Lot # 210: c.1909 Hopkins Bros. Champion Lady Baseball Club Postcard Pair w/J.L. Wilkinson (HOF)

Category: Other

Starting Bid: $50.00

Bids: 17 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer, 2023 Premier Auction",
which ran from 8/2/2023 12:00 PM to
8/19/2023 9:00 PM



The Hopkins Bros. Champion Lady Baseball Club is presented in a pair of real photo postcards, one with an October 1909 postmark and short message, the other blank but with tape remnants on the address side. The postally used card is in better condition, with corner crease and some smudging while the other has a large crease running through the image as the main detractor.

Pictured in the back row of the postcard flanked by players (both male and female incidentally) is J.L Wilkinson. Probably best known as the founder of the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues Wilkinson's female baseball team was founded in 1909 and toured the Midwest by train. By 1912 he had founded the All-Nations Team in Des Moines Iowa which consisted of players from a variety of ethnic backgrounds as well as Hall of Famer Jose Mendez. Wilkinson took the best players from his All Nations team as well as an all-black US Army team and founded the Monarchs in 1920 the only white team owner at the time. A visionary he signed Jackie Robinson to his first professional contract in 1945 and his Monarchs were the first pro team to play baseball at night. The image on this postcard is the only known image of Wilkinson in a baseball setting.

Views: 249