Nice lot of Connie Mack and Philadelphia Athletics material from the early 1940's including a great 2 page handwritten letter, an Al Simmons signed Christmas card, and a 1940 A's team signed baseball. Items originate from a relative of long time A's outfielder "Indian Bob" Johnson.
1) 3/10/42 two page hand written letter from Connie Mack to Johnson on Hotel Angelina, Anaheim, California stationary. The Athletics held Spring training in California in 1942. Mack talks about the problems created by the war and goes into detail in answering Johnson's salary demands. "...ten thousand dollars is big money today - it may not seem so big to those who have plenty and can afford to take a chance - our club unfortunately cannot take that chance - therefore we can do no better than the terms already offered"... He further goes on saying he can offer a series of bonuses tied to the Athletics attendance. He adds "Our club can only break even by having a home attendance of 500,000". Beautiful 9-10/10 brown/black ink 2" Connie Mack signature. Letter in outstanding condition with the usual pair of folds. Original mailing envelope in about good condition also included.
2) Near perfect 9-10/10 black ink 2 1/4" Al Simmons signature on a vintage Christmas card. Card displays in great shape but back has damage from being glued in an album. The page which has the Simmons autograph is separate from the back and does not have any damage either front or back.
3) Reach Official League BB signed during 1940 Spring Training by 21 members of the Philadelphia Athletics. Players are: Beckman, Berry, Brucker, Caster, F. Chapman, s. Chapman, Collins(HOF, SS), Dean, Gantenbein, Hayes, Johnson, Mack(HOF, SS), McCrabb, McNamara, Moses, Nagel, Nelson, Newsome, Ross, 2 unidentified. Clean, unused, slightly off white ball with 2-5/10- black ink signatures. Ball has the additional notation "3-9-40" By Carol Johnson", Bob Johnson's wife.
4) Four 3 3/4" by 6" black and white photos taken of the Athletics at Spring Training in Anaheim. Two are of Al Simmons, one of Connie Mack, and one of the Athletics lined up along the first and third base lines before a game. All in excellent except the A's team which has some creasing and a 1" tear in the lower left corner.
5) 7 2 3/4" by 4 5/8" black and white photos of some type of celebration honoring Connie Mack at Shibe park. Two photos show some sort of large, what appears to be metal, plack with a speaker then Connie Mack right behind. One photo shows large banners for the 1929, 1930, and 1931 World Championship Philadelphia Athletics teams hanging on the right field fence . Another shows Mack shaking hands with a man in a suit while several players, dressed in older uniforms stand in the background. Finally, there are 3 photos of 5 older players dressed in vintage uniforms standing together in a row. Photos all in excellent condition.
6) A George Burke portrait photo of Connie mack in vest and tie without coat. Photo about VG with some creasing, tack holes at top two corners, small dark stain at lower left corner, and light stain at collar.
LOA from PSA/DNA.