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The name of the website KeyMan
Collectibles is derived from mic-KEY
MAN-tle, as illustrated in the Bill
Gallo cartoon below. Long over due,
this months newsletter will cover rare
and hard to find Mickey Mantle
memorabilia.
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 These
Mickey Mantle key chain lockets
would have been placed in vending
capsules to be dispensed in gumball
machines in the 1950s. The molds are
the same used by Samuel Eppy & Co. and
Penny King to produce the baseball
player lockets that were first issued
in 1950.
Back in the 1950's, vending machine suppliers did not secure licenses for
the images used in the lockets. The
plastic charms were made from common
molds and they would paste images of
choice. These 1950s lockets use an
image of the 1954 Red Heart Mickey
Mantle Baseball card. The silver and
gold plated lockets were made using a
vacuum plating process, called "vacuum
metalizing" introduced by Samuel Eppy.
The method was used on plastic charms
to give it a metal like finish. Samuel
Eppy designed, and built a specialized
machine for the process.
Don Heffner played in the Major Leagues
for the Yankees, Browns, Athletics and
Tigers from 1934-1944, was a third base
coach for the Mets in 1964-65 and
managed the Reds in 1966. During the
mid 1950's.
Don Heffner of Monrovia Cal. produced
ceramic baseball gloves which were
sold in souvenirs shops, and ballparks.
Team and player gloves were produced that included teams such as the
Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians,
Milwaukee Braves, New York Yankees, KC
Athletics. Player ceramics included All
Rosen, Stan Musial, and Mickey Mantle.
The Player gloves featured a facsimile
signature.
There were two different molds made. One that featured a relief of the
player or team logo, located on the
center of the palm. The second was a
basic ceramic glove that was created
with a rectangular cove where a sticker
or decal was placed that would feature
the name of a team or organization. The
basic mold sometimes featured a team
logo decal on the center of the palm.
Written By Bill Katz, Ruth Roberts, and
Teresa Brewer,
"I Love Mickey" was
recorded on the Coral record label in
1956, by Mickey Mantle and Teresa
Brewer. The song was introduced in
August of that year on the Ed Sullivan
Show. In
December Rock and Roll Songs
Magazine published an issue that
featured Teresa Brewer and Mickey
Mantle on the cover. A picture of the
two in the recording studio.
Inside this issue on page 12, an article written by Teresa Brewer, "Why I
Love Mickey" The song features Teresa
Brewer Singing the Lyrics, with Mickey
Mantle Talking Back to her. Brewer
would sing; "I Love Mickey," and Mantle
would reply "Mickey Who?" (Brewer) "You
know the Fella with the celebrated
swing...." The Song came into being
when one day Teresa Brewer was at a
Yankee game watching Mickey in action.
While leaving the Ball park Teresa commented to her friend "That Mantle is
terrific! Someone should write a song
about him" Teresa started singing her
friend chimed in and they had a few
bars written. They presented the song
to Mickey, and Mantle said "Great", and
recorded the song with Teresa.
The
Mickey Mantle Yankees Home Run King
T-Shirt was sold in department
stores across the country in 1956. The
cotton knit T-Shirts were made
available in yellow, or white, sizes 6
to 16. Each t-shirt came with a free
Mickey Mantle "autographed" baseball,
and a Home Run Score Card. In 1955
Mickey Mantle led the American League
in home runs with 37, and in 1956, the
Triple Crown Award winner led the
majors with 52.
The T-shirt Illustrates Mickey Mantle swinging a bat superimposed over a
blue striped top hat. It reads "Mickey
Mantle" above, and "Yankees" below. To
the left is a Mickey Mantle facsimile
signature and to the right Home Run
King wrapped around the top of a
baseball.
Common to the collectors market, the
Mickey Mantle Mac Boy Bat Rack decals
were produced in 1956. These decals
were made to be placed on the extremely
rare,
"My Bat Boy" Bat Rack made by Mac Boy
Furniture located in the Dallas TX
area.
