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View Full Version : Vintage Ty Cobb Pocket Mirror



slidekellyslide
06-07-2006, 08:39 PM
Anyone ever seen this one before? Picked it up off of ebay recently.

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1669/wednesday001small2us.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

mjkm90
06-07-2006, 09:04 PM
Can you post a pic of the back. Based on the creases around the rim, it looks recently made.

slidekellyslide
06-07-2006, 10:35 PM
Ahhhh...I just deleted the photos from my computer and the auction no longer shows the pics....I think it's definitely old...not sure how old...the edges of the rim are rusted and they don't appear to be tampered with....I also picked it up off a very reputable dealer. If I get a chance tomorrow I will take pics of the reverse.

slidekellyslide
06-07-2006, 10:37 PM
I should add that the laminate appears to be celluloid and I'm not sure how someone would get hold of that today.

mjkm90
06-08-2006, 04:42 AM
Is it a straight pin, or does it move under a clasp like the newer pins. I'm not sure how you can test if it's celluloid. If you look at the right side, you can see an edge of the photo. It may be a cut from a book or old periodical. I'm just trying to look at all the options for you to consider on the pin. You should send a photo of it to the ebayer springdale59. I think you will get a definate rulling if he replies.

Mike H

mjkm90
06-08-2006, 04:47 AM
FYI, I just looked through Muchinsky's book and there isn't one single player pinback in the entire book from Cobb's playing days.

slidekellyslide
06-08-2006, 10:13 AM
This is a pocket mirror, not a pinback.

slidekellyslide
06-08-2006, 10:51 AM
Here's a shot of the mirrored side:

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/7451/cobb002small6kj.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

mjkm90
06-08-2006, 05:14 PM
My mistake sorry. I don't know beans about mirrors. Who made them and when?

slidekellyslide
06-08-2006, 05:19 PM
Mirrors like this were popular in the early 1900's up to the 1930's...If i had to guess I would say this was not mass produced, but someone who liked Cobb had it made...probably late 1930's.

Mike Heffner
06-08-2006, 08:38 PM
Hi Guys,

The picture that appears on the mirror also appears in one or several of the Ty Cobb books that have been written on him. I do not recall which book (s). I also remember seeing the photo in a periodical. The "Grant" that Cobb is referring to in the personalization is Grantland Rice. My point is that if you can find the book in which this appeared you will be able to date the mirror (or at least know that it was not made before the date that the book was published). I would have to agree that it certainly looks like a photo clipped from a book and made into a mirror.

Mike Heffner

MGHProductions
06-08-2006, 10:46 PM
Guys,
That photo was sold by lelands in june 2004. I'll attach a link, if it doesn't work, just search Ty Cobb on lelands sight and you'll see it.
Matt

http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?lot=1049&auctionid=405

Mike Heffner
06-09-2006, 07:29 AM
I must be getting old! We did sell the original of the photo in 2004. I checked the old catalog and the original signed photo came with a clipping of the photo from the book. It was Grantland Rice's biography, "The Tumult and the Shouting" in which it was pictured.

Mike Heffner

slidekellyslide
06-09-2006, 10:25 AM
Well it certainly looks like this photo came from that book, and unless this photo had been published somewhere else before that book it would place it to the earliest at 1954. Thanks for the help.