Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Spring 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/21/2011
The legendary Spalding logo is stamped on the heel of this incredible 19th century sports artifact. This circa 1880s/1890s wood stick was used to play ice polo, an American precursor to ice hockey. This beauty measures a shade over 40" from the tip of its curved blade to the top of the shaft. The Spalding trademark is stamped upside down on one side of the blade of this one-piece rarity, with “NO.” and “A” on either side of the famous “A.G. Spalding & Bros, A.D. 1876” baseball logo. Played with a round ball and a much shorter stick than those used in hockey, ice polo was a popular frozen pond game in the United States until ice hockey overtook it in the late 1800s and early part of the 20th century. The game was a favoured outdoor activity in New England among college athletes before ice hockey was imported from Canada and took root. This vintage ice polo stick with squared edges is fully intact. To note are chips along both all of the blade’s edges, with a small crack on one of the upper edges near the heel. The stick has a darker look to the wood along the finish, which runs to just above the vintage twine wrapped around the shaft which was secured by nails at either end. The top end of the shaft has a lighter, unfinished tone. This remarkable ice polo stick is truly a museum-worthy piece, one which will surely interest a variety of hockey enthusiasts.
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