The Earliest Baseball Card Auctions

[Leon]

Rob Lifson (hi Rob) knows I collect old hobby periodicals, letters etc.... He was nice enough to send me these very early, if not earliest, baseball card auctions. There were other cards too, obviously, but our baseball cards are there...
Thanks again, Rob!!

[NiceDocter]

Maybe this was the inspiration for Rob and his starting bids in the REA auctions.... LOL..... wouldnt you have loved to get a peek at some of those lots??? Of course it was WW2 and money was hard to come by..... great piece of history!

[GasHouseGang]

I think that is the earliest auction of cards I've seen. Great stuff Leon. Thanks for posting it.

[Jay Wolt]

Leon thanks for posting it

Love lots #49 & 50 Baseball Gold Edge & white edge,
too only go back in time!

[Leon]

Another from the same find. There were 3 total. I will post the other later...

[NiceDocter]

Are those first 2 lots Allen and Ginter sports???? Wow…. I want to hop in my DeLorean and take a quick trip back!!!

[Lucas00]

#89,#90,#91 for the folks looking for the baseball.

[Leon]

Well, I thought these were exciting because I love the history of the hobby. Here is the last of the first auctions, of baseball cards..
Thanks again to Rob L. for sending, and allowing me to share them with the forum...

[trdcrdkid]

Great stuff, Leon! Back in 2017 I posted the Card Collector's Bulletin articles about these auctions, including the prices realized. These are the actual auction catalogs, which I do not have, so it's great to see them to complement the articles. Here is my post on the Colkitt auction from 1943 (the second one you posted) and the Phillipp auction from 1944 (the first one you posted):

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=239891

Here is my post about the third through seventh auctions, from 1944-45. The third auction was the last one to have the auction catalog on a separate sheet, shown in Leon's post. Starting with the fourth auction, the catalog was printed in Card Collector's Bulletin, so I included those in the post below. Burdick and Bray also posted prices realized in CCB, and I've included those where I have them.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=240726

[Leon]

Those were really good threads, David. Great rabbit holes for members interested in the history of the hobby. Thanks for pointing them out. I am forgetful and didn't remember them offhand.
You are the hobby historian extraordinaire of the forum .
And I am glad we got to see the actual auctions themselves. Thanks again to Rob L. for those.

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Great stuff, Leon! Back in 2017 I posted the Card Collector's Bulletin articles about these auctions, including the prices realized. These are the actual auction catalogs, which I do not have, so it's great to see them to complement the articles. Here is my post on the Colkitt auction from 1943 (the second one you posted) and the Phillipp auction from 1944 (the first one you posted):

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=239891

Here is my post about the third through seventh auctions, from 1944-45. The third auction was the last one to have the auction catalog on a separate sheet, shown in Leon's post. Starting with the fourth auction, the catalog was printed in Card Collector's Bulletin, so I included those in the post below. Burdick and Bray also posted prices realized in CCB, and I've included those where I have them.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=240726

[toppcat]

Charles Bray was a man well ahead of his times!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by toppcat

Charles Bray was a man well ahead of his times!

Yes, he was. We owe those elders a debt of gratitude for a great hobby.
.

[Leon]

And Bray's business card.

Originally Posted by toppcat

Charles Bray was a man well ahead of his times!