THE SHIBE PARK AUTOGRAPHED CARD COLLECTION A utographed baseball cards were not always the desirable collectibles they are today. In earlier days, autographing a baseball card was considered taboo; collecting purists believed the signature destroyed the condition of the card, making it less desirable. As a result, the market for signed vintage cards was typically limited, because demand was very low.
Eventually, however, collectors began to realize that this unwritten rule had an unintended effect: signed vintage cards were hard to find – especially the more valuable cards of key Hall of Famers, or vintage players who passed away young, with less opportunity to sign their cards. This realization sparked an increase in demand, which, in turn, has unearthed some excellent vintage autograph collections. Presented here is one of the finest we’ve seen: what we’re calling the “Shibe Park Collection.” The collection was assembled by a teenage sports fan who had the unique idea of meeting players arriving at the train station nearby Shibe Park in Philadelphia. He would arrive at the station with a handful of baseball cards, seek out players and obtain their autographs. As a 14-year-old boy, he began accumulating signed cards and soon built quite a collection, branching out to hotels near the ballpark where he would encounter visiting players in the lobby. Over the course of 1939 and 1940, he amassed a collection of several hundred signed cards this way, often writing the date he obtained the card on the reverse. The cards were then mounted in albums, where they remained until his family disassembled them years later. As a young adult, the collector continued building his collection, meeting baseball and football players, and later even writing them in care of the team. His collection continued to grow, as he added new autographs into the 1950s. His collection remained intact after his passing, and was consigned to Love of the Game by a dealer who obtained the collection in its entirety, directly from the family. We are thrilled to offer it in two parts over our next two auctions, beginning with the 1939 and 1940 Play Ball cards. The collection is wonderful, including Hall of Famers and extremely rare signatures from players who passed away young. The cards have remained in outstanding condition, in some cases with a bit of paper remnants on the reverse from the scrapbook removal, The entire collection has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA, in many cases the only signed examples they have assessed. Each signature is vintage, remarkably well-preserved, owing largely to the faact that the cards spent decades tucked away in albums. A tremendous grouping of signed cards, the signatures more than 80 years old, but as bold and vivid as if they were signed yesterday.
744. Signed 1939 Play Ball #2 Lee Grissom - PSA/DNA MINIMUM BID: $25
745. Signed 1939 Play Ball #3 Red Ruffing (HOF) - PSA/DNA MINT 9 MINIMUM BID: $50
FALL 2023 PREMIER AUCTION − CLOSES NOVEMBER 15, 2023 111
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