on that?

Anyone have any info for me about the sign or ball? Any thoughts on value?

[Hankphenom]

Both great. Looks like the sign was meant to be filled in for an event of some kind, related to apples, or perhaps stores where Snoboy apples were available.

[perezfan]

Wow! Very cool sign. Never seen one of those in many years of collecting. Must’ve been utilized for grocery store promo/display. Love the graphics!

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

Both great. Looks like the sign was meant to be filled in for an event of some kind, related to apples, or perhaps stores where Snoboy apples were available.

Originally Posted by perezfan

Wow! Very cool sign. Never seen one of those in many years of collecting. Must’ve been utilized for grocery store promo/display. Love the graphics!

Thanks, guys. I was surprised as heck to find it at an antique store anniversary sale. At first I thought it was a repop or a fantasy piece, but I couldn’t find any examples online.

Another collector put me onto this webpage today from the Washington apple folks. Looks like they celebrated their 20th anniversary in 1957 (Braves WS winning season) and they ran some magazine / newspaper ads with Burdette. This piece certainly must have been an in-store piece used to advertise apples where they’d write the price in that white box. I imagine that it was used in the Milwaukee area.

I was concerned about the “missing” section along the right side, but it appears to have been made that way upon examination. There’s a decent crease running across the middle from the missing part so it would stand to reason that it was made or utilized that way and the crease occurred during its display.

[Huck]

What are the dimensions of the sign?

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by Huck

What are the dimensions of the sign?

21 1/4 by 15 1/4

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

I was concerned about the “missing” section along the right side, but it appears to have been made that way upon examination. There’s a decent crease running across the middle from the missing part so it would stand to reason that it was made or utilized that way and the crease occurred during its display.

Quite possibly never used for it’s intended purpose. The corners are sharp and the white “void area” has no price written-in. It may have just gotten bent in transit, as these large signs are so susceptible to that sort of damage.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Quite possibly never used for it’s intended purpose. The corners are sharp and the white “void area” has no price written-in. It may have just gotten bent in transit, as these large signs are so susceptible to that sort of damage.

Very true.

In any case it’s simply gorgeous to me and I am very lucky to have found it. It just needs a frame and a wall now.

[Tony Baseballs]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

The ball is new in the box and marked AAA. The seller said that he has one at home that’s from an identical box that was opened, and it’s a AAA International League ball with the presidents name. I’m guessing 1960’s or so on that?

Anyone have any info for me about the sign or ball? Any thoughts on value?

Did he say who the president's name was on the ball? I have several International League balls from the '60s but none of them are Rawlings. I have seen those AAA boxes before and I've always been curious what ball was inside, I always assumed it was a generic model and not an official minor league ball.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by Tony Baseballs

Did he say who the president's name was on the ball? I have several International League balls from the '60s but none of them are Rawlings. I have seen those AAA boxes before and I've always been curious what ball was inside, I always assumed it was a generic model and not an official minor league ball.

He was an older gent. Said he couldn’t recall what the president’s name was but that his other ball came from an identical box and it was opened. I’ve done just a bit of research and I now feel that it’s not going to contain an vintage International League ball but I still don’t know what the AAA is about. He said that these all came from a former major leaguer’s estate / collection so I’m guessing that his other ball was really an IL ball that was just stuffed inside an extra box.