The decal was placed in the center, with "My Bat Boy" written on the left,
and a Mickey Mantle facsimile autograph
to the right. The "Bat Boy" held three
baseball bats, and two balls. The
overstock decals which were
produced in a much greater numbers than
the bat rack, were sold off and
distributed. The were used for various
promotions, such as when you bought a
Bat or a glove at a sporting goods
store you received a free decal.
The
Mickey Mantle’s Grand Slam Baseball
game, No. 770, was manufactured by
Gardner in 1957. It was one of a number
of Mickey Mantle endorsed games issued
by Gardner that year which also
included; Mickey Mantle's Four Bagger
No. 780, Mickey Mantle's Target No. 750
(also a Four Bagger game), and the more
common Mickey Mantle's Big League
Baseball No. 710.
The lithograph art on the metal game
with a red wooden frame, features a
picture of Mickey Mantle in the upper
left corner and his facsimile signature
on a baseball in the upper right. The
red, green, and blue pennants at the
bottom, indicates the outcome of each
play. Mickey Mantle's Grand Slam
Baseball was a "challenging game of
action, skill, sound, mystery, and
luck."
The player would strike the "bat" with one hand, while using the other to
hold open the chute controls. When
release the marble would then travel
through a runway and land in an area
that determined the outcome of the
at-bat.
 These brightly
colored two-tone plastic miniature
telescope viewers, feature the
1946-1966 Exhibit Supply Co. baseball
cards. The telescope that measures
slightly more than one inch has a lens
at one end, with a white light
gathering screen at the other. When
held towards a bright light you could
view noted baseball players as pictured
on their Exhibit Supply baseball card.
Players
included on the checklist are: Mickey
Mantle, Warren Spahn, Chico
Carrasque, Ted Kluszewski , Yogi Berra,
Eddie Mathews, Gus Triandos, Joe
Adcock, Luis Aparicio, Nelson Fox, Don
Drysdale, Whitey Ford, Harvey Kuenn,
Roy Sievers, Elston Howard, and Willie
Mays.
In 1961, Champion Records released a 45
rpm record with Phil Rizzuto
interviewing Mickey Mantle, and Roger
Maris. The interviews took place during
the summer of 1961, While the M&M boys
were battling it out for Babe Ruth's
single season home run record of 60.
Mickey Mantle fell short with 54 home
runs, but Maris would end up with 61 in
1961, a record that will stand for 37
years.
Side
A - "The Story of Mickey Mantle and His
Batting Tips – as told to Phil Rizzuto
has a run time of about 3 1/2 minutes.
Side B features, “The Story of Roger
Maris and his Batting Tips as Told to
Phil Rizzuto.” with a run time of about
4 minutes. With only one other example
known to exist, this record is
extremely rare. It was released in a
generic Champion Records sleeve, with
Mickey Mantle's name on one side, and
Roger Maris on the verso.
Mickey Mantle Western Jeans, were
manufactured in 1959 by Glenn Berry
MFRS Inc., of Commerce, Oklahoma. The
jeans were sold with a blue and white
hang tag which pictures Mickey Mantle,
his signature displayed on the button,
and a leather Mickey Mantle Westerns
label.
The unused Mickey Mantle Signature Jean buttons, and leather labels, dug
up in the late 1980's were sold to help
raise money for a statue dedicated to
Mickey Mantle in 1998. The statue
stands outside the Bricktown Ballpark
in Oklahoma City, home of the Oklahoma
Redhawks, a AAA team for the Texas
Rangers.
Original
banner from the movie "Safe At Home,"
a 1962 Columbia Pictures release
starring; Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris,
William Frawley, Patricia Barry, and
Don Collier. The movie also feature
cameos by Yankees Mgr. Ralph Houk,
Whitey Ford and others. Mickey Mantle's
young son David plays one of the Little
Leaguers who winds up meeting the
baseball legends.
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This
large 24 inch by 60 inch banner would
have been displayed over the entrance
to the movie theater or lobby. Older
movie Banners usually came in a
standard size of 24" x 82" or 24" x
60." Although banners occupy a large
amount of display space, they are still
considered very collectible to movie
art collectors. Banners are printed in
limited numbers which makes them harder
to obtain than other more common sizes,
and were usually shipped by the NSS
rolled. Most (not all) one Sheet 27" x
41" Safe At Home movie posters were
issued folded with one vertical and
three horizontal creases.
