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just finished reading an interesting 1974 sports illustrated article that featured joel platt and his tremendous sports memorabilia collection. the thing is, i didn't find it to be the feel good story i had expected - instead i found platt's story to be another example of suspended morality for the sake of, and quest for, sports memorabilia.
platt has been collecting sports memorabilia for decades. however platt no longer considers himself a collector - he considers himself a curator and has been trying to fund a state-of-the-art sports museum for the three decades. in fact, according to sports illustrated, platt considers collectors to be "...bedbugs, generally lacking in the social graces and having innate personality defects." this seems to be an odd characterization given the arguably questionable lengths platt has gone to in order to obtain rare sports collectibles - from sports illustrated:
"On a trip to California a few years ago Platt made the important contacts that have led to his fondest acquisitions, a wealth of memorabilia left by Thorpe. Earlier he had called on Thorpe's daughter, Grace, in Pearl River, N.Y. She had refused to come to the door. He had talked to hundreds of people in the Pennsylvania towns of Carlisle and Jim Thorpe for information on the great Sac and Fox Indian. Finally the trail led to Cabazon, Calif., where Thorpe's third wife, Patricia, was living in a trailer and caring for retarded indigents. That first visit and several subsequent ones failed to interest Mrs. Thorpe in contributing to (Platt's) future museum. Then, out of the blue three years later, a telegram arrived on Orion Drive. It said simply, "Am confined to bed. Come and get Jim's things." Joel Platt did.
more from sports illustrated regarding platt's "bonanza trips":
"When Platt was 16, he made a trip to New York and located the apartments of Mrs. Babe Ruth and Mrs. John McGraw. Boldly he marched to their doors, introduced himself and announced his plans to build a sports museum someday. To Mrs. Ruth he presented a wooden ashtray he had carved to resemble the Babe. She in turn came across with a bat and plaque. Mrs. McGraw furnished a unique autograph—her husband's canceled check made out in 1923 to the IRS for an amount of more than $4,000. Enough "bonanza trips," of this type, as he calls them, soon followed that Platt became convinced he had a sound formula: encounter the quarry unannounced. "If I call ahead or write that I'm coming, people have a way of avoiding me," Platt says. "If I get them eyeball-to-eyeball and they see the sincerity in what I'm doing, they believe in me." Seeing Platt's wife Marcia eyeball-to-eyeball also has been the clincher for some gifts, such as those acquired on a journey to the Lwesiburg, Pa. home of Mrs. Christy Mathewson. Platt, by himself, was turned away at the door while the pitcher's aged widow was having tea, so when he returned an hour later he brought his wife along. This time Mrs. Mathewson was willing to read Platt's brochure and the story of his accidental burning. It evoked emotional memories of her own son who had died in a fiery crash."
while the scope of platt's success in obtaining such a large collection is unique, his story and m.o. isn't. in fact i've recently spoken to a couple of vets in the industry that have shared almost identical stories - road trips back in the day, many unannounced, to homes of retired players, even hall of famers, in order to (ultimately) raid any coffers that might remain, that might be worth raiding. i guess it could be argued that widows and ex-stars got something out of these visits as well - at least some that have shared these stories with me have tried to sell me on this notion. what they got, i'm told, was a visit from a fawning fan that was eager to listen to war stories from yesteryear, a visit from someone willing to spend the day in the ex-star's basement or attic reminiscing over the glory years. while i'm certain this may have indeed be flattering and even fun for an ex-athlete, i'm sure the thousands of dollars in memorabilia the visitor eventually left with would have been of equal interest, equally fun for the ex-athlete, had they been aware of its value on the open market.
in platt's case, and in the case of a couple of other guys i'm familiar with, it seems that many of the items they obtained were either "donated" or "contributed" by the athlete or the athlete's family with the understanding that the items would become part of a larger (perhaps "important") collection. in short, i believe the large collections "card" worked well.
i guessed it could be argued that sports fans are better off because of the efforts of folks like platt - that if it were not for platt and other treasure hunters like him some of these irreplaceable gems might have very well been lost for ever. and i can see this. but by the same token i don't think i will ever be able to comfortably reconcile something like the thorpe widow giving away a small fortune in historical memorabilia, especially given her circumstances, to someone that apparently understood its value.
as i mentioned earlier, joel platt has been trying to fund a state-of-the-art sports memorabilia museum and entertainment complex for the last three decades (he currently operates out of a building in florida). needless to say this would be quite a destination given that joel pratt clearly has one of the most incredible sports collections on the planet. hopefully it will get done some day - more information regarding this project, "sports immortals", can be found here:
speaking of joel pratts' collection, it reminded me of a recent heritage auction which featured, according to heritage, "...the only Jim Thorpe (1912) game used material ever to surface from his days with the Carlisle Indians." i guess joel pratt would argue heritage's claim given that his collection also features game used gear from thorpe's 1912 days with the carlisle indians...
heritage auction - the "only" 1912 jim thorpe game used material ever to surface from his days with the carlisle indians:
joel platt collection - 1912 jim thorpe game used gear:
and, guess what, yet another unitas helmet (i've lost count) - pratt collection.
