Spalding "Skippy Skinner" Poster, ca. 1930
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GUEST:
I got this at auction over 20 years ago. My career has been with parks and recreation, and we, you know, provide a lot of programs for kids. I bought it and hung it in my office, and left it there for the last 20 years. I just retired recently. Sometimes we start to lose focus. We get so caught up in the day-to-day. I always liked this, because it reminded me it really is about the kids, and not about uniforms and trophies and all the other things.
APPRAISER:
Exactly. So when you see this kid, what do you think of?
GUEST:
I think of sandlot, Saturday afternoon, let's just have some fun.
APPRAISER:
It's as simple and as easy as it should be, right?
GUEST:
Absolutely.
APPRAISER:
A great childhood. This poster is all about perspective.
GUEST:
It is, yes, absolutely is.
APPRAISER:
This kid actually has a name.
GUEST:
Oh, really? Great.
APPRAISER:
This kid's name is Skippy Skinner.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
And Skippy Skinner was a comic strip that was produced from approximately 1923 to 1945.
GUEST:
I'll be darned.
APPRAISER:
By that guy.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Percy Crosby. He developed Skippy Skinner. And he's a fifth grader. This comic strip produced in the '20s, he was known as, like, one of the first characters that wasn't an animated animal or a caricature like Popeye the Sailor Man. He was, like, a real-life kid who lived in the city. He wore this hat, he wore this coat, and he got into a lot of trouble. And he loved baseball, but he wasn't always so good at it. I think that this poster was probably most likely done somewhere in the early to mid '30s. We've never even heard of this kid today. He's not well-known. Yet he was huge in his heyday. They merchandised dolls and toys after him. And a certain peanut butter that started in 1932...
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
...took its name.
GUEST:
I'll be darned.
APPRAISER:
Which even started a trademark battle.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
So Skippy was, like, the hottest thing in the late '20s, early '30s. One movie that was done, a novel, a radio series. He was a cool dude. So that's why Spalding bats used this, licensed him, for this poster, and hired Crosby to do it for them. It's a really rare poster.
GUEST:
Oh, good.
APPRAISER:
You have baseball and Spalding bats, and you have Skippy.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Even though you've got some condition issues up here and here... You bought it framed?
GUEST:
Yes, I did.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and how much did you pay for it?
GUEST:
I think I paid $50. It was not over $50, I know that.
APPRAISER:
Okay, I would put an insurance value on it of $5,000.
GUEST:
Really? Wow. Holy smoke. Wow. All the things that could have happened to that, the way I treated it. (laugh)
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