Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction June 2018
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/19/2018
Atop its wool contemporaries in sheer importance and tantamount to a well-aged fine wine with absolutely breathtaking aesthetics along with an intoxicating, almost mesmerizing mythical aura, we have what serves as one of the hobby’s premier specimens, with a signed Chicago Black Hawks wool sweater worn by legendary superstar Bobby Hull during his inaugural NHL season of 1957-58. Revered by the collecting cognoscenti as one of the games all-time greatest, an endless parade of awards and accomplishments were won by The Golden Jet during his NHL tenure including the Lester Patrick, Lady Byng, Hart Memorial and Art Ross Trophies. Over 1800 points were also scored (NHL and WHA), with enshrinement occurring within the pantheon of hockey gods in 1983 for the Pointe Ann native.
Originally acquired by Jerry Del Giudice when the Hawks were cleaning out their lockers after winning the Stanley Cup in 1961, the jersey was then gifted to his nephew Joe Serpico for his tenth birthday, June 15th 1961. Del Giudice served as barber to Black Hawks players for many years, with an accompanying letter of provenance from Serpico attesting to this history. A Sammy Frager Midwest Gym Chicago label remains affixed to the inside hem, along with a size “48” swatch. Featuring an especially attractive polychrome Indian head team crest with chain-stitched detailing, “16” appears over the sleeves and verso in black tackle twill, with layered tomahawk sleeve crests in matching material. A thin black collar has also been utilized, along with six eyelet configuration on tie-neck construction. Hull's signature in black marker has been placed between the collar and team crest. Marks are visible over the lower front, with a few spots of paint transfer including over the right shoulder. There are also at least 15 team repairs spread throughout, with pilling also visible in numerous areas.
Sold at auction earlier this year as a 1958-59 example, photography shows that the Hawks first wore sweaters with black collar laces earlier-on in the 1957-58 season, changing to white (like our example) later in the season. The later images from 1957-58 also show no white colour within the eye on the team crest (again like our example), with this trait showing up on sweaters the following season. Lastly, the placement of our tomahawk crests sitting just above the black striping bands matches imagery from 1957-58, with the tops of the tomahawks aligned evenly with the bands on sweaters worn the following season, 1958-59. Our catalog imagery will also show Floyd Curry within one of the photo-match images, with this further attesting to use only during Hull’s rookie campaign, as Curry’s final NHL season was 1957-58.
A numeric image from March of 1958 has been matched to the uneven sewing thread on the left edge of the "1" of "16" on the left sleeve, and to the long loose black thread on the top right area of the "1". A second image from March of 1958 has been matched to the same uneven sewing thread on the left edge of the "1" of "16" on the left sleeve and to the long loose black thread on the top right area of the "1", as well as to the partially washed-out group of black marks located on the right of the "16" on the right sleeve. Ringing all the bells and whistles when combining both the garment’s unaltered appearance with its UNBELIEVABLE surviving condition, the colours remain completely vibrant throughout - especially the breathtaking team crest – with absolutely no obtrusive or unsettling damage or wear… amazing! This once-in-a-lifetime offering will be accompanied by considerable documentation including an LOA from Classic Auctions as well as the aforementioned letter of provenance from Joe Serpico, along with additional LOAs including examples for the Hull signature from both PSA/DNA and SGC.
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