8 First Day of Issue Envelopes with a Babe Ruth Stamp and Photo or Illustration.
Lot 264. 8 First Day of Issue Envelopes with a Babe Ruth Stamp and Photo or Illustration. The U.S. Postal Service issued the Babe Ruth stamp on July 6, 1983, in Chicago. The date marks the 50th anniversary of the first Baseball All-Star game. Ruth contributed a two-run home run as the American League defeated the National, 4-2, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. All eight of the 6 ½” x 3 5/8” envelopes have a July 6, 1983 Chicago postmark. There are four different envelopes, all with the Ruth stamp, among the eight. Three identified as “Double Play Cards-1” have an artist’s portrait of Ruth and a representation of a 1935 Ruth promotional offer from Quaker Oats. Two are “Double Play Cards-2” with a photo of Ruth pitching for the Boston Red Sox and noting that he “smashed an unprecedented 29 home runs” that season. Two more are “Double Play Cards-3” reproducing the front cover of the April 20, 1935 “Literary Digest,” which presents Ruth as a batter. One envelope is from a different series, J:M, and marked as “3 of 10.” Below a photo of Ruth batting, it identifies him as “The Red Sox Home Run king who astonished the baseball world by clouting twenty-nine homers in 1919.” Very nice Ruth collection. Ex-m. Winning Bid $20.
