This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/28/2013
This is an absolutely stunning grouping of 44 different mostly Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt 8-by-10-inch photos chronicling the activities of the famed Academy of Sport engineered by Christy Walsh as part of the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. A quarter of a century later, it would welcome yet another World's Fair and an initially comically inept major league franchise, but in 1939 Walsh showed he was a man way ahead of his times as he managed to get a boatload of the greatest stars of the period to take part in instructional programs that captivated fans at a World's Fair that already had attractions galore for an eager audience. Walsh, Babe Ruth's agent and the man who helped fashion the mythology surrounding the Babe, fashioned a program that featured many of the top stars. All but one of the horizontal images include official stamping on the back that proclaims: Photo from Academy of Sport. World's Fair, New York, Christy Walsh, Director of Sports, and a second stamping that notes Photos by M. Wegweiser. The roster of stars featured includes: Babe Ruth (X 2), Hank Greenberg, Bob Feller, Connie Mack (3),Gabby Hartnett, Bill Dickey, Chuck Klein, Paul Waner, Arky Vaughn, and Lefty Gomez, plus Augie Galan, Stan hack, Red Rolfe, Bucky Walters, George Case, King Kong Keller, Pete Reiser, Freddy Fitzsimmons, Gus Mancuso, Frank DeMaree, Eldon Auker, Billy Werber, Paul Derringer and Fred Hutchinson. In short, just about anybody you might want to name from the pantheon of stars in the 1930s.