October Legends Closing October 29
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/30/2016
The American Basketball League (ABL) debuted in 1925 as the first attempt to form a national association of touring teams. Nine teams between Boston and Chicago answered the call that first year, and the Philadelphia Warriors joined the ABL for its second season, 1926/27. Owned by gangster Max "Boo Boo" Hoff and managed by future Basketball Hall of Famer Eddie Gottlieb, the squad was composed of several stars from the non-league Philadelphia SPHAs (an acronym for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) such as Stretch Meehan and Chick Passon. Here you see that very early Warriors team on a virtually never-seen pocket mirror, measuring 1-3/4" x 2-3/4". The reason we are able to definitively date this mirror to one of the franchise's first two seasons (1926/27 or 1927/28) is that the team's listed schedule does not include the Trenton Bengals or Paterson Crescents, which both joined the ABL in 1928/29. The mirror itself shows signs of aging and is a little loose, but the all-important team photo side is exquisitely preserved in Near Mint condition.