Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2019
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2019
A trio of volumes that feature All-American Princeton superstar and World War I hero Hobey Baker, we have a 1914 Princeton Class Day graduation program, with Baker listed in the class list of 1914. This is followed by a Fifth Year Book of the Class of 1914 hardcover, with a portrait image of Baker along with a photograph of his plane crash. The third volume is a 25th Year Book for the Class of 1914 hardcover, with a photo of Baker at his commencement ceremony receiving his diploma, along with a class photo (Baker must be in there somewhere) and his mention in the Necrology section.
The Class Day program is 5” x 6” with leather cover and affixed Princeton seal, with just heavy even toning to the interior pages. The Fifth Year Book is 6 ¼” x 9 ¼”, with gold-embossed cover and 130 pages. The spine is somewhat brittle, with some foxing to interior pages and a few blemishes to the covers. Finally, the 25th Year Book is is also 6 ¼” x 9 ¼”, with toning to the interior and some rubbing to the boards, especially along edges.
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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