Product Details
Nicely engraved antique stock certificate from the Newark International Baseball Club, Inc. dating back to the 1920's. This document, which is signed by the company President and Treasurer, was printed by the Broun-Green Co. and measures approximately 12 3/8" (w) by 8 1/4" (h).
Certificate #1!
Images
You will receive the exact certificate pictured.
Historical Context
The Newark International Baseball Club, Inc. owned the Newark Bears.
The Newark Bears were a minor league baseball team in the International League, beginning in 1917 at the Double-A level. They played in the International League through the 1949 season, except for 1920 and part of the 1925 season. In the Bears' last four seasons in the International League (1946–1949), they were a Triple-A team, the highest classification in minor league baseball.
They played their home games at Ruppert Stadium in what is now known as the Ironbound section of Newark; the stadium was demolished in 1967.
The 1932, 1937, 1938, and 1941 Bears were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.
Players in the Bears' early years who had Major League careers include Eddie Rommel, who pitched for the International League Newark Bears in 1918 and 1919. Harry Baldwin played three seasons for the Newark Bears (1921–1923) before playing for the New York Giants. Fred Brainard, who also played for the New York Giants 1914–1916, later played for the Newark Bears between 1922–1924 and was the Bears' player-manager in 1923 and 1924. Other former Major League players who managed the Newark Bears include Hall of Fame members Walter Johnson in 1928 and player-manager Tris Speaker in 1929–1930.
Newark was a hotbed of minor league baseball from the time of the formation of the Newark Indians in 1902, and the addition of the Newark Eagles of the Negro National Leagues in 1936. A Federal League team, the Newark Peppers, played in 1915.
in 1931 Jacob Ruppert bought the Bears, and begin building the farm system for the Yankees. In 1937, as a farm club of the New York Yankees, the Bears featured one of the most potent lineups in baseball, including Charlie Keller, Joe Gordon, Spud Chandler and George McQuinn, among others. They won the pennant by 25½ games to become known as one of the greatest minor league teams of all time. Their legacy was ensured when, after trailing 3 games to 0, they won the last four games against the Columbus Red Birds of the American Association to capture the Junior World Series.
Following the 1949 season, the Bears moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. Their departure, and the departure of the Eagles a year before, left Newark without professional baseball for nearly 50 years, until the formation of the Atlantic League Bears.
Paul Block
Paul Block's Signature on Verso
Paul Block was born on November 2, 1875 to a poor Lithuanian Jewish family in Königsberg, East Prussia. In 1885, his parents immigrated to
Elmira, New York, where his father worked as a ragpicker. Block attended Elmira public schools and at the age of 10, he worked as a part-time newsboy and office messenger with Harry Brooks, the founder of the
Elmira Telegram, where he learned the
newspaper business.
In 1900, he left the Elmira Telegram and formed his own
advertising rep firm which sold national advertising for client newspapers, Block Communications, and is credited with pioneering the concept of national news advertising. He developed a close friendship and business relationship with William Randolph Hearst frequently serving as a frontman for Hearst's newspaper acquisitions (Block's mistress Marion Davies would become Hearst's mistress and Block would later serve as Hearst's executor) as well as purchasing several papers outright beginning with the
Newark Star-Eagle and the
Detroit Journal. In 1926, he acquired the
Toledo Blade and in 1927, he created the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He went on to own 14 papers.
Block was a close friend of
New York City mayor Jimmy Walker (often letting Walker use his apartment for liaisons with his mistress Ziegfeld Follies dancer Betty Compton) and president Calvin Coolidge. Block also played a key role in advancing the career of the Franklin D. Roosevelt by supporting his 1928 campaign for governor.
