Advertising Sign

Another Incredible P.F. Canvas Shoe Advertisement With Williams, Berra, Feller, And More!

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In September 2024, I highlighted a handful of P.F. Canvas shoe advertisements. Well, I ran across another in a March 2000 auction catalog, and I think this one’s my favorite!

I dig the giant baseball in the background.

The piece dates back to the early 1950s when baseball was first on national TV and showcases the game’s top stars endorsing the P.F. canvas shoes (later known as P.F. Flyers). The framed ad was described as 19” x 25”.

In March 2016, Hake’s sold a copy for $707 and they said the ad was a 19.5” x 25-5/8′” stiff cardboard standee w/easel back.

And then, in September 2023, Rockhurst Auctions offered it for sale again, but it failed to meet its reserve.

Happy collecting!

A Majestic Relic: The Stunning 19th Century Football Broadside from Ohio

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I’m not a 19th Century Football expert, so I can’t teach anyone much about the following piece, but I do know that this Football Broadside was appropriately described as “Majestic” in the 2006 auction catalog it was offered in.

Here’s how Mastro described it in that April 2006 catalog:

From a regional, northeastern countryside activity to a widely followed and highly esteemed national pastime and slowly becoming a worldwide phenomenon professional football now needs very little advertisement for fans of any intensity or persuasion to know that, come Fall, the only question that has to be answered is, “are you ready for some football?!” The offered exemplar hails from an era that predates even the leather helmets of the early 20th Century, and in fact, is one of the earliest football broadsides known to exist. Presented here is a truly majestic and impeccably well-kept, 19th Century survivor. This over one hundred-year-old relic bills a contest between two early American football teams from the NFL’s birth state of Ohio a meeting between a squad from Youngstown and the other from Akron. The piece reads, “FOOTBALL YOUNGSTOWN VS. AKRON ** YOUNGSTOWN HAS NEVER BEEN DEFEATED ** Buchtel College Grounds GAME CALLED AT 3:30 Saturday Oct.9.” The bold red and blue print have remained impressively crisp and vibrant, and the large, full body image (21″-tall) of the gridiron athlete at the left of the piece also reveals exceptional clarity. The item’s lower left exhibits the manufacturer’s “Werner Akron, Ohio” notation, and although the relic’s 25″ x 39″ visible area demonstrates slight wear at the unobtrusive and understandably age-induced folds, the piece displays unbelievable condition: EX overall. Set within a 47-3/8″ x 32-1/4″ wood frame. Please note: Due to the size and/or weight of this lot, the cost of shipping may be substantial. Minimum Bid $1,000

Happy collecting!

A 1950s Stan Musial Rawlings Die-Cut Advertising Sign

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I’ve shared plenty of vintage advertising signs before, but I think Stan Musial deserves more focus since he had fewer major card releases than his peers. Here’s a great Rawlings die-cut sign from the mid-1950s.

This one was offered in Ron Oser Entperises April 2001 catalog with the following description:

A circa 1955 Rawlings 17″ x 26″ cardboard sign which features a full body photo of Musial with fan-filled stands in the background, facsimile “Stan the Man” signature below. The oddly-shaped sign would fit together to form a store stand-up display. The lower right corner of the display has a few creases, otherwise, the body of the display is very clean. This Musial die-cut ad piece is incredible looking and if you have the glove or just happen to like the Cardinals or advertising pieces, this one will thrill you. Nicely framed to 21 x 28 inches. Minimum Bid $400

Heritage sold the similarly designed Musial Pro Leaguer Advertising Sign in October 2022 for $288, which they described as follows.

1950’s Rawlings Stan Musial Pro Leaguer Advertising Sign. Fine image of “Stan the Man” dominates this heavy cardboard advertising sign measuring approximately 18×16″ at its tallest and widest dimensions. Considerable water damage is apparent, and bat has been restored. We believe this is only part of the full display. Easel on back is missing.

Happy collecting!

Updating the Provenance of the 1915 Cracker Jack Advertising Sheet

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It was a big-time hobby event in the spring of 2009 when REA sold the nicer of the two known 1915 E145 Crack Jack Advertising Posters for $152,750. The lot’s description said it had never been sold before at auction, but Goober’s seems to have offered it in their September 1991 catalog.

