Hassan Sign on eBay - Cobb/Mathewson

[Bridwell]

There was a large newspaper ad back in the 1910 era that pictured the Hassan sign and advertised the cigarettes. My wild guess is that someone took the newspaper ad, which had similar pastel colors, and glued it to a board or created a reproduction onto cardboard.

Ron R

[perezfan]

From Ohio, too...

[barrysloate]

Just look at the difference in color and clarity between the REA example and the one on ebay, and that should answer your question.

[perezfan]

* From Ohio
* No Return Policy
* Washed out colors
* All feedback listed as "private"
* Poor feedback rating

Just too many "red flags" to believe it could possibly be real...

[base_ball]

Somewhere I have the advertisement for the reproductions of this poster. This was about 10 years ago. They were of very high quality, came in several sizes (roughly proportional to the original 40x60), and were not cheap. Nice touch to fade/age the item to add to its "authenticity."

[GrayGhost]

As we say in autographs, a 100 pct fake, or forgery, or "reproduction" if you will.

[CarltonHendricks]

I emailed the seller to see if they had any more of the signs...turned out to be Rick from Pawn Stars...said he'd check with some guy named Kevin to see if he had any more from his grandfathers barn....

Seriously...nothing I've read here is concrete evidence one way or the other...a faded appearance doesn't necessarily mean anything. The newspaper ad Ron Price advised of is very enlightening, thanks. That seems like the only answer of where the white rectangular box that says "A Famous Play" would have originated from.

If it's fake, which I lean toward, it seems like a pretty ambitious project to make them...It's die cut so it would have had to have been made by a professional graphics outfit (China)...or someone would have to be very good with an exacto knife. Thanks also to Joseph for the info on the repros he's seen.

The seller's feedback isn't private..which would have been the kiss of death...and his 98.1% positive feedback isn't wholly incriminating...but the stuff he's been selling over the last 15 days looks a little fishy...like the Negro League broadside.

The fact it didn't get torn to shreds with conclusive evidence here is interesting in it's self...it's a jungle out there..be careful!