A unique, well-traveled piece of Michigan athletics memorabilia showed up on eBay this week. It’s described to be a ticket stub from a game between Michigan baseball and a university team from Tokyo, played in Japan in 1932. At first glance, I laughed thinking there was no way a college team traveled to Japan during the throes of the Great Depression to play baseball. And the auction description didn’t help sell it for me: 1932 Michigan University vs Meiji University tour ticket stub from game 1 played at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. From an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, it all started with Japan teams doing a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher got an invite from the Meiji University inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of goodwill”. Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the trip and so they headed west, then more west, until they reach the Far East in 1929: After playing several games on the West Coast and one in Hawaii, the Wolverines arrived in Japan for a 30-day visit. Lodged at the Imperial Hotel, the 14 team members and Coach Fisher and his family were received lavishly…
-
-
For Good Measure: 1997 Nebraska Cornhusker Ring
Days after I noted that the 1997 Michigan national championship ring was offered on eBay for $3,600 but yielded no takers, lookie here. A seller has countered with a 1997 Nebraska “national championship” ring asking for $2,500 or best offer. I think that settles the debate over this once and for all. (Well, not really, but I think this is about as relevant as pointing out the hypothetical Vegas line on a hypothetical game between Michigan and Nebraska). Anyway, here’s what the Cornhusker version looks like, note the likeness of Coach Tom Osborne on the side: The seller claims this version is authentic and was originally owned by one of the coaches. Here’s the full auction.
-
J. Fred Lawton & ‘Varsity’ (1911)
Probably based on the posts on this site around history and memorabilia, I receive the occasional email from folks asking where to find an old item, or more frequently, asking to put a value on something. So I’m like those twins on Antiques Roadshow who price out furniture. Reader Meg sent this note to me recently: I have a signed copy of Roses That Bloomed in the Snow, a book of poetry by J. Fred Lawton. Is it worth anything? Good question. I’ll get to the value in a minute but first, a little about Lawton. From a umich.edu page on the history of the Michigan Marching Band: During the fall of 1911, two Michigan students — J. Fred Lawton and Earl Vincent Moore — decided that the University needed a new song. (Since Michigan was no longer a member of the Western Fooball Conference, the words “…champions of the West…” as sung in the Victors seemed inappropriate.) Together, they wrote the fight song, Varsity, which was an immediate hit at the weekly Friday night pep rally in University Hall at which Moore played his new song on the Frieze Memorial Organ. Fischer was in attendance that night and, upon hearing Varsity, recognized its appeal. He agreed to play the march the next day at the Michigan-Case football game. Yes,…
-
Coaching Legends in Atlantic City (1957)
This edition of eBay Watch takes a look at a special pint glass. Like I’ve found with many of these memorabilia auctions the description doesn’t quite make sense and certainly doesn’t do the item justice: Up for bid we are listing 9 vintage football glasses all in mint condition. This one is Herbert ” Fritz ” Crisler from the University of Michigan 1957. The top of the glass reads Atlantic City National Football Clinic. The back lists the Clinic staff members. It measures 5-3/4″ tall. Great piece for the collector. Paypal preferred or money order only. Yes, it’s an old pint glass for a football clinic with famous Michigan coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler on it. That got my attention. But on the back of the glass it lists the rest of the staff for the event and it’s remarkable. Here’s a photo of the piece which recently sold on eBay for $15: Check out some of the legends that attended the conference in the city where the sand turns to gold from March 11-14, 1957: The top of the list of coaches is the great Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, who at the time was still the head man at Texas A&M. 1957 was his final season for the Aggies as his “momma called” him back to Alabama where he…
-
Stubs from Michigan football games
A big-volume seller on the auction site is dumping a bunch of vintage Michigan football ticket stubs. The offering is pretty impressive. What’s not impressive is the seller’s understanding of the significance of some of these items. Witness the (YAWN) description of the ho-hum silly little ticket stub from the insignificant 1969 Michigan-Ohio State game, you might have heard of it: Up for auction is a November 22nd 1969 ticket stub from the college football game that featured Ohio State University vs the University of Michigan. The ticket stub measures 2 1/4″ by 4″ and is in nice overall condition, as pictured. Yep, that’s when the game was played. Fortunately for these fools, the most significant game in the Michigan modern era won’t escape the eye of Michigan memorabilia hawks and it’ll fetch a nifty price, despite the poor marketing. Here’s an image of the stub, probably not in the best condition but nobody stuck their stubs in lanyards back then: 1969 OSU-Michigan Stub Here’s a few more of what’s for sale, you can click the image to view the full auction: 1937 MSU-Michigan Stub, full auction 1929 OSU-Michigan Stub, full auction 1927 Navy-Michigan Stub, full auction 1930 Minnesota-Michigan Stub, full auction
-
WPAG Wall Clock (1940s)
This week on eBay this beauty popped up on eBay--it's a 1940s-era WPAG wall clock (above).
-
Affectionately, Fritz Crisler (1968)
Check out this late 1960s unique item-it's a program from some sort of reception or dinner for Fritz Crisler. This one is pretty cool as Crisler signed it for a gentleman named George writing, “To George, a grand person, Best Wishes all ways, Affectionately Fritz Crisler."
-
eBay Watch: 1976 Orange Bowl Stub
Next installment of eBay Watch features a somewhat unique piece of memorabilia from the Bo era, a ticket stub from the 1976 Orange Bowl game where Michigan faced Oklahoma. Here ‘s the auction, with a starting bid of $9.99 waiting for a taker, and here’s a snapshot of the stub being auctioned: For what it’s worth, here’s a cleaner version of how the ticket looked thanks to ticketmuseum.com, you can see they got a jump on the bicentennial craze right off the bat (1/1/76): The game holds a historic significance as the first non-Rose Bowl invite in Big Ten history (in the modern era). Under pressure from the Big Ten, much due to the dominance of Michigan and Ohio State over the past few years, the Big Ten decided that teams in the 1975 season would be allowed to play in a post-season game other than the Rose Bowl. The lock at the top by concerned the Big Ten, as these rivals cornered the market on recruiting pitches about bowl games. For Michigan fans, the game pretty much sucked and paled in comparison to the masterpiece put on in the 2000 Orange Bowl by Tom Brady and Alabama. Freshman Ricky Leach and the Wolverines lost 14-6 in a defensive battle struggle dominated by OU’s Selmon brothers, Leroy and Dewey, who…