The M & M Boys assault on Babe Ruth's
1927 single-season home run record in
1961, sparked a marketing frenzy the
following year. Beginning in April of
1962, retail outlets across the country
offered Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris
merchandise. In 1962 Norwich sold
Mickey Mantle & Roger Maris T-Shirts
with silkscreened artwork depicting
images of both Mantle & Maris in a
batting stance, head shots, and
accompanied by their facsimile
signatures. Sweat shirts were also
available.
That same year they produced "Mantle-Maris Wear" Boys Briefs', and crew
socks the came with a free 7 inch by 9
inch premium photo which was inserted
into each package of Official
Maris-Mantle Crew Socks. The
black & white photograph of Roger Maris
and Mickey Mantle was taken by
renown photographer Louis Requena. It
has two rounded edges at the top, and
features Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle
facsimile signatures.
Originally known for making Plastic
western toys; such as model horses, and
famous cowboys, from 1958-1963 Hartland
Plastics produced 18 statues of star
Major League baseball players. The
sports series of famous baseball stars
included Mickey Mantle. In 1963
Hartland was purchased by Revlon, and
stopped making the figures to make
cosmetic perfume cases and containers.
The
Mickey Mantle Hartland lamps were
made by an enterprising company that
utilized Hartland overstock of
the Mickey Mantle statues. It is not
known who produced the limited number
of lamps, but the bottom of the base
has a "Yugoslavia" stamping. The lamp
design features a gold-painted plastic
figure of Mickey Mantle
mounted upon a rectangular wood base,
with the lamp pole positioned behind
the figure. A plaque on the front of
the base reads "PLAY BALL." Applied to
the front side of the oval shade
displays a crossed bats and ball motif
in brown and white felt. There are also
a small number of lamps made with a
round base and shade, without the
Crossed bats & Ball.
Previously un-cataloged, this newly
discovered Mickey Mantle premium
photograph can now be attributed to a
Grand Slam Mattress promotion. In 1965
Mickey Mantle endorsed a line of Grand
Slam bed sets, witch included the King
Koll, Southern Cross, and Eclipse,
mattress brands.
The
"Free autographed picture of Mickey
Mantle" was made available by just
asking, at a furniture store that
carried the grand Slam line of bedding.
A Mickey Mantle Louisville Slugger,
baseball bat was also given away with
the purchase of a Bunkie, or Twin bed
mattress set. The black & white premium
photo features a Mickey Mantle pose, in
a New York Yankees away jersey.
From 1965 to the early 1970s, Mickey
Mantle served as the official spokesman
for Fedtro, an electronic products
manufacturer specializing in audio
equipment. Fedtro, which specialized in
devices such as megaphones, house
alarms, car alarms, intercom systems
and speakers, etc., issued a number of
products with Mickey’s face and
testimonials.
This life size image of Mickey Mantle
was screwed to a metal frame that
displayed Fedtro electronics products,
called the Fedtro-Mickey Mantle
Demonstration Center. The front of the
die-cut display features a glossy black
and white photo of Mickey Mantle in
pinstripes, pointing to the Fedtro products on display. The same
image was also used on the brochure. It is backed by one inch, sturdy
Expanded Polystyrene foam.
The Dallas based Mickey Mantle's
Country Cookin' franchise opened it's
first restaurant in December of 1968 in
Longview Texas. The prototype
restaurant located in San Antonio
opened in March 1968 as Mickey Mantle's
Country Kitchen; but a
Minneapolis-based franchise chain,
Country Kitchen international owned the
name since 1939, and brought suit
against Mickey Mantle.
In agreement with the settlement, the name was changed to Mickey Mantle's
Country Cookin'.
"Mickey Mantle's Country Kitchen"
plates from the original prototype
restaurant in San Antonio are extremely
rare.
There is no sales history to estimate a value. Other "Mickey Mantle's
Country Kitchen" memorabilia includes:
restaurant trays which picture Mickey
Mantle, the Menu picturing Mickey
Mantle eating, and napkin with the same
design as the plate.
