Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2019
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2019
The first of its kind we have ever handled and a wonderful accompaniment to the plethora of impressive Hobey Baker items offered in this auction, we have a vintage lead figurine of the legendary superstar, along with a full newspaper and newsprint clippings. At 4” in height, the well-designed lead figure sports a period uniform with football in hand, finished in Princeton colours, with “Capt Baker Princeton” stamped over the underside. There is some paint loss in a few spots including over the face, with the figurine in otherwise beautiful condition. The accompanying newsprint items include a full copy of the sporting section of the Boston Sunday Herald from Sept 19th 1911, with an article featuring Princeton defeating Yale for the season’s title, with Baker mentioned, along with 5 additional newsprint clippings featuring the gridiron legend.
The full section of the Boston Herald exhibits just light toning along with fold lines and small edge tears, with the remaining clippings showing heavy toning, with a pair featuring hockey including an advertisement to see Baker play in Pittsburgh.
Earning almost mythical status and heavily collected despite the intervening century since his passing, Hobart Amory Hare Baker was born in Pennsylvania just before the close of the Victorian era, in 1892. Hailing from a prominent Philadelphia family and the epitome of an attractive blond-haired All-American, Hobey excelled at sport while attending St. Paul's School in Concord, later starring on both the ice rink and gridiron for Princeton. Three successful years would be spent in the Ivy League, with his most notable accomplishments never fumbling a punt for the Tigers, and never losing to Yale. Baker would then add heroics to his growing legend, receiving the Croix de Guerre from the French government for his service as a fighter pilot during the Great War, later losing his life in December of 1918 during a test flight. Widely recognized by contemporaries as one of the greatest natural athletes, Baker would be one of the first nine players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon its founding in 1945, and the only American.
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