1934 Signed Connie Mack Day Program & Tickets
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GUEST:
It belonged to my great-grandmother, and she lived in North Brookfield, and attended the event with my grandmother, and kept everything. And I thought, "Well, this is special." And I thought, "This is what I'll bring to the ROADSHOW."
APPRAISER:
And you did, and you've got the program, and you've got the tickets here. And we have a bonus.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRIASER: If you flip this over, you see the signatures of Connie Mack and the hard-to-read signature here of George M. Cohan.
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
So what did they remember from the day?
GUEST:
Just that North Brookfield is a very small, little village town, and it became 6,000-strong. Everybody came from all around. They had a band. They had parades. And just the red, white, and blue banners everywhere, and it was so festive.
APPRAISER:
And why were they celebrating Connie Mack that day?
GUEST:
Because of the fact that they all played baseball on that small field as young boys. And he's so famous in, in all of New England, but especially living in and born in East Brookfield, but coming to play ball. And getting George M. Cohan-- they called him "Little Georgie"-- to come on the field and play, yeah.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) Well, you know, I find it fascinating, seeing the signatures here, that we think about entertainers and sports figures being friends today. You see that a lot. But they've had a huge history of that. And George M. Cohan and Connie Mack are, are no different than that. Connie Mack, of course, one of the greatest baseball managers of all time.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRIASER: He grew up in East Brookfield.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
And then you have George M. Cohan, who was best known as one of the greatest entertainers and composers on Broadway.
GUEST:
Correct, yeah.
APPRIASER: He created "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Made famous by James Cagney, exactly.
GUEST:
Jimmy-- yeah.
APPRIASER: Who won the Oscar for that performance.
GUEST:
Yes, yes, yup.
BOTH: I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy
APPRAISER:
Exactly. So George M. Cohan loved the part of East Brookfield where he used to spend his summers. Do you know what it was called? Podunk.
GUEST:
(laughing) Oh, of course, Podunk, yes.
APPRAISER:
It was a small village.
GUEST:
Yeah, yes.
APPRAISER:
He loved it. And I can't emphasize this enough, he loved Podunk, but he also called the folks at Podunk Hayseed Hicks. (laughing) And when he went to Broadway, and he was producing and being in vaudeville and producing his plays, he would often use characters that came from "Podunk..."
GUEST:
Podunk.
APPRAISER:
And that's where they were. And these entertainers picked up on it, and Podunk went into the vernacular as a small, dull town.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah. Yup.
APPRAISER:
We all use "Podunk."
GUEST:
Everybody, and my cousin actually lives on Podunk Road in East Brookfield. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
So do they say they're from Podunk?
GUEST:
Yes, very proudly!
APPRAISER:
Well, so, we have this fantastic program. We have this wonderful history, and the value of the two of them together signing this program for Connie Mack's day, and the tickets on there, look, I would tell you, I would probably insure it for around $1,500.
GUEST:
Wow, that's exciting, thank you. Fantastic! (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Well, and I gotta tell you, that's no Podunk value.
GUEST:
No, it isn't, it isn't. That's very exciting.
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