Sports Cards Magazine & Price Guide had a great feature in the mid-’90s, providing “a wrapup of some of the country’s largest sports auctions.” This one from September 1996 was chockful of incredible items.
Larson highlighted the John F. Kennedy signed ball as the highlight of Mastro’s auction that topped $850,000 in sales. But I wanted to compare two of the cards to today’s prices. The PSA 8 graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle sold for $24,394; today, that’s probably a $1M card. And the PSA 8 1914 Crack Jack Joe Jackson, well, Heritage sold one nine years ago for $101k.
As for the rest of the article, half of that stuff won’t show up for sale again, but if any of it does, you can bet on it being a lot pricier!
There are a lot of unique sets in the post-war hobby, but many more exclusive releases exist, not entirely fitting the traditional classification of an oddball set like individual promotional issues. These cards are usually only known by folks who collect specific players but not the rest of the hobby. In this article, I’ll spotlight one such hidden gem: the 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra promotional card.
The card itself is 5″ x 7″ and features a black-and-white photo of Berra in a squatting catcher’s pose. Along the bottom, an endorsement in white script reads, “Ride Shelby, The Winner’s Bike, Sincerely, Yogi Berra.” The back is blank.
The following example currently sits in the current #1 Yogi Berra Master Set on the PSA Set Registry
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra
The date of issue on this card is conjecture. The first driver is the familiar photo of Yogi Berra that Shelby used for this card. Robert Edward Auctions sold a circa 1949 Yogi Berra Original New York Yankees (their propriety stamp is on the back of the photo) PSA/DNA Type I image that was used for the Shelby Bicycles promo, his 1950 Bowman card, and his 1950 Drake’s card; it sold for $2880 in August 2023.
Here’s the front and back of the Type I photo.
Yogi Berra New York Yankees Type 1 Photo – Front
Yogi Berra New York Yankees Type 1 Photo – Reverse
And here’s Berra’s 1950 Bowman baseball card.
1950 Bowman #46 Yogi Berra
The second reason the hobby dates the card to around 1952 is from the advertisements featuring Berra promoting Shelby Bicycles. While you will see many of them referenced to 1954 and 1955, Shelby Cycle Company only manufactured bicycles in Shelby, Ohio, from 1925 to 1953 before being purchased by AMD in 1953. One specific advertisement features the Shelby Cycle Company name (and a Shelby, Ohio address) and features an illustration of the offered promotion card. It was free, along with a 16-page catalog, to anyone who requested it.
Shelby Cycle Co. Ad Featuring The 1952 Berra Card
That advertisement, along with three others (AMF moved bicycle production to Cleveland in 1953, which is where Shelby is addressed to in the next three ads) and a PSA 2.5 copy of the 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra card, was sold by Robert Edwards Auctions in October 2015 for $1320. The card was part of Al Johnson’s All-Time Finest Yogi Berra Master Set, but that was retired in July 2017, so I suspect he purchased it.
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
Yogi Berra Shelby Ad
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – REA
At the time of sale, that PSA 2.5 graded Berra was the only one that PSA or SGC had graded. Its sales history after the initial REA auction and I suspect the retirement of the Master Set, is fascinating.
Heritage Auctions resold the PSA 2.5 for $430.20 in November 2016. They noted that the card has a vertical crease.
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – HA
Memory Lane Inc. then got its hands on the item in August 2017, but it went unsold with an opening bid of $300. It was still described as the only example ever graded by either PSA or SGC. But today, PSA shows five cards and two autographed cards in their pop report, while SGC shows a single copy.
1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra – Memory Lane Inc.
Clean Sweep Auctions sold one of those signed PSA-encapsulated cards in February 2022 for $775.20.
The 1952 Shelby Bicycles Yogi Berra card is a particularly significant post-war collectible. It’s rare, features a Hall of Fame Yankee, and is directly connected to a classic American company and a post-war classic Bowman set.
