11. Rare c. 1910 Sure Shot Tobacco Advertising Center Panel Display Spectacular advertising display promoting Sure Shot tobacco. The large piece is actually the center panel of an enormous tri-fold display that, when intact, measures 43” x 33”. The center panel, featured here, measures 20” x 33” and is mounted inside a heavy frame that brings the total size to 27” x 41”. The stunning full-color piece pictures a scene of game-play, stadium grandstands in the background. The image pictures the batter, along with the third baseman, positioned down the line. An inset image of a Sure Shot tobacco package appears at the top left, along with the advertising copy “Sure Shot Chewing Tobacco - It Touches The Spot.” The piece is extraordinarily rare, consigned from the collection of longtime hobbyist Ted Patterson. We are aware of just one full display, sold at public auction seven years ago which contained all three panels, each of which exhibited considerable damage. Though we have encountered a variety of tins and packages in our research, we have encountered just that single example of this sign, sold by a well-respected auction company with the suggestion that it might be the lone surviving example. Clearly there is at least one more (one-third, actually), one of the most attractive and colorful advertising displays from this era that we have seen. Printed on extraordinarily heavy board approximately 1/4” thick, the piece presents wonderfully. Closer examination reveals areas of professional restoration, primarily inpainting and the repair of what were likely heavy creases and tears. The result is a stunning display, with the careful restoration work performed tastefully, to repair and conserve an extraordinarily rare piece. Natural, honest wear is evident; the restoration was clearly not performed to mask flaws, but to repair damage. The Hassan triple-fold advertising display is one of the most widely coveted in the hobby; a surviving example featuring all three panels sold for nearly $100,000 more than a decade ago. This Sure Shot display recalls the Hassan display in overall design; though the center panel clearly is missing its companion panels, it works well as an individual display piece regardless. A remarkably rare example, one of just two examples we have found in our research, one of the more attractive advertising display items from its era. MINIMUM BID: $2,000.00
Summer 2019 Premier Auction – Closes August 24, 2019
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