2019 Winter Auction Closing March 2
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/2/2019
General Foods (later to become Post Cereal) introduced their tasty and nutritious Huskies in 1937 as a viable competitor to General Mills’ Wheaties. Lou Gehrig, at the time, was pitchman for Wheaties, and all he had to do was forsake his expiring contract with General Mills and pose for pictures endorsing the tasty and nutritious Huskies. Thus was consummated a pact between Gehrig and General Foods – a contractual marriage that was shortly unveiled that year. Probably by way of a cereal box invitation, young consumers were urged to prevail upon Huskies’ opportunity to win any among a whole panorama of cool stuff by mailing in box tops – of the tasty and nutritious Huskies. Chicago’s young Martin Reiter seized such an opportunity and, forthwith, he received Lou Gehrig’s pamphlet in the mail. We know this because we’ve got the envelope (about EX/MT) and the once-enclosed pamphlet (slight bends; presents NM). The literature is neatly compact folded into sixths (closing to 3-1/2” x 6-1/4”), and its cover projects a wonderful action shot of Lou. Martin was undoubtedly thrilled, upon opening the little publication that he’d just joined a club peopled with the likes of Jay Berwanger, Tony Lazzeri, Helene Madison, and other celebrities of sport … all he (Martin) had to do to maintain his standing with the “Huskies Club” was collect box tops from the tasty and nutritious Huskies breakfast cereal. Three box tops could be redeemed for a lucky rabbit’s foot, or 84 box tops could net him a first baseman’s mitt. Problem was, the fine print says that the Huskies Club gift promotion would expire on December 31, 1937. The gifts are no more, but the pamphlet and its original mailing envelope remain – nice portrait image of the Iron Horse on the back cover, too. Ex-Bill Mastro collection.