Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction - October 2007
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/23/2007
One of hockey’s most colorful characters, Charlie Rayner was
considered by Gordie Howe to be one of the toughest goaltenders to
beat that Mr. Hockey ever faced in his legendary career. Quite a
compliment indeed and testament to Rayner’s remarkable ability. The
National Hockey League’s most valuable player and Hart Trophy winner
in 1949-50, Rayner wore this predominantly white wool Rangers sweater
during the ‘51-52 campaign, his second-to-last with the Blueshirts.
The original lace still makes its way through the six eyelets, while
“Rangers” down the front and Chuck’s number “1” on the back are in
blue-on-red tackle twill and sewn-on. The inner hem (right seam)
includes a folded Gerry Cosby tag, along with a size 50 tag. With
significant bleeding, the sweater features eight mostly dime-size
team repairs; three are on the front (one done in black thread in the
blue stripe), two on the back, one on the right sleeve and two on the
left sleeve, including a black-thread job in the upper blue stripe
that we have a photo match for. Half a dozen small holes and some
nice big interior pills are also to point out, along with the fact
that goaltender wools from this era, donned by Hall-of-Famers, don’t
often hit the market. Obtained recently from Charlie Rayner’s widow,
this fantastic uniform will come with a letter of authenticity from
the Rayner family and our congratulations.
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