Lot # 6: Newly-Discovered 1949 Aero Service Station Joe DiMaggio (HOF) - PSA PR 1 - Only Known Example - DiMaggio's Rarest Card!

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One of the things that makes sports collecting the most wonderful hobby is the fact that it constantly reveals new mysteries and new discoveries that reshape our understanding of different card issues and establish new rarities. Presented here is such a discovery - a previously unknown card issue and a newly-discovered card of one of the most alluring players of his era: Joe DiMaggio.

Late in 2024, an interesting card made an appearance on eBay - a card of St. Louis catcher Joe Garagiola, closely resembling the obscure 1949 Schumacher Service Station issue but with a tantalizing twist - the advertisement printed on the reverse was for Aero Service Station. No one had ever seen such a card before. Clearly a new discovery, the Aero card shed light on the nature of the Schumacher cards as well, as both brands featured Gulf gasoline. Aero Gulf operated two stations a little over a mile apart from one another in St. Louis, the back advertisement revealing the addresses of the two locations.

Soon after, an astute collector, armed with new knowledge of the issue, unveiled this amazing discovery: a card of Joe DiMaggio, also from the Aero issue. After presenting his extraordinary findings to PSA, along with his research into the card, they elected to recognize the issue and grade the card - currently the only example of any card from the set that they have graded and only the second example of any card from the set known to exist.

The Schumacher cards are known to be extremely rare, with just five examples graded by PSA and only nine different subjects known. The cards were given away with a stick of Curtiss Peppermint Gum attached to the card back - most of the surviving examples still have a bit of wrapper adhered to the card reverse (see the scan in this listing as an example). The two Aero cards - the Garagiola and this DiMaggio - bear evidence of the same. The Aero cards, with identical front layouts to the Schumachers, as well as evidence of the Curtiss gum wrapper on the reverse, make it virtually certain that the issues were regional, sharing identical checklists with advertising for area Gulf stations. Regardless of whether the two issues share a checklist, this is the only DiMaggio card from either set currently known.

PSA has graded the card PR 1 due to heavy surface creasing as well as uneven toning, as well as the evidence of the gum wrapper. The card corners reveal the telltale signs of photo album corners, indicating that the card was once liberated from a photo album of some sort, the discoloration clearly related to contact with the acidic paper pages of old scrapbooks. While the card front features a rudimentary black and white photo with typewritten text, the reverse is printed in two colors (blue and orange), with more advanced typography. The grade is, of course, irrelevant - this is the only known example of a playing days card of the Yankee Clipper, a true rarity and a remarkable discovery.

In an era where it is easy to become jaded with talk of "one of one" manufactured rarities, presented here is a true rarity: a remarkable new discovery of a vintage issue that had long been forgotten by collectors, only the second known card from the set, and the only one to feature a Hall of Famer. An incredible card of Joe DiMaggio from an impossibly rare regional issue, his rarest card.

Size: large
Condition: yes

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