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Description:
Beautifully engraved RARE SPECIMEN certificate from the A. G. Spalding & Bros. Inc. This historic document was printed by the American Banknote Company in 1939 and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company logo between allegorical women. This item has the printed signatures of the Company’s President ( Edwin L. Parker ) and Treasurer ( David Christensen ). This is the first time we have seen this certificate.
Certificate Vignette When youngsters get together for a ball game on a sandlot field, it’s often the child who brings the ball that gets to be the pitcher. That’s the way it has been for generations. That wasn’t usually the case, however, at the Major League Level…except where Albert Goodwill Spalding was concerned. Then again, A.G. Spalding wasn’t your ordinary pitcher. Incredibly, he won 241 of the 301 games he hurled for the Boston Red Stockings and the Chicago White Stockings between 1871 and 1875, frequently working with a ball he had developed. The next year, the future Hall of Famer left the field, but his ball didn’t. A.G. moved into the business world full-time launching what was to become Spalding, today the oldest, full-time sporting goods company in the United States. For 100 years, beginning in 1876, Spalding manufactured the official baseballs used exclusively by the Major Leagues. And, while A.G. Spalding had his roots in baseball, we’re proud of the impact we’ve had on just about every sport played by man or woman. Spalding is determined to continue as the leader in innovations in the sporting goods industry. We have one of the top research and development programs in the business. We don’t think it’s enough for Spalding to be the pioneer in a category. It’s essential to deliver consistent quality to remain ahead of the competition, and Spalding takes extra pride in providing products that are not only first, but also the best. Golf is our biggest business today. Our Top-Flite family of golf balls has been the number one-selling, top-grade brand of golf balls for several years, and our golf club line has acquired a leading position among premium clubs. Spalding has been a dominant force in the golfing field since 1884 when Albert Spalding turned his attentions to that sport. In working with tennis products, he noted that a majority of players blamed poor performance on their rackets, rather than the ball. Believing that the same thinking would hold true for golf, he committed his company to becoming the first U.S. manufacturer of golf clubs. The balls were to come later. SPALDING SPORTS WORLDWIDE Spalding inflated balls — with special emphasis on basketballs — are the Company’s second leading product area. When Dr. Naismith hung his first peach basket in 1891, the players had to make do with a soccerball. Dr. Naismith asked A.G. Spalding to develop a special ball for the game, and it wasn’t long before the official rules of basketball read: "The ball made by A.G. Spalding & Bros. (then the corporate name) shall be the official ball." That same principle's being applied today. Spalding is the official basketball of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Spalding and the NBA have had an excellent relationship since 1983 when the late NBA Commissioner, Larry O’Brien, announced a long-term contract between the two major sport entities. ALBERT GOODWILL SPALDING Albert Goodwill Spalding was born on September 2, 1850 in Byron, Illinois, a small village 90 miles west of Chicago. In 1863, Albert and his family moved to Rockford, Illinois where he attended local schools, finishing afterward at a commercial college in his hometown. While as a young boy, Spalding enjoyed the relatively new game of baseball. He quickly became very skillful at the game, although he did not let it absorb all his time. He finished his school courses and secured a position as a clerk in a retail grocery store in Rockford at a salary of $5.00 a week. While in this position, he managed to find time to continue to play with the Forest City Club of Rockford. Spalding was soon recognized as a very talented ballplayer, and he was offered attractive positions to play in Washington, Cleveland, New York and other cities at annual salaries ranging from $1,500.00 to $2,500.00, amounts considered fabulous in the rather limited baseball world of that time. Though the sudden raise to $2,500.00 was enough to turn the head of any seventeen-year-old boy, his widowed mother and his sister strongly opposed his accepting these offers. Since it would be too much ball and very little business experience, Spalding turned down the offers and accepted a position in a wholesale grocery store in Chicago in 1867. Financial disaster overtook this firm the following winter, and Spalding immediately connected himself with a Chicago insurance company, which also failed several months later. Influenced by these circumstances, he returned to Rockford and accepted positions of bookkeeper in a newspaper office, bookkeeper in an adjoining insurance agent’s office, and pitcher of the Forest City Baseball Club, all of which yielded him an annual income of about $2,000.00. After about one year, all of these concerns practically failed or discontinued business. Though he had nothing to do with the failures of all the businesses he worked for, in 1871 Spalding decided to go against his mother’s wishes and enter into his notable career as a professional ball player. He signed with the Red Stockings of Boston and pitched his team to victory in the pennant race of the National Professional Association during 1872 to 1875. During this time, he was the only pitcher in the Boston club and was regarded as one of the most skillful players in the profession. Over the years, the game of baseball was slowly destructing. Spalding saw gambling, players in collusion, drunkenness, rowdyism — all invading the game he loved, so he de
| Status: For Sale |
Reference#: gspalbrosinc |
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Year:
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