Historical Hockey and Sports Memorabilia Auction December 2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/13/2022
Spending 25 years wearing the winged wheel logo of the Detroit Red Wings and becoming the NHL leader in points all-time at the time of his first retirement, Gordie Howe would help lead the Red Wings to four (4) Stanley Cup’s over the course of his tenure in Motown and be a larger-than-life figure for the community. Offered here, is the original number retirement banner for Howe that was raised to the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Measuring roughly 57” x 99”, the banner is made of a lightweight stretchy red fabric with a white stripe along the bottom. Displaying “Howe” and his famous number “9” in white tackle twill, the years in which he started and finished his Red Wings tenure (1946-47 - 1970-71) are sewn to the white stripe in red twill numbers. Five eyelets are found that the top of the banner which remains in excellent condition and shows spots of stains with yellowing/toning and staining to the bottom white stripe also observed. Double sided with the same design on both sides, Howe has signed the top of one of the large number 9’s with a black ink signature that displays with some bleeding. Of note, the banner and all its details match when compared to photos/video of the banner when it was originally raised to the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena including font of numbers/name and their placement/size in correlation to each other as well as the number of eyelets and their placement. Hailing from the collection of former Red Wings Zamboni driver of 51 years, the banner was given to him by the Red Wings when the banner was updated/changed and a signed LOA from him will accompany the piece.
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