Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction March 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/29/2011
One of the greatest finds in the history of the hockey card hobby is what this 100-year treasure can be considered, for it was with this ancient printing stone that Imperial Tobacco's landmark first set of hockey cards was produced. The stone, measuring 9" by 11" by just over 2" thick and weighing some 25 pounds, features all of the names, numbers and card back template designs used to produce the famous and coveted C56 set! Since the type of limestone used as a base back in the day was rather expensive, as was quality stone (from Europe), almost every square inch was used and then many were scraped down, re-sanded and used again. That this one survived in such exceptional condition is mind-boggling. The numbers on the stone include the "No 37" of the rare Newsy Lalonde salesman sample card, as well as the C60 lacrosse card back template design and some of those players' names. Additionally, the presence of other company logos helps to answer the long unanswerable question as to where the C56 cards were produced. Many had believed that it was in England, but the design on the printing stone of a Cowan's chocolate bar wrapper and a Toronto Chemical Works logo reveal that Canada was indeed the birthplace of the cards. The rookie cards of immortals Lalonde, Art Ross, Lester Patrick and Cyclone Taylor were all made possible by this fascinating piece. Litterly the cornerstone(!) of a Hall of Fame-caliber vintage card collection, this astonishning artifact, in many experts' opinion, is the most important one-of-one ever discovered!
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