Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction Spring 2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/31/2022
Possibly the first goaltender in history to protect his crease area from intrusion aggressively with his stick, Patrick Joseph Alexander "Paddy" Moran backstopped the iconic Quebec Hockey Club for the majority of his Hall of Fame career, winning consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the Bulldogs in 1912 and 1913. A stand-up goaltender, never dropping to the ice to make a save - typical for the era, Moran was noted for his rough physical play, foreshadowing the much-later careers of Billy Smith and Ron Hextall. Originating from the incomparable autograph collection of E. Robert Hamlyn, we have an extremely rare photo signed by the legendary netminder, with this JUST THE THIRD MORAN SIGNATURE WE HAVE EVER OFFERED IN OVER 25 YEARS. At 8” x 10”, the vintage black and white photo depicts a full-length image of Moran in his Quebec Bulldogs high-neck wool sweater, in early-style pads and gauntlets with trusty built-up one-side stick. Moran has signed the reverse in fountain pen, adding the desirable “Quebec Bulldogs” and “Winners of the Stanley Cup 1911-12 – 12 13” notations, with a stamp placed directly above from noted photographer Turofsky. There are additional typed notes from Hamlyn, including the date he received the photo signed, “October 28th 1959”. The photo is “rolled”, with some clear tape residue over the bottom left front. Accompanying the paramount photo, we have two photocopies of letters of correspondence from 1959 between Hamlyn and Moran, with interesting content, ideal for inclusion with the signed photo. Moran would pass away in 1966 at age 88. A JSA LOA will accompany this utterly rare signed photo.
Beginning life as the passion of one youth growing up in Newfoundland during the late-1930s, ER Hamlyn was bitten by the collecting bug as a teenager, and began to seek out the signatures of both contemporary and past hockey stars, with his efforts culminating in the world class collection of signed photos and letters that encompass his incomparable autograph collection, with many unique items and extremely rare signatures making up the vast collection.
Through effective letter writing, first to teams, and then when information was received, directly to the players themselves, Hamlyn would request the addressed parties sign a photo he himself would provide, with the overwhelming majority honoring the enthusiastic collector's wishes. And enamored with the uniforms of both the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans – despite never seeing these teams play in person, Hamlyn had the foresight to seek out the signatures of past retired stars from long forgotten and defunct franchises. The insightful collector also recorded information now invaluable to his collection, with most of the signed letters and photos having dates listed when they were received back signed.
Numerous early Hall of Fame legends make up the one-of-a-kind gathering including signed photos from Dick Irvin, Steamer Maxwell, Frank Patrick, Clint Benedict, Alec Connell, Duke Keats, Frank Foyston, Moose Goheen and others, along with signed letters from Dickie Boon, Harry Hyland, Jack Marshall, Jack Ruttan, Joe Malone, George Hainsworth, Aurele Joliat, Cy Denneny and others. Impossible to duplicate, this is unequivocally the greatest autograph collection that we have handled in our 25 years of service to the collecting community.
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