The featured item in this lot is RPPC of a composite photograph of the 1916 Colonial Baseball Club of New Haven, Connecticut. Featured at the top center of the composite is Ty Cobb, who joined the team in August of 1916. Later in the season, this semi-pro team would play both of the League Champions, defeating Brooklyn 4 to 1 on Sept 10, 1916 and tying the Boston Red Sox 3 to 3 on October 15, 1916(a game in which Babe Ruth pitched). At this time in his career Cobb was playing first base and had eight assist's in the game versus the Red Sox! During the course of the 1916 season, the Colonials, made up mostly of college stars player several of the American and National League teams.
Now that we have given a brief history of Cobb and the Colonials, it's time to take a look at the rarity of the piece. Longtime collector and auctioneer Lew Lipset has only seen and offered two of these in his long time in the hobby. An internet search revealed no others of this composite being offered for sale or displayed online. Perhaps there are others, but at this time, only two can be confirmed! The one offered here is from his 2008 Auction, where it was sold with the companion postcard of the game played Sept 10, 1916 against the Brooklyn club. Here we offer Lew's description.
Lot 217. Very rare 1916 Colonial Baseball Club Real Photo post card with Ty Cobb. This is the second example of this we’ve ever seen. The first was in our April 2006 auction (Lot 203) when we wrote “Very mysterious composite card with 20 cameos. Ty Cobb is clearly shown and identified in the middle. All the players are in matching uniforms with, what appears to be a bust of George Washington on the uniform. The team is identified as the Colonial Baseball Club and “Season 1916” is noted., The lower left of the card lists a score of “Colonials 4, Brooklyn Nt. League Champs 1” and similarly the lower left lists “Colonials 3, Boston Red Sox Worlds Champions”. This clearly implies the Colonials played both 1916 pennant winners later in the year and beat them both.” This new discovery is not in as nice condition as the former card, which went for $1,210, but is accompanied by a nice companion piece. A real photo post card showing game action in the game the Colonials defeated Brooklyn 4-1. The composite card has a piece of the upper right corner missing and a crease along the bottom. The RPPC of the game is excellent.
As can be seen, this pair of postcards hammered for a bit over $600 in 2008, the nicer single of this example bringing double that only two years earlier. Both of these prices at a time when scarce(dare we say rare) postcards had not yet began to command the attention they do today. As noted the composite RPPC has a corner nibbed off and a crease across the bottom. These are mentioned for accuracy, but the entire focus of the photo is the unblemished image of Cobb.
The second postcard in the offering is in very nice condition with just a touch of wear to the corners.