Sports Collectors Digest –
One hundred years ago, just as today, it was not unusual to see baseball’s biggest stars in national ad campaigns promoting products and services that might interest baseball fans.
Stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Walter Johnson—and later Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio—often starred in ads and marketing campaigns promoting such products as tobacco, ice cream, and even youth and kids clubs.
Many artifacts from those ads and campaigns are now rare and highly sought-after memorabilia that commands strong demand and high value on the sports collectibles market.
Memory Lane’s Inc.’s Spring Rarities Auction, which opens May 9, is filled with such rare, one-of-a-kind pieces from the greatest legends in sports. The 346-page catalog features more than 1,700 lots of items, including display pieces, uncut sheets and thousands of high-grade single cards and complete sets. The auction runs through May 31.
One of the featured items is a circa 1933 Old Gold Cigarettes tri-fold advertising display piece featuring Babe Ruth at the top of his fame as a national star and pitchman. Fully expanded, the display measures 38-by-52 inches and dates to an era when retail stores would place such colorful displays in their store windows. One of only two known to exist, it has a minimum bid of $10,000.
