Dodgers Blue Heaven: Hake's Auctions: A Drysdale Lighter, Branch Rickey's College Team & a Jackie Wallet

Monday, November 12, 2012

Hake's Auctions: A Drysdale Lighter, Branch Rickey's College Team & a Jackie Wallet

With the year coming to a quick close, many sports auction houses are trying to finish off the year with some great material, and Hake's is no different. Check out a handful of great Dodgers memorabilia items that caught my eye in their newest offering. Click on any pic to embiggen.

Below is a circa 1960's Meadow Gold Dairy souvenir lighter. It measures 1.75x2-1/8", and has a photo image of Don Drysdale in Dodgers uniform on front w/facsimile inscription/signature "Best Wishes Don Drysdale". Reverse has large Meadow Gold Dairy logo. These are fairly scarce.

(auction link)

Branch Rickey is probably one of the most important Baseball figures over the past century. He has shaped the game for the better in hopes of making it more just within a difficult world. From the auction description:

He was known for breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing African American player Jackie Robinson and for drafting the first Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente. Branch's long and storied career in Major League baseball began as a player for the St. Louis Browns in 1905 and ended when he retired as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955.

Featured at Hake's is this original matte finish photo of the 1902 Ohio Wesleyan Baseball team. It measures 11x16" and has 14 men pictured, 13 in baseball uniforms for the university team. In the photo lying on either side of front center seated player are Wesley Branch Rickey (on the left) and his brother. Branch is looking rather dapper.

(auction link)

You can't go wrong when you combine sports cartoonist Willard Mullin with Jackie Robinson. With Jackie coming to the league, he immediately become one of the games most popular players. As you can imagine, that meant commercial marketing opportunities. So, resident hometown artist and sports cartoon editorialist, Willard Mullin, lent his hand to a venture that sold wallets emblazoned with his designs.

Here is a circa 1950's leather wallet measuring 3.25x7.75” w/snap closure on front. An drawing of Jackie Robinson bunting on one side, and an image of Robinson sliding into a base on the other. Both of these were done by Willard Mullin. This is very rare.