This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
Richard Rudolph was the perfect candidate to endorse a tobacco product since the spitball was his big pitch (not to mention that after his career he became a mortician). Rudolph's lubricious serves produced a league-high 27 wins that helped propel the Boston Braves to the NL flag in 1914. He then notched two more in their World Series sweep over the Philadelphia A's. This classic Tuxedo Tobacco Company ad from the mid-1910s shows Rudolph in his baseball cap and quotes him as saying: "What creature comfort can compare with a pipe-smoke of mild, mellow tobacco!" A facsimile signature appears at the bottom of the ad, which is mainly yellow and brown and measures 21" x 18" and mounted in a 27" x 24" frame. The ad is in good condition although there's a tear over a small portion of the lower right text area and a few scattered rips around the borders of the ad that are barely discernible in the design of the artwork.