Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction February 2025
From a period of time great triumph and also great tribulation in the United States of America, the era of the late-1960s and early-1970s saw events such as the putting of man on the moon, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the escalation and eventual cease fire of the Vietnam War, the election of Richard Nixon as President, the Watergate Scandal, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the nationwide riots of 1967 and 1968 and numerous other things. Offered here, we present this collection of space and political memorabilia that hails from the personal collection of hall of fame journalist Frank Brown. Paced by pinback media buttons from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 space missions that measure 2 1/2", the buttons are either blue (Apollo 11) or red (Apollo 12) in colour and read "NBC News - Apollo 11/12" while the media member numbers of "118" (Apollo 11) and "225" (Apollo 12) are found along the bottom. Both remain in overall excellent condition with just light wear over both sides from age. Also including Brown's badges and passes from both the 1968 and 1972 Republican National Conventions as well as his passes from the 1968 Democratic Convention, the items from the 1968 Republican National Convention include his laminated "limited access" pass and his event specific NBC News badge, which has "Frank Brown" spelt out across an applied label over the bottom portion. Also including Brown's "News-Radio/TV" magnetic passes from all four (4) days of the 1968 Democratic National Convention that took place in Chicago, Illinois, each day is clearly marked on the back of each pass with all four (4) found to be in overall excellent condition and showing light wear from use and age overall. Finally, the group also includes Brown's access pass, floor messenger pass, NBC News badge and messenger medal from the 1972 Republican National Convention as well. For the rest of the lot, included are various pinback buttons from things such as the NBC Election Night coverage of 1968, 1969 and 1970, the Presidential campaign of Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey in 1964 and many others. Finally, the lot is concluded with a 1960s Playboy Club ashtray and a letter sent to Brown by former Ottawa mayor, Jim Watson. All the items included in the lot are found to be in overall good to excellent condition with light handling wear and age seen throughout unless otherwise noted. A Classic Auctions LOA will accompany.
Publishing his first paid hockey article in a New York Rangers game program in 1970 that earned him a total of fifty ($50) dollars, from there, Frank Brown began his career as a journalist for The Associated Press, typically covering the Montreal Canadiens. Under the leadership of Stan Fischler, Brown stated he learned the "courage of my convictions" after being handed Gordie Howe's phone number. Moving on to the New York Daily News in 1980, where he would remain until 1998, when he joined the National Hockey League as a communication executive, a position he would hold with the league until his retirement in 2018. He was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.
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