Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2020
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2020
Despite a fourth place finish at the conclusion of the 1948-49 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs would easily get by Boston in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the Leafs taking out the Detroit Red Wings in the final, four games to none. Originating from the incomparable autograph collection of E. Robert Hamlyn, we have a photo team-signed by the 1949 Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs. At 8” x 10” and picturing the full club and team management in the official team photo with all names listed beneath, 15 have signed near their respective image, including deceased HOF members Bill Barilko, Hap Day, Turk Broda, Harry Watson, Max Bentley and Ted Kennedy.
The remaining signers include Gardner, Thomson, Lynn, Timgren, Mortson, Boesch, Juzda, Meeker and Sid Smith. There is also something written and smudged over the right border. The signatures have been scripted in black ink (except the Mortson and Day), with smudging to the last couple letters of the Barilko signature, with the Day signature especially light and hard to see. The photo itself exhibits moderate wear, with a number of creases and wrinkles present.
The E. Robert Hamlyn Hockey HOFers Signed Photo and Letter Collection
Beginning life as the passion of one youth growing up in Newfounland during the late-1930s, E. R. Hamlyn was bitten by the collecting bug as a teenager, and began to seek out the signatures of both contemporary and past hockey stars, with his efforts culminating in the world class collection of signed photos and letters that encompass his incomparable autograph collection, with many unique items and extremely rare signatures making up the vast collection.
Through effective letter writing, first to teams, and then when information was received, directly to the players themselves, Hamlyn would request the addressed parties sign a photo he himself would provide, with the overwhelming majority honouring the enthusiastic collector’s wishes. And enamored with the uniforms of both the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans – despite never seeing these teams play in person, Hamlyn had the foresight to seek out the signatures of past retired stars from long forgotten and defunct franchises. The insightful collector also recorded information now invaluable to his collection, with most of the signed letters and photos having dates listed when they were received back signed.
Numerous early Hall of Fame legends make up the one-of-a-kind gathering including signed photos from Sylvio Mantha, George Hainsworth, King Clancy, Cecil "Babe" Dye, George "Buck" Boucher, Jack Ruttan, Barney Stanley, "Bullet" Joe Simpson and others, along with signed letters from Ernie "Moose" Johnson, Ernie Russell, George McNamara, Jack Marshall, Dickie Boon and others. Impossible to duplicate, this is unequivocally the greatest autograph collection that we have handled in our 25 years of service to the collecting community.
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