...
platt has been collecting sports memorabilia for decades. however platt no longer considers himself a collector - he considers himself a curator and has been trying to fund a state-of-the-art sports museum for the three decades. in fact, according to sports illustrated, platt considers collectors to be "...bedbugs, generally lacking in the social graces and having innate personality defects." this seems to be an odd characterization given the arguably questionable lengths platt has gone to in order to obtain rare sports collectibles - from sports illustrated:
"On a trip to California a few years ago Platt made the important contacts that have led to his fondest acquisitions, a wealth of memorabilia left by Thorpe. Earlier he had called on Thorpe's daughter, Grace, in Pearl River, N.Y. She had refused to come to the door. He had talked to hundreds of people in the Pennsylvania towns of Carlisle and Jim Thorpe for information on the great Sac and Fox Indian. Finally the trail led to Cabazon, Calif., where Thorpe's third wife, Patricia, was living in a trailer and caring for retarded indigents. That first visit and several subsequent ones failed to interest Mrs. Thorpe in contributing to (Platt's) future museum. Then, out of the blue three years later, a telegram arrived on Orion Drive. It said simply, "Am confined to bed. Come and get Jim's things." Joel Platt did.
more from sports illustrated regarding platt's "bonanza trips":
"When Platt was 16, he made a trip to New York and located the apartments of Mrs. Babe Ruth and Mrs. John McGraw. Boldly he marched to their doors, introduced himself and announced his plans to build a sports museum someday. To Mrs. Ruth he presented a wooden ashtray he had carved to resemble the Babe. She in turn came across with a bat and plaque. Mrs. McGraw furnished a unique autograph—her husband's canceled check made out in 1923 to the IRS for an amount of more than $4,000. Enough "bonanza trips," of this type, as he calls them, soon followed that Platt became convinced he had a sound formula: encounter the quarry unannounced. "If I call ahead or write that I'm coming, people have a way of avoiding me," Platt says. "If I get them eyeball-to-eyeball and they see the sincerity in what I'm doing, they believe in me." Seeing Platt's wife Marcia eyeball-to-eyeball also has been the clincher for some gifts, such as those acquired on a journey to the Lwesiburg, Pa. home of Mrs. Christy Mathewson. Platt, by himself, was turned away at the door while the pitcher's aged widow was having tea, so when he returned an hour later he brought his wife along. This time Mrs. Mathewson was willing to read Platt's brochure and the story of his accidental burning. It evoked emotional memories of her own son who had died in a fiery crash."
while the scope of platt's success in obtaining such a large collection is unique, his story and m.o. isn't. in fact i've recently spoken to a couple of vets in the industry that have shared almost identical stories - road trips back in the day, many unannounced, to homes of retired players, even hall of famers, in order to (ultimately) raid any coffers that might remain, that might be worth raiding. i guess it could be argued that widows and ex-stars got something out of these visits as well - at least some that have shared these stories with me have tried to sell me on this notion. what they got, i'm told, was a visit from a fawning fan that was eager to listen to war stories from yesteryear, a visit from someone willing to spend the day in the ex-star's basement or attic reminiscing over the glory years. while i'm certain this may have indeed be flattering and even fun for an ex-athlete, i'm sure the thousands of dollars in memorabilia the visitor eventually left with would have been of equal interest, equally fun for the ex-athlete, had they been aware of its value on the open market.
in platt's case, and in the case of a couple of other guys i'm familiar with, it seems that many of the items they obtained were either "donated" or "contributed" by the athlete or the athlete's family with the understanding that the items would become part of a larger (perhaps "important") collection. in short, i believe the large collections "card" worked well.
i guessed it could be argued that sports fans are better off because of the efforts of folks like platt - that if it were not for platt and other treasure hunters like him some of these irreplaceable gems might have very well been lost for ever. and i can see this. but by the same token i don't think i will ever be able to comfortably reconcile something like the thorpe widow giving away a small fortune in historical memorabilia, especially given her circumstances, to someone that apparently understood its value.
as i mentioned earlier, joel platt has been trying to fund a state-of-the-art sports memorabilia museum and entertainment complex for the last three decades (he currently operates out of a building in florida). needless to say this would be quite a destination given that joel pratt clearly has one of the most incredible sports collections on the planet. hopefully it will get done some day - more information regarding this project, "sports immortals", can be found here:
speaking of joel pratts' collection, it reminded me of a recent heritage auction which featured, according to heritage, "...the only Jim Thorpe (1912) game used material ever to surface from his days with the Carlisle Indians." i guess joel pratt would argue heritage's claim given that his collection also features game used gear from thorpe's 1912 days with the carlisle indians...
heritage auction - the "only" 1912 jim thorpe game used material ever to surface from his days with the carlisle indians:
joel platt collection - 1912 jim thorpe game used gear:
and, guess what, yet another unitas helmet (i've lost count) - pratt collection.
...
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