What is this Gehrig item?

[Deertick]

Not sure if this helps: Note the lower left. It has a 49 in that design.
Sorry can't figure out how to make it bigger.

[william_9]

That's the Associated Press logo "AP". According to their website, that logo was in use beginning in 1981. http://www.ap.org/company/brand

[matty39]

This, I believe is an old letter press printing matte. This matte was secured in a form and molten lead was poured into the form. When cooled the solid lead block with the reverse image from the matte was placed in a form for printing. The reverse of the matte would then appear on the printed piece. Probably used in a newspaper. Very common in the pre-fifties

[thecatspajamas]

I think matty39 is right:

From the July 8, 1937 edition of the Indiana Evening Gazette

[LuckyLuke]

Would this be a rare piece...or a common piece of memorabilia? This article was reporting on the 1937 All-star game..does this fact make it more interesting?

[DHogan]

From what little I remeber from printing and typesetting in junior high, some letters and/or words were set backwards. So that when they were printed. They came out the way they are suppose to be read. My grandfather (God rest his soul) was a newspaper typesetter and pressman for a newspaper in Worcester Mass. They used heavy lead plates to print pictures and before he was forced to retire, they went to using plastic plates for printing press plates.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by matty39

This, I believe is an old letter press printing matte. This matte was secured in a form and molten lead was poured into the form. When cooled the solid lead block with the reverse image from the matte was placed in a form for printing. The reverse of the matte would then appear on the printed piece. Probably used in a newspaper. Very common in the pre-fifties

That's what I was thinking. It being cardboard made me think newer, I'd be surprised if a decent block would be had from melted lead going into cardboard. Some presses used rubber plates, but I don't know when that started.

Possible, I just looked it up and the rubber plate process was around from about 1900.

Steve B

[spec]

Originally Posted by steve B

That's what I was thinking. It being cardboard made me think newer, I'd be surprised if a decent block would be had from melted lead going into cardboard. Some presses used rubber plates, but I don't know when that started.

Possible, I just looked it up and the rubber plate process was around from about 1900.

Steve B

I believe Steve and Matty have nailed this. It looks like a portion of the stereotype that was used to make printing plates for rotary presses at major newspapers at least into the 1970s. As a longtime newspaperman, I remember sadly that the stereotypers were the first department rendered obsolete when the Boston papers adopted new technologies beginning sometime soon after 1972 (when the Record-American purchased the Herald-Traveler).As such, I'd call this piece ephemera, since it was intended to be thrown away or recycled.