Here are the photos of the sheet when REA offered it in 2009; it’s definitely the same item Goober’s offered.

The discrepancy comes in the fourth paragraph of the auction’s description:

There is very little pricing history on the 1915 Cracker Jack Poster due to its extreme rarity, and no sales ever at auction. In years past, Robert Edward Auctions has handled the private sales of both 1915 Cracker Jack posters known to exist. The restored example appeared as Lot 2 in Robert Edward Auctions’ September 1994 auction, but due to the restoration on that example, it failed to receive the minimum bid of $25,000. It was sold privately immediately following the close of the auction for an offer of $20,000. The poster offered here was long ago personally owned by REA president Robert Lifson. He purchased it from Herman Kaufman, one of the hobby’s great and most knowledgeable longtime collectors and dealers, in the mid-1980s for the then princely sum of $8,000. At the time, $8,000 could buy a T206 Wagner. Herman Kaufman had just purchased it days earlier at a lower level from another hobby legend, Josh Evans. In retrospect, all of them knew it was a great item but none of them realized the magnitude of the piece. This was unchartered territory in terms of quality and rarity, and these sales occurred long before the Internet, full-color baseball memorabilia auction catalogs, or the explosion in values that occurred over the next few years. In 1989 Lifson was offered $35,000 to sell the Cracker Jack poster in a direct sale, an offer which he accepted. At the time, $35,000 was more than the value of an entire high-grade Cracker Jack set or a T206 Wagner. The buyer has had it hanging on his wall ever since. After twenty years he has decided it is time to allow someone else the opportunity to enjoy it, and has consigned it to this auction. He’s asked us what we think its worth, and we just can’t tell him. We didn’t know the true value of the Cracker Jack poster in the 1980s, and we still don’t know how to value this piece twenty years later. After this auction, we’ll know!

It is possible that the person who bought the sheet for $35k in 1989 tried to sell it via Goober’s, but the sale fell through, a buyer’s premium wasn’t met, or that REA missed this part of the advertising sheet’s history, I have no idea.

Also, in August 2017, Heritage tried to sell the slightly refurbished poster, but the item’s page says “not sold.”

A Bob Feller Popsicle Advertising Display

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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.

Also, Dreamsicle featured Feller in its ads at this time.

1950s Ted Williams Moxie Die-Cut Advertising Sign

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I ran across this “very striking” 1950s Ted Williams Moxie die-cut advertising sign in an auction catalog from December 2000.

The item was described as a 10” x 14” brightly colored, fluorescent-toned heavy cardboard sign with a three-dimensional cutout of Williams in his Red Sox uniform. Excellent condition, original easel-back still intact.

It was a little challenging finding more info about this piece. The giant window decal is a BIT more common; however, I discovered that Heritage sold the following copy in May 2022 for $690.

But their description primarily just highlighted the die-cut nature of the piece a bit more:

A third dimension makes this advertising sign particularly special, as the figure of the greatest hitter that ever lived is die-cut to allow it to stand in front of the background portion reading, “It’s a Hit, Says Ted Williams.” Dimensions of background are 8.5×13.5″. Easel back remains in place on reverse. General handling and storage wear is apparent, and the sign originally had a segment upon which the Williams figure stood that is now missing, but otherwise the sign presents wonderfully. 

Early 1950’s P-F Canvas Shoes Advertising Sign Featuring Musial, Doerr, Campy, Lemon, and Rizzuto

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Here’s an awesome advertisement, scanned from a June 2005 auction catalog for B.F. Goodrich P-F Canvas Shoes featuing a slew of MLB legends.

A few years later, in 2013, Lelands sold a framed copy of the awesome stadium-designed cardboard ad, mentioning that it measures 19” x 25”. They also highlighted the inclusion of Sam Jethroe as an early African American promotion—that copy sold for $640.

If you look around, you’ll find several variations dating later into the ’50s that include legends like Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. However, if you want them in your collections, they’ll cost you many thousands of dollars. Luckily, they all feature floating heads!