Memorabilia

1953 Spic and Span Dry Cleaners Milwaukee Braves Shirt Covering

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How many of you still use dry cleaners? And those of you who do, how many of you save the hanger bags? Well, here’s one that survived in someone’s closet for over fifty years!

It’s a circa 1953 Spic and Span Dry Cleaners Pictorial Shirt Covering. The Milwaukee-based dry cleaning company had a licensing agreement with the local Braves team from at least 1953 to 1957. 

The auction lot for the shirt covering described the bag as containing 12 different portrait sketches of popular players of the Milwaukee Braves, including Warren Spahn. They wrote that the portraits on the bag are 12 of the 13 known Warmuth designs that went into the company’s 1954 card set, so they felt comfortable placing the bag’s date of issue.

1953 World Heavy-Weight Championship Marciano Vs. Walcott Tickets

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I ran across this ad, from Mastro of all people, in the July 1981 issue of Trader Speaks, looking to sell or trade full unused mint tickets for the world heavy-weight championship boxing match between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott at Chicago Stadium. 

He mentions having five different tickets, each with clear portrait photos of the boxers, for $10 each (or for trade). 

After exploring the PSA registry, it looks like Mastro was advertising a combination of phantom tickets for April 10th (white, orange, pink, and cream) and the actual fight on May 15th (blue and orange variations). Here are all the examples from Heritage Auctions.

When PSA first started grading tickets, I don’t believe they were not putting the ticket color on the slab, like the following example.

Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 Point Game Ticket Stub

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On March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Penn. 4,126 tickers were originally sold for the game, and here’s one of the remaining stubs. 

This example was offered in Mastro West’s March 2000 Fine Sports Auctions catalog with a minimum bid of $900. They described it as being in Ex to Mt condition with an inscription on the back: “Wilt Chamberland (sic) scored a record 100 pts against N.Y.”

The stub was accompanied by this newspaper article describing the game.

Surviving tickets are incredibly pricey and seem to be getting more expensive; REA sold this PSA 2 graded stub for $36k in the summer of 2023.

They sold this PSA 1.5 Mk’d example approximately a year earlier for $22.2k.

Heritage has also sold several stubs, including a PSA Authentic copy for $26.4 in February 2023, another PSA Authentic copy for $49.2k in February 2022, and a PSA 2 Mk copy for $49.2k in August 2022.

Mickey Mantle’s Four-Bagger Ball Toss Game

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Did you know Mickey Mantle sponsored an indoor-outdoor cornhole-like throwing game in the 1950’s? I ran across this example in Ron Oser Enterprises April 2001 auction catalog.

They described it as a very large & colorful 22” x 34” heavy cardboard game with a striking 30” tall image of Mantle in a batting pose. They wrote that the board contained four 6-inch holes into which balls (or beanbags) were thrown to score singles, doubles, triples, or home runs. The center “Home Run 1000” hole still had the original red oil-cloth sack backing that would “catch” the ball. They gave the item an overall VgEx condition grade.

With all four bags in place, Heritage sold the following example for $2040 in May 2019; other auction houses have sold signed copies for north of $4k.

The instructions on the back show that Garnder & Co., in Chicago, Illinois, manufactured the game.

1948 Babe Ruth Exacta Watch

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I’d been looking for a new daily driver watch when I ran across this 1948 Babe Ruth Exacta watch in an old auction catalog from July 1998. This was my first time seeing it, though they appear moderately common. They aren’t cheap, but I feel compelled to find a nice copy anyway!

The watch face shows a full-color pinstriped portrait of Ruth, bats slung over his shoulder against an emerald green baseball diamond. 

In July 2014, Goldin sold the following 1948 Babe Ruth Exacta Watch with an original case, box, and registration card for $829.50.

You can see that the lot also included a period magazine advertisement for the watch, just $7.95.

1964 Yoo-Hoo Yankees Easel Back Counter Sign With Yogi Berra And Mickey Mantle

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Mastro Fine Sports Auctions offered this Ex-Mt Yoo-Hoo easel back counter sign for sale in their November 2000 catalog.

They described the 11” x 14” piece as being from 1964, featuring eight New York Yankees. Moose Skowron split 1964 between the Senators (the hat he is pictured in) and the White Sox after spending 1963 with the Dodgers but was with the Yankees from 1954-1962.

From an advertising perspective, Yoo-Hoo had a long-standing relationship with Yogi Berra, their spokesman, for around two decades, starting in the late 1950s when Berra became friends with the company’s owner. Berra helped recruit investors and brought in his teammates to help promote the drink.

A few copies exist across the hobby, and when they pop up for sale, they have been selling for ~$1k, but higher prices are possible. However, replicas are available on eBay for under $20.

Circa 1940’s Tommy Henrich Wheaties Advertisement

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Tommy Henrich spent his entire MLB career with the Yankees, and this circa 1940s Wheaties ad shows him in his Yankee uniform along with a cartoon and cereal box. It was offered in a September 2000 auction.

It was described as being in Ex condition, framed and matted, and 21’’ x  11’’ in size.

If you have more information about this “Breakfast of Champions” piece, please leave a comment.