Mystery. History. Baseball. Elvis.
Sounds cool to me!
This little piece is about standard business card size when folded,
3.25 x 2 inches. On the back is printed a 12 month calendar (with day of the
week!) for the year 1956. A clever little give away for a business at the time.
On the front is where the mystery begins.
It appears to be from a barber shop on 14th
street in Washington, D.C. One might
infer that two people named Holmes and Johnson were likely the partners in the
venture. There is a blank line, I would guess, to
fill in the name of the person who is representing the bearer of this
card. Not quite sure what that means. Perhaps one’s particular barber fills their
name in here. This particular card's line is
blank.
Certainly a bit of a mystery to me though, is what I am guessing
to be a clever way to write a phone number.
If that theory is true, I certainly cannot make sense of why Holmes and
Johnson would write it “ADams 2-9496”. That
doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.
Now the deeper
mystery occurs once one opens up this piece and sees that the inside is a 1956 National
League schedule for Cincinnati. Firstly,
why in the world is a barber shop in D.C. handing out Cincy baseball schedules
to their clients, when for starters,
there was a home town team, the “Senators”, and a half dozen other MLB (Major League Baseball) teams
closer than Cincinnati. Secondly why in
the world would one hang on to a schedule for a team that placed third that
season?
This is where the history bit comes in.
The 1956 season saw
the Cincinnati Reds, change their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs and removed
the term “Reds” from their logo, all for fear that term might associate them
with the threat of communism.
However,
this piece does not bear the new team name anywhere on it.
Well, let’s just take a little looksee at some of the game
dates printed on the inside of this discolored, folded, torn, and very likely
one of a kind, scrap of thick paper.
April 21, 1956; Redlegs lost an 11 inning game at
Chicago. Elvis Presley's 1st hit record,
"Heartbreak Hotel," becomes #1
April 28, 1956; Redlegs score a 9 – 1 victory over the
Cubs. Cincinnatti's Frank Robinson hits his 1st
of his 586 career HRs
May 6, 1956: Redlegs
tromp the Phillies at home, 10 – 2 in the first end of a doubleheader, and
claiming victory for the pair with an 11- 9 win in the second game. Cincinnati outfielder, Gus Bell, homers off Bob Miller in both games, making
him one of only a handful of players in history to homer off the same pitcher
in both games of a doubleheader.
May 26, 1956 – Redslegs at Milwaukee, John Klippstein, Hershel Freemman & Joe
Blacks no-hitter, broken up with 2 outs in 10th & lose to Braves in 11th,
2-1
June 5, 1956: Redlegs
beat the Phillies 9 – 4 at in an afternoon game at Crosley filed in Cincinnati. Later that evening, conservative Americans were
appalled & young female Americans enthralled, as
Elvis made his first national TV appearance on the Milton Berle show. Quite entertaining, even the dialog afterwards - Elvis performs “Hound dog”
on the Milton Berle show, see for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_vZqsj2rSA
Aug 4, 1956: Redlegs lose at Philadelphia, 6 – 10. Elvis
releases “Hound Dog”.
Aug 11, 1956: Redlegs lose 3-6 at Milwaukee. Elvis releases “Don’t be Cruel”.
Aug 18, 1956: Redlegs thump the Braves at home, 13 – 4. Both Elvis songs go # 1
Sep 11, 1956: Redlegs take on the Giants at The Polo Grounds
in Manhattan. In their 11 - 5 victory, Cincy rookie Frank
Robinson ties the record for home runs in a rookie season with his 38th HR, on
his way to Rookie of the Year.
Frank Robinson went on to Hall of Fame status by eventually
joining the 500 home run club, getting a triple crown, 2 MVP awards, and on the
list of the top 20 RBI producers of all time.
He also shares the career record for home runs on opening day (8), and
in 1970 hit two grand slams in a single game while in route to a World Series
MVP award while playing for the Baltimore Orioles, in their world series
victory over…. The Cincinnati Reds. Curiously it was also the first World Series games
to have a black umpire.
Oct 8, 1956: It is a good bet that Frank Robinson, Gus Bell
and Holmes and Johnson of the Modernistic Barber Shop in Washington, D.C., watched as Don
Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.
1956 also saw the retirement of one of baseball’s greats, Jackie
Robinson, who broke the color barrier for MLB in 1947. Upon his retirement in 1956, no team offered
him a position as a coach, manager, or executive. Instead, he became an executive with the Chock
Full o' Nuts restaurant chain.
Frank Robinson, Rookie of the year in 1956, just arriving as
Robinson was departing the game, was the first black manager in the Majors (Cleveland,
’75) and went on to hold titles in MLB such as Senior Vice President for Major
League Operations and Executive Vice President of Baseball Development.
Elvis went on to become a global cultural icon.
Now why in the world would anyone keep a little scrap of
paper with a baseball schedule printed on it of a third place team?
This item sold on 10-13-13
POSTSCRIPT
Turns out that 1841 14th Street NW Washington, DC, home of
the Modernistic Barber Shop in 1956, is currently
a Manny's and Olga's Pizza shop.
Turns out the barber shop was less than a mile
from old Griffith Stadium, home of the Washington Senators, and host of the
1956 All-Star game. That all-star game featured Willie Mays and
Stan Musial hitting two home runs for the National League. Mickey Mantle (during his infamous Triple
Crown season) and Ted Williams hit two home runs for the American League. Frank Robinson..., hit 2nd in the
starting line-up.
Interestingly, the Senators were late comers to integrating
their ball club, with 1956 being their
first complete season with blacks on the
roster.
Thanks to David for passing on a few clues!
Vintage & Main history type pieces
