A recent British blog post led us to an interesting site that is sub-titled “Boxing Memorabilia from the 1880s”.

Run by an [unnamed] sports afficionado, the site has posters, tickets, programs, pennants and other items.  It would appear (by the subtitle) that he (or she) initially started collecting Boxing Ephemera, but has now moved into Wrestling, Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Olympics and now even Political/Campaign memorabilia.

Perhaps one of the more interesting is this envelope, dated Feb. 25, 1975, which was mailed from Zaire to a church in Springfield, MO.  The envelope is embalzoned with 7 Republique du Zaire postage stamps depicting the famous fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali on September 25th, 1974. The fight, in Kinshasa, Zaire, was titled The Rumble in the Jungle and was the now well known Don King’s first venture as a professional boxing promoter

This fight has since become one of the most famous fights of all time because it resulted in Ali regaining the Heavyweight title and it was after this fight that Ali once again told the world he was the greatest.

Another item that caught my eye was this Babe Ruth All America Athletic Underwear label and advertisement for sale of the label, an original box and a 14″ mini baseball bat.

Ruth was not only the greatest baseball player in history but apparently also the first athlete in any sport to become a mini-conglomerate. There never was a product that Ruth wouldn’t have considered endorsing.

At various points in his career he endorsed not only Babe Ruth Underwear but also Bambino Tobacco, Babe Ruth Gum, Ruth’s Home Run Candy, Louisville Slugger bats and numerous other items.

Even though Ruth has been dead for almost 50 years, his heirs continue to derive significant income from the licensing of his name and image to countless ads and products.

If you have an interest in sports, sporting events and most particularly – sports ephemera – then a trip over to this site is in order.  And our thanks to the Sell, Sell blog for the initial pointer.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

Tom
Click to see my current Bonanzle items

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Delcampe Auctions, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, Babe Ruth

As we await tomorrow’s opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, many Ephemera collectors are also anxiously awaiting the onslaught of collectibles that will emanate from this years games.  But the big money is not in the stamps and pins, it is in the medals, torches, and “victors’ sweat stains”.

Conde Nast in its Portfolio.com website says:

It’s too soon to tell which athletes’ belongings will have legs this year, and experts certainly don’t put much stock in the heaps of official goods. “They’ll make great mementos, but they won’t appreciate,” says Allen of the record 300 products Beijing has licensed to help offset its (also record) $40 billion in infrastructure and organizational costs. Indeed, thousands of Olympic pins, stamps, postcards, and Coca-Cola cans are available on eBay—from games past and present—for less than $20. And while ticket stubs from the storied 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. versus Soviet Union hockey game can fetch $500, game ephemera, too, is best tucked away with your photo albums.

While that may be true for those who make a living on buying and selling Ephemera, there are many collectors out there who will be more than happy to have a copy of the official program or event brochure or ticket stub in their personal collection.

If you have an ephemeral item from one of the past Winter or Summer Olympics in your collection and would like to describe it, have it shown here at Encore-Ephemera, please contact me. I’d be more than pleased to highlight it in one of our upcoming blog articles.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

Tom
Click to see my current eBay items

Technorati tags: eBay, Encore Ephemera, Olympics.