[BASEBALL]. A group of 8 pinback buttons promoting Negro League baseball teams. Ca 1930s-1940s.

8 pinback buttons, approx.1 3/4 in. diameter and smaller. Includes buttons representing the following baseball teams: N.Y. Black Yankees (2). -- Kansas City Monarchs (1). -- Baltimore Elite Giants (1). -- Cuban All Stars / Baseball Champions (2). -- Button promoting "Colored All-Stars vs. N.Y. Yankees" (1) -- Button promoting "All Stars / Baseball Champions" (1).

The specific dates of the buttons are unclear, but they were likely issued during the height of the Negro Leagues. The teams represented in the lot were home to some of the greatest players of the era including Jackie Robinson who played for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 and Satchel Paige for the Black Yankees in 1941 and the Monarchs in 1935 and 1939-1947. Robinson famously broke the color line and became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Paige, who had played alongside Robinson on the Monarchs team of '45, would be able to enjoy the benefit of integration when he debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1948, becoming the oldest man ever to debut in the MLB.

Together, 8 pinback buttons. Condition generally good, with toning, occasional soiling, wear consistent with age and use.
This lot is located in Cincinnati.

Freeman's I Hindman strives to describe historic materials in a manner that is respectful to all communities, providing descriptive contexts for objects where possible. The nature of historical ephemera is such that some material may represent positions, language, values, and stereotypes that are not consistent with the current values and practices at Freeman's I Hindman.