St. Louis, MO - Thos. Ward, Livery and Boarding Stable-Undertaker of Funerals - 1887 National Indian Ball Game Advertising Note. PCGS Very Fine 25 Apparent. This is an impressive trophy of Obsolete advertising, sports memorabilia, and Native Americana. It is only the second example we have observed in decades of cataloging. The combination of theme, rarity, and condition make it one of the highlights of this Newman Collection sale. Advertising flyers that imitated the paper money of their eras were commonplace. From the 1830s until the 20th century, numerous types of mimic notes were created to catch the public eye, whether to advertise businesses, publicize events, or promote politicians. Baseball advertising notes are among the rarest, most desirable types, and the sports theme adds to their popularity. These were produced in the late 1880s by a few printers and are known from approximately a few dozen issuers. However, the rarest baseball note type is the St. Louis National Indian Baseball Game type. The advertised event was to take place September 29-30 and October 1-2 at Sportsmans' [sic] park. The original Sportsman's Park (later rebuilt nearby) was located at Dodier Street and North Grand Avenue; it was initially called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds; the name was changed to Sportsman's Park in 1876 when the Brown Stockings began to play in St. Louis. The face shows an oval portrait titled, \"Yours truly / Samson Baer.\" According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of September 14, 1887, Baer was one of the \"big six umpires\" selected by \"Big Chief Al Collins\" to officiate at the game. The president of the St. Louis Baseball club, Chris Von der Ahe, \"Made arrangements to secure their full Indian regalia, including fancy colored moccasins.\" The title and location are at the center with Thomas Wand's business advertisement below. A large green \"1887\" is over the center. The inducement of the presence of President and Mrs. Cleveland is on a banner at the right. The back, printed mostly in green, has reversed-out text at left: GRANDEST NOVELTY OF THE AGE circling around, and 50 INDIANS / WILL TAKE PART at the center. The right end circle provides the reminder of the event dates. Printed in black at top and bottom are oval portraits of the players, with their names in white on green below. The A. Zacharias restaurant advertisement is in black at the center. Grading notes a \"Small Edge Tear in Right Margin,\" but only one other example known to us. Schingoethe Part 9: Lot 2629 realized $3,450 in December 2006, just slightly finer than this example. This presents an extremely rare opportunity. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society \n\n
From Newman VIII (Heritage Auctions, 11/2017), lot 28581, realized $4080. Image and description courtesy of Heritage Auctions, https://ha.com.
"},{"label":"Collecting Area","value":["Numismatics"]},{"label":"Collection Name","value":["Image Collections"]}],"description":"Lot 28581","sequences":[{"@type":"sc:Sequence","canvases":[{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/163e47da-a92b-4353-9a0f-ddf078a476ab/canvas/_1","@type":"sc:Canvas","label":"28581_3547011766o","height":945,"width":2002,"images":[{"@type":"oa:Annotation","motivation":"sc:painting","resource":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/374f4d40-32b3-46e9-bdf3-d91458baf69e/full/full/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","format":"image/jpeg","service":{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/context.json","@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/374f4d40-32b3-46e9-bdf3-d91458baf69e","profile":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/level2.json","tiles":[{"width":512,"scaleFactors":[1,2,4]}]},"height":945,"width":2002},"on":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/163e47da-a92b-4353-9a0f-ddf078a476ab/canvas/_1","metadata":[{"label":"Medium","value":["Currency"]}]}],"thumbnail":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/374f4d40-32b3-46e9-bdf3-d91458baf69e/full/500,500/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","height":500,"width":500}},{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/163e47da-a92b-4353-9a0f-ddf078a476ab/canvas/_2","@type":"sc:Canvas","label":"28581_3547011766r","height":1050,"width":2284,"images":[{"@type":"oa:Annotation","motivation":"sc:painting","resource":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/33b8f032-a426-408c-9910-b8c2c00855e0/full/full/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","format":"image/jpeg","service":{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/context.json","@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/33b8f032-a426-408c-9910-b8c2c00855e0","profile":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/level2.json"},"height":1050,"width":2284},"on":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/163e47da-a92b-4353-9a0f-ddf078a476ab/canvas/_2","metadata":[{"label":"Medium","value":["Currency"]}]}],"thumbnail":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/33b8f032-a426-408c-9910-b8c2c00855e0/full/500,500/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","height":500,"width":500}}]}],"thumbnail":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/374f4d40-32b3-46e9-bdf3-d91458baf69e/full/300,300/0/default.jpg","logo":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/washu/iiif/logo"}