Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Fall 2020
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/20/2020
Intriguing CFL All-Star Game memorabilia from the personal collection of an ultra-intriguing man is offered here, with organizer extraordinaire George Springate chosen as committee chairman of the 1971 game, played at Montreal's Autostade. It was the Alouettes versus stars from the other CFL teams, with the All-Stars outscoring the Als 30-13. George did it up right, with the game turning a profit for the players' pension fund and famous illustrator Tex Coulter, a former Alouette himself, immortalizing the event and George's contributions in a nifty work of art. Meanwhile, a superb Spalding autograph model football includes the signatures of Ron Lancaster, Angelo Mosca and 14 others, with more details and images on our website - these pieces are cool.
The Coulter (original) artwork is professionally framed to 12-1/2" by 15-3/4" and lists the many "hats" that Springate wore; All-Star Game Director, Athlete, Statesman, Lawyer, Public Speaker, Former Policeman, Minor Football League Official, Etc. and features Coulter's trademark "TEX" signature in the lower left corner, in this case with a "C" accompanying it. Joining the autographs of Lancaster and Mosca on the fabulous two-tone Official CFL football are those of fellow Canadian Football Hall of Famers Herm Harrison, Ted Urness, Marv Luster, Bill Danychuk and Paul Brulé, with Ted Dushinski, Ken Sugarman, Ron Capham, Greg Findlay, Ken Phillips, John Wydareny and one unidentified also contributing. The majority of the blue ballpoint signatures show up beautifully on one white panel, with Lancaster, Mosca, Dushinski and Findlay on the other. The football itself and the signatures have been well preserved with pride. Two newspaper articles/photos (one English, one French) shed more light on the '71 All-Star Game. Springate, known for his support of youth, explains that the league took the opportunity to promote football to youngsters, holding a type of ball boy competition, with six boys chosen to spend the week preceding the game with the players, while another ten got to see the Montreal Expos play. It's also revealed the players too would see the Expos play one night and on another, try their luck at Blue Bonnets racetrack. An original 8" by 10" photo of George helping two boys fill out their entry forms for the ball boy competition will be included with these terrific souvenirs, along with a Letter of Authenticity from the Springate family.
The George Springate Collection
Classic Auctions is pleased to offer the personal collection of George Springate. A native Montrealer, George had an amazingly diverse and storied life. Long-time Montreal Alouettes fans know him as the placekicker for the 1970 Grey-Cup-winning Als, while also serving as a Quebec MNA; others for his police, education and political careers.
A unique Canadian, George made impressive contributions to his community, province and country throughout his life, for which he received the Order of Canada among many other honours. A superb fundraiser, he raised millions of dollars for Canadian youth, as well as other charities. Of particular interest to sports enthusiasts/collectors is his more than 50 years of organizing charity events, most particularly the dozens of celebrity skate-a-thons and Oldtimers hockey games that produced scarce and sought-after souvenirs, many featured in this auction.
While a Montreal police officer, George acquired two law degrees and played football at McGill University, was a radio and television personality, and a law professor for 33 years, co-founding the Police Technology Department at John Abbott College. Later in life, he served as a Canadian citizenship judge for 14 years, the last five as Canada’s Senior Judge. Following his death in November 2019, a House of Commons tribute stated, in part: "George was larger than life. He was a friend to all. He touched our lives by his friendship and his philanthropic work, which benefitted so many wonderful causes and organizations." Indeed, what a life!
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