Offered is a circa 1910 American Chicle “Fad-A-Way” Ball Gum advertising and retail display box, featuring the image of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. The 2 x 5 x 7½ -inch cardboard box reinforced with red dark red tape has a glass interior cover that stored the baseball-shaped gum balls. The interior of the cardboard lid has a purple, white, red, yellow and royal blue paper label with an illustration of Matthewson throwing a pitch in a white uniform with blue pinstripes, red stirrups and blue shoes at the left. The text on the label reads “Signal for Fad A Way Ball Gum and Your Troubles Are Due for A Strike Out 2 for 1 Cent”. The left side of the lid has a white ribbon “hinge” while the top center of the interior glass lid has a red ribbon “pull.” The bottom of the box is brown cardboard with some signs of wear and appears to have been repainted. This item is accompanied by 53 original American Chicle Fad A Way gum balls, each with a caption for an individual baseball “play.”  Mathewson played 17 seasons with the New York Giants from 1900 through 1916. He was among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history and ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching categories, including wins, shutouts, and ERA. Mathewson was highly regarded in the baseball world during his lifetime. As he was a clean-cut, intellectual collegiate (a graduate of Bucknell), his rise to fame brought a better name to the typical ballplayer, who usually spent his time gambling, boozing, or womanizing. Mathewson was the first true “Face of Baseball” to the American public, with his image gracing numerous products, including books, magazines, tobacco and sporting goods as well as this item. The American Chicle Co. was incorporated in Trenton, New Jersey in 1899, and manufactured chewing gum at factories throughout the Northeast through the late 1990s and was best known for the “Chiclets” chewing gum brand.

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