In the world of baseball collectibles, few items hold the mystique of the elusive 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard, a collectible so scarce that most collectors won’t ever lay eyes on one in person. Luckily, for avid fans of Willie Mays seeking a connection to the baseball legend’s collaboration with ALAGA, there exists a moderately more accessible treasure — an advertising poster. In this piece, I’ll chat about the details and scarcity of both items while also discussing a few of ALAGA’s magazine and newspaper ads featuring Mays and another baseball luminary, Hank Aaron.
The Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company
According to their website, the Alabama-Georgia (ALAGA) Syrup Company was established by Louis Broughton Whitfield, Sr., along with his wife, Willie Vandiver Whitfield, in 1906. The first can of ALAGA syrup was packed in January 1907, and by 1920, “Alaga Syrup had grown into a national brand thanks to the revolutionary manufacturing methods which brought ALAGA syrup to customers throughout the country in metal cans, a remarkable packaging and distribution feat for its day.”
ALAGA Truck
WSFA News 12 published a piece about the company in celebration of it being over a century old. In it, they mention that the company has had some pretty big names endorse the product over the years, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Clark Gable, Bear Bryant, Shug Jordan, and Nat King Cole.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard
The year of issue of the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard is approximate. Mays is pictured in a New York Giants cap (they moved to San Francisco in 1957), and ALAGA syrup ads featuring Mays started showing up in 1955 in Ebony Magazine, among other publications, making a 1954 date seem reasonable.
The front of the 3-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ postcard features a borderless black-and-white portrait with a facsimile autograph.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Front
The back has an advertisement for ALAGA syrup, which states, “Willie Mays says, ‘I was raised on ALAGA Syrup’ on the left side with a postage stamp square on the upper right and space to write a note to the right of the ad.
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – Reverse
PSA has only graded the previously pictured example (it resides in the current number 1 ranked Willie Mays Master Set on the registry), and unfortunately, I can’t make out any postage cancels for dating. While the SGC Pop Report doesn’t include the card, and I haven’t run across any Beckett-graded examples, the Trading Card Database includes the following example:
1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard – TCDB
Given the postcard’s rarity and Mays’s popularity, I couldn’t even begin to estimate its price.
Now, if you’re a Willie Mays fan and enjoy having syrup with waffles (order intended) as much as I do, you might want to try and grab one of the 1960s Willie Mays ALAGA syrup Advertising Posters for your collection. They’re approximately 10″ x 20″ and one-sided; it reads ALAGA Syrup along the top, followed by a picture of Mays in the middle with a quote from him reading: “Say hey! Love that real ribbon cane flavor”, followed by a bottle of soup with waffles along the bottom. Goldin sold the following example in April 2017 for $255.
The posters aren’t super common, but they aren’t as scarce as the postcard. There was a single copy on eBay in Nov 2023 for $539.99 (it was framed and JSA authenticated), and besides the Goldin copy I already mentioned, there have been a few other sales over the years, too. For example, SCP sold a framed copy in November 2010 for $428. Heritage has sold a handful of them, including a framed copy in October 2020 for $192, a lot of three in 2019 for $264, a single copy for $120 in October 2017, another for $199.50 in December 2016, and another in June 2016 for $203.15.
Willie Mays and Hank Aaron ALAGA Syrup Newspaper and Magazine Ads
I mentioned earlier that ads featuring Mays and ALAGA started appearing around 1955; they had quite a nostalgic appeal. In two of the following examples, Mays says he was “raised on Alaga Syrup.” And one says, “It brings back bright memories every time I taste it.”
ALAGA Ads Featuring Willie Mays
I believe the ads ran for about ten years, starting in the mid-50s; the rightmost Mays Ad, dated to 1963, uses the same image of Mays but includes french toast instead of waffles.
Hank Aaron was featured in various similarly written ads for ALAGA syrup, and the right most of the following four was published in 1966. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any Hank Aaron postcards featuring the ALAGA brand. Also, the third Aaron ad may actually be a poster.
ALAGA Ads Featuring Hank Aaron
This ad featuring Mr. and Mrs. Aaron is my favorite; those pancakes look delicious!
