Opening Day Auction 2014
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/26/2014
In September 1949, “The Joe DiMaggio Show” began on CBS radio, but was scrapped after its 26 week run, ending in March 1950. At this point NBC came in and began the show on television, capitalizing on DiMaggio’s immense popularity and the new media outlet, which was beginning to become more mainstream America. One of the major sponsors of this show was the Lionel Trains, another American tradition beginning to hit the ever burgeoning middle class. To advertise this new TV show with its new sponsor, these four-page brochures were produced advertising “Joe DiMaggio on Television” as “LIONEL PRESENTS THE FIRST JOE DIMAGGIO TELEVISION SHOW”. Measuring 11 x 17 inches completely open, the piece contains three separate images of DiMaggio, with the cover exhibiting “The Yankee Clipper” admiring another long blast. The “reverse” has another DiMaggio head shot with promotional information regarding DiMaggio “making a personal appearance in your toy department during the Christmas season!” It is readily apparent NBC and Lionel were pushing the show immediately after taking over from CBS. This item is attractively framed to allow all pages to be viewed, with the more colorful side (outer pages) to be displayed. This item remains in EX/MT condition with one light crease (barely noticeable) with a complete original spine. As these promotional brochures were for promotion and tossed away, they are rarely seen anymore, but were a confluence of three very popular American traditions – baseball, the beginning of television and Lionel trains.