Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
This is a classic Lou Gehrig photograph depicting the Iron Man in a relaxed, smiling pose wearing his home pinstripes in Yankee Stadium. On its own this 1934 vintage photograph is a much desired piece, however THIS photo was inscribed by Gehrig to the man who invented the modern bubble gum card! Roy Jay Resch was a troubleshooter employed by the Melon Bank to go in and save troubled companies. In 1932 Resch found himself in Boston where he was tasked with saving the Goudey Gum Company from going under. One of the company-saving ideas Resch presided over was combining bubble gum with cardboard images of baseball players.
Though this simple concept had been used for decades to sell products like tobacco, clothing and Crackerjacks, the 244 card series Goudey issued in 1933 was the first modern baseball card set. The colorful artwork on the cards were like nothing ever done before and was so successful Goudey made plans to produce another set for 1934. To make the cards even more special, Resch approached the best slugger in each league to endorse the new card set: Chuck Klein, winner of the 1933 Triple Crown and Lou Gehrig who would win the Triple Crown in the upcoming season. The bottom of each of the 96 cards would carry the slogan "Chuck Klein says-" or "Lou Gehrig says-" and the reverse would feature a short paragraph about the featured player in Lou or Chuck's own words. That Resch worked closely with Lou Gehrig to secure his endorsement is evident in this spectacular signed photo the ballplayer presented to Goudey's president. Written in pencil it reads: "To Roy - May I always be deserving of your friendship- Sincerely Lou Gehrig". The inscription though light is clear and Lou's signed name appears on the lightest part of the background, giving it nice contrast.
The photograph has been mounted to a thick board and has some slight surface dings on the right side of Gehrig's face. There is some wear on the edges which when framed would most likely be covered up. A very important signed Gehrig photo and perhaps the penultimate addition to the 1934 Goudey Gum card set. PSA/DNA has encapsulated and graded this photo a near mint 7 (V02701) and comes with a signed and notarized Letter of Authenticity from Roy Jay Resch's grandson.
Please note printed catalog errantly refers to it being signed in green ink instead of pencil.