ALAGA Ad Featuring Mr. and Mrs. Hank Aaron
Conclusion and Further Reading
I actually didn’t know the 1954 ALAGA Syrup Willie Mays Postcard existed until I stumbled upon it while flipping through the first few pages of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards. Though ownership remains a distant prospect for almost everyone, the poster is a more attainable quest—a cherished piece rumored to have found favor with Mays. I also love it when there are items that bridge the gap between collecting, baseball history, and Americana!
I’m lucky my office/Hobby Library walls don’t have any space left, or I’d be all over vintage baseball star advertising memorabilia like this ad for Popsicle featuring Bob Feller. Popsicle is Topsicle!
Mastro offered this one in their Fine Sports Auction catalog in November 2000. It was described as “a classic original window advertising display, circa 1948, picturing a ‘cartoon’ image of World Champion Indians ace Bob Feller endorsing his favorite summertime treat. ‘Popsicle is Topsicle!’ is the pitch, and the vibrant display vividly recalls the days of Mr. Softee and the Good Humor Man. In exceptional Near Mint condition with incredible color. The display measures 8” x 17-1/2.”
Memory Lane Inc. has sold one of these, perhaps the same one, twice, most recently in August 2018 for $565 and $352 in September 2007.
In its Summer 1990 issue, Topps Magazine published Kenneth M. Liss’s great article about “The Rarest ‘Rookie Cards.'” PSA has only slabbed 252 cards from this 35-card (ok, 36-card) set!
I want to draw your attention to two things from the article. First, instead of a program in booklet form, in 1964, Topps presented a boxed set of 36 over-sized cards with all the same information. Second, Topps only made 600-700 sets, making them exceedingly rare.
Here’s the original sleeve/box that held the cards.
Leland’s included that box and 35 cards, a handful of which were PSA-8 graded, in their 2018 Invitational auction. The lot sold for $1,886.40.
But what’s really interesting is that it seems Topps pivoted at some point and printed a sample program! Huggins and Scott sold a newly discovered, potentially one-of-a-kind example in August 2023 for $1,740.
They also wrote that only about 300 (or so) invitees attended. The auction believed that after this 1964 program was made, someone at Topps realized they were card manufacturers and that a card set should be made instead of a program. Topps didn’t do much work, as there’s a page number on the lower right-hand corner of each card (see the Page 12 notation on the following example)!
Huggins noted a few differences between this program and the cards:
The thicker card stock versus the thinner paper pages of the program, the cards are blank backed versus the back-to-back printed program pages, and the size. The program is 3/16″ wider than the card set (so, the bigger program was not part of the snugly fitting boxed card set.) We believe the programs were likely deemed redundant and were probably trashed, assuming they even made more than one or two to begin with.
Unfortunately, Topps went back to banquet programs in 1965 and 1966. REA offered a complete run of seven 1959 to 1966 Topps Rookie Banquet Programs in their 2018 Spring auction. They sold for $2,040 then but would command A LOT more today.
The Cleveland Indians hired San Francisco photographer Pat Johnson to create the cover for their 1993 media guide. The Cleveland expat mainly used his collection to create one of the greatest collages the hobby has ever seen!
Topps Magazine highlighted the cover in its Spring 1993 issue. Johnson said shooting the cover was a dream come true and likened it to a puzzle. He said, “The big items are a focal point at first, but two weeks later, you’ll find other things hidden in there.” Topps added that it was like one of those “Where’s Waldo?” cartoons.
I ran across this super cool cardboard display sheet, advertised as being from the 1950s, in an older auction catalog from December 2000. I’ve found a few more examples online, but with no additional historical info.
The copy above was described as an 11” x 16” cardboard display sheet featuring 144 assorted 3/4” pin-back buttons still attached. It included a bunch of “Team” pins of the White Sox, Browns, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, and Dodgers, along with a few “Slogan” pins, including a bunch of “I am a Yankee Fan” and “I am a Giants Fan” examples. The sheet was described as being in VG condition, while the buttons were mostly NM/MT.
Inside The Park Collectiblesauctioned off the following example in June 2021. However, it went unsold with a $350 minimum bid.
They mentioned it was the first time they had seen the display, which they described as “50’s/50’s.” They also said the display was 12.5” x 15”.
I still have a few button books to pick up for The Hobby Library, so in the meantime, if you know anything about these displays, please share!
