Dodgers Blue Heaven: Couple of Brooklyn Rarities and Ladies in Baseball Memorabilia at REA

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Couple of Brooklyn Rarities and Ladies in Baseball Memorabilia at REA

Premier sports collectibles auction house REA has just opened up their 2019 Summer offering, so I thought I would take a little bit of time this afternoon to highlight some of my favorite items. As you may know, REA specializes in pre-war cards and vintage/antique memorabilia, and this auction does not disappoint in that area. In fact, there are plenty of Dodgers' T206, Old Judge and other Topps rarities available. Heck, there's also a ton of Jackie Robinson memorabilia/cards available too. None of those items, though provide a glimpse into the face of the gentleman who helped start it all. Featured above is a circa 1910 cabinet photograph of former team owner (the namesake of the stadium that would be the Dodgers home for more than 45 years) Charles Ebbets with his autograph. (Auction Link) Per the auction description:

Ebbets, who was an architect by trade, began his career with the Dodgers in 1883 as a bookkeeper and assistant for owner Charles Byrne. Over the years he worked his way up the ladder, eventually purchasing more and more shares in the company until he finally achieved majority ownership in 1907. In addition to leading the Dodgers to two pennants under his ownership (1916 and 1920), and being an extremely influential owner (Ebbets is even credited with inventing the concept of the "raincheck"), perhaps his greatest lasting fame was in the building of the stadium in 1912 that bore his name: Ebbets Field, which was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers for forty-six seasons.

As you can see, Charles looks quite dapper in the photograph.

The next item may not be as scarce as the photo above, but it's just as cool. Featured is a 1907 real-photo postcard of the Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers (Auction Link) in street clothes, and it includes a pic of a much younger Charles Ebbets (seated in the middle). Check it out on the right.

The next few items I point to have nothing to do with the Dodgers. They do, on the other hand, have to do with women's baseball, and since we just finished up "Women in Baseball Week" I thought it would be both fun and interesting to highlight.

As you may know, women's baseball has been around for almost as long as men's baseball. In fact, they've been around since at least the 1890's when many of them were known to barnstorm across the county -- the most famous players were Maud Nelson and Jackie Mitchell.

Unfortunately, there is very little memorabilia available of these clubs -- with exception of a handful of postcards that were sold at these events. We do, on the other hand, have a few late-19th century cabinet cards available that provide a generic photos of women playing the game we love.

They are commonly known as the "Black Stocking Nine" cards from Allen & Ginter. Check out a catcher above. (Auction Link) On the bottom left is a fielder from the set. (Auction Link) To its right is a white cardboard backing card showing two female ballplayers posing on base. (Auction Link)