Since I did the book I have come across this style of pin. I have 2-3 of them, as I recall, but not of this player. They are all slightly larger in diameter than the traditional large PM10 pins. Like many pins, they raise more questions than they answer. Here are some of them:
1. The most distinguishing characteristic of these pins is they feature an "action shot" of the player. I can't recall other pins like that.
2. The name of the player is not in block letters, but in script (presumably the player's autograph). Unusual, but not unique, as a series of early color pins from the late '60s or early '70s (about 3.25" in diameter) had the same feature.
3. None of the players were the stars of the era, or even their own team.
These pins are not reproductions. Who would make these pins, why were they made, and how would they be acquired? Possibly as a premium along with some purchase, but premiums typically have small diameters. Sold as souvenirs at stadiums? Quite possibly, but why have more of these pins not surfaced before? How did these players get selected for production? Wouldn't Mel Ott or Carl Hubbell have greater sales appeal? Does anyone recognize the image of this player from a baseball card?
There are basically two ways to trace the evolution of a pin: 1) production to distribution (sales); or 2) vice versa. Both halves of the puzzle have to "fit" each other. I generally prefer the second way, i.e., first trying to understand why this pin would have been made, and the likely context for its distribution. Alternatively, you could start with the production end (e.g., the union bug), and then try to fathom the who, why, when, and where, given you are holding the "what".
I have no concrete reason to conclude these pins are fantasies. But the answers to the questions raised would go a very long way toward understanding the origin of these pins. Furthermore, who is to say that a union worker on his lunch break in 1938 who used the manufacturing process in the factory to produce a few pins of his favorite players has contributed something of less appeal than commissioned pins sold by vendors at a ballpark?
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06-17-2009, 07:31 PM
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