 The
Portraits & Profiles series of
educational display cards were
produced by the New York based
publisher Barnell Loft. The large 13
1/2" x 19 1/2" heavy cardboard posters
were distributed to schools to be
displayed in halls, classrooms, and
gymnasiums.
Each card had a factory made punch-hole at each corner, and featured a
short biography written by Richard A.
Boning, below a 10"x10" illustration by
artist Joseph Forte. The cards came in
a box set of 8, with different subjects
that included "Baseball," part of the
Physical Education series. The baseball
series was issued in two sets of eight
ballplayers, including Mickey Mantle
which was part of set A. Other player
included Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Willie
Mays.
The
1971 JCPenney Fall and Winter Catalog
features fashion models Mickey Mantle
and Mel Stottlemyre. The 1,215 page
catalog features a large variety of
goods which includes; auto supplies,
tools, sporting goods, toys, musical
instruments, cameras, dinnerware,
kitchen appliances, bedding, shoes,
boys' wear, girls clothing, women's
clothing, and men's wear. Four pages
feature New York Yankee greats, Mickey
Mantle, and Mel Stottlemyre, in the
men's wear section.
Page 554, (right) pictures; "Mel Stottlemyre, All-Star Pitcher of the N.Y.
Yankees," and "Mickey Mantle All Time
Great of the N.Y. Yankees" modeling
Polyester Double Knit sport coats.
Page 577, pictures Mel Stottlemyre (twice, one holding a baseball he
autographed) and Mickey Mantle wearing
Soft Lamb Wool Sweaters. Page 584,
Mantle and Stottlemye twice, modeling
Sport Shirts. Page 593, Mantle is
wearing a Printed Pattern Shirt, and
Tie. Stottlemyre is modeling Pastel
Tone Shirts, with a tie.
In a 1975 coupon promotion
Norwich Pharmaceuticals offered a .50˘
refund check from Mickey Mantle.
The .50˘ rebate coupon was wrapped
around aerosol cans of Np-27 Antifungal
Medication. Television commercials
created for Norwich Pharmaceuticals
included Spokesman Mickey Mantle, with
two other television ads featuring
former teammates Billy Martin, and Yogi
Berra.
When asked about pushing NP-27 Antifungal Medication, and appearing in
Lite beer commercials, during a 1975
newspaper interview, Mantle felt
comfortable selling any product,
stating "I Don't care what anybody else
thinks. There's nothing wrong with an
athlete appearing on a beer commercial.
Hell, they put $20,000. in front of me
and I do it every time," he winked.
In 1979 Mickey Mantle was hired by
Cameron Wholesale a division of
CertainTeed corporation. Touring 19
Cameron branch cities in 7 southwestern
states. Mantle introduce the "Grand
Slam Special," a home improvement
promotion to about 3,000 Cameron
Wholesale building materials dealers,
Mantle personally told dealers how to
increase store traffic, boost inventory
turns and offer customers "pre-sold"
products that have add-on sales
potential.
Attendees of the meetings received
this cloth patch picturing a retired
Mickey Mantle in a Yankee uniform
and cap. The star studded blue patch
with a yellow border reads "MICKEY'S
GRAND SLAM SPECIALS" and features the
Cameron Wholesale/CertaonTeed company
logo. After the meetings Mickey Mantle
signed autographs. Mickey Mantle also
endorsed building products through
newspaper and broadcast campaigns.
In Tribute to Mickey Mantle, NY Walks
Central Park was a Walkathon in support
of organ and tissue donation, to
benefit the National Kidney Foundation,
of New York & New Jersey. The walk held
on October 29, 1995 in central Park,
was led by Mickey Mantles Children -
David, Danny, Mickey Jr. and other
celebrities.
Posters were distributed to unions, and organizations, to promote the
event. The New York Daily news, one of
the sponsors, featured newspaper entry
forms, which offered participants who
raised $50.00 or more a
limited Edition Mickey Mantle T-Shirt,
by Bill Gallo.
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