Show your Vintage Sports Pencil Boxes!

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
A few posts below this one is a thread I started about a vintage basketball pencil box I recently acquired. In my previous thread, Carlton posted an image of his football pencil box that appears to be from the same manufacturer. I am hoping that someone out there has a baseball box with the same look. Please post your vintage sports pencil boxes (maybe there are other sports in this "series" as well)! Please see my pencil box below and please also see Carlton's vintage football pencil box below that. Please also feel free to share any information about price, manufacturer, age, scarcity, etc.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@meditech.com
aelefson@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I don't own any pencil boxes, but there are three baseball design boxes that come up for sale quite regularly and sell in the $200-$400 range in decent condition.

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

Here is the only one I own... a bit different in that it is a figural turn-of-the-century Ring Bat. I have only seen one other, and it was demolished at the end. This is a well-made piece, in which the barrel end srews off (as the pics demonstrate).

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Here are some I shot at Nationals....the bicycle one and the three in one shot of track, and two tennis ones were offered by Glen Mechanick...always check out his booth, he always has killer stuff! I forgot I have one of those bat pencils too...I think maybe an enthusiastic fan wrote on it, not sure it was made with the Detroit on it.

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Posted By: Mike H

I really need to pick up one or two with baseball themes. Carlton, which booth was that last pick taken from?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

One thing I've noticed about these boxes is that they usually go for around $150-200 on ebay for a nice decent one, but in the auction house auctions they typically sell for $300+ pre-juice in the same condition.

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Mike, The last photo is of my own stuff

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Posted By: Mike H

Excellent! Then I'm sure you won't mind packaging up that Red Sox Whiskey bottle and sending it to me. We can discuss payment later.

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Posted By: 1880nonsports

have always collected theme mache/lacquer pencil boxes. Still sad I sold him my favorite non-baseball box showing an early wall sport similar to jai-alai. I have a few nice ones with civil war scenes but the sports ones are my favorites. Dan I have to take exception to the price range of 150. - 200. for these in any venue. While the price rise has not been as electric as many other estoteric issues - these with baseball theme (at least 4 different in the "set") sold in the 200.-300. range in the mid-1990's (essentially B4 eBay) at a show - or rarely in auction (typically an Oser/Quinn/Yesterday/Hunt/Whatever type auction) in the same range. I have only seen 3/4 of these come up on eBay (admittedly I no longer do a pencil box search) in the past 6 of 9 years & I haven't seen a single nice condition baseball box sell for less than 350.00 anywhere - and typically the price at least 100.00 higher. I don't doubt you if you say you've seen such prices - I don't have time to see everything and eBay is after all a wholesale market in many happenstances. If you can find 'em for 150. to 200. - I would buy nice ones @ 300.00+ from you all day long. The one with "carrying the bases" is IMO the best looking and most satisfying from a head-pleasing standpoint.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

The last two I've seen on ebay in the last 6 months both went for less than $200. I've seen many over the years and they almost always pop up under a search for "Antique Baseball" in all categories. Seems to be an item that antique dealers or everyday ebayers come up with more regularly than sports memorabilia dealers. There is one guy that does the regular antique show here in Lincoln that has one of the baseball themed ones...I think he's asking $350 for his. It's very nice though.

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Posted By: 1880nonsports

like I said in nice condition for under 300. is quite good. To the diligent searcher goes the rewards. Swear when I searched on eBay for them over 5/6 years worth - found just a few - only 1/2 in ex - never saw them nice for so little. Guess I'll have to add it back into my searches as 200. range a steal. I don't do categories and sellers either can't spell - don't know what they are made from - or don't know how to correctly list such a box so it will be seen by the most eyes.... These style pencil boxes were originally produced in the mid-1800's in Europe utilizing a technique learned from the Chinese perhaps(?) and continued on until the late 1800's where printing and manufacturing by machines relaced painting and hand manufacturing in the most general terms. I just like the graphics and that they are unusual. Never bothered to study up on them. Never saw a club for pencil box collectors but sure there must be one - there's one for people that collect potato chips that look like celebrities and people what collect pieces of barbed-wire. I hear there are even people that collect pictures of mostly dead baseball players on cardboard with outdated smoking advertisements on them... ugh....

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I probably shouldn't have written that I do a search for "antique baseball" in all categories....probably a lot of folks here already do anyway, but some great stuff turns up in that search on a fairly regular basis.

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

1880nonsport, You say you have some sports ones? Can we get some photos of them? Would be nice to see many different sports ones.

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

I'm sorry Mike, did I say that was my collection?...I meant I can't remember which booth ...hey check out these bottles Bussineau had:

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Posted By: Keith

Hey guys,

I recently picked up this pair of 19th century items, and I figured I show them in this thread rather than the pickup thread. They are a folding 1890s slate chalk board sewn with a leather binding that came with a really neat pencil/chalk box. The box is in the shape of a ring bat, that unscrews at the end, and it appears to be slightly different from those shown above. Inside the box are a ruler and an old chalk holder.

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Posted By: David Smith

Here is mine.



David

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Posted By: Rob D.

I'm taking some liberties here because this is more a pencil case than a pencil box, and it's not nearly as early a piece as others shown here. But I've always liked it because it has the original ruler and pencils, and I think the image on the reverse was a pretty cool idea and complements Rapid Robert on the front very nicely.

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Posted By: Mark

Very cool, Rob...

I've never seen that one, and imagine that not many survived as well as your pristine example. Can't believe it even has the original ruler and pencils! I love that Batter on the back side as well.