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Circa: 1933
Condition: Used
Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: Unmarked
Freddie Spencer (1903-1992) won the U.S.
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Professional Track Sprint Championships in 1925, 1928 and 1929. He competed in 102 six-day races, winning six major international meets. He set six world records during his career: 1/10 mile, 1/2 mile, 10 mile, 15 mile, 20 mile and 25 mile. Spencer was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1990. Franz Duelberg was born in Germany in 1905. He partnered with Jimmy Walthour (US) and won the Nov. 1928 races in Chicago and Detroit. In March 1929 he won the Chicago race with partner Franco Giorgetti (Italy). Also in 1929, along with Otto Petri (Ger), he won 1st place in Berlin. In Chicago, Duelberg took 1st place along with Willie Grimm (US) in 1931. We suspect he also won at Madison Square Garden, partnered with Spencer, in 1933. The date of this drawing is Dec. 1, 1933.
The six day race at the Garden, like all bicycle races, took place on a concave wooden track called a velodrome. Movie stars and great writers were drawn to the 1920s track scene. In 1925 President Calvin Coolidge invited the team of Jimmy Walthour, Jr and Freddie Spencer to the White House because he wanted to meet the two cyclists whom he said competed with him for newspaper headlines. A comment (by Bill McGann) on the book, "The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America’s Jazz Age Sport" by Peter Nye: "Perhaps the image that most powerfully conveys bicycle racing's place in the 1920s is one photograph from 1925 showing eight athletes, called the "Kings of Sport", who were invited to a banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. Most of the names will be familiar: Babe Ruth, boxer Gene Tunney, swimmer and future movie star Johnny Weissmuller, hockey star Bill Cook, Wimbledon champion Bill Tilden and golfing great Bobby Jones. Sitting with the other sporting giants, as equals, are cyclists Freddie Spencer and Charlie Winter."
The artist was my father, Arthur Haas, who lived in New York City until 1938. A commercial artist by trade and a huge sports fan, he would render the players' images in charcoal and pen & ink and then label the drawings by hand with the players' name and country of origin. When a team would come to town he'd take his artwork to the race and seek out the subject for an autograph. This piece was done on heavy weight drawing paper, and may have been sprayed with a fixatif. It is signed and dated by my dad. We are pricing this as if it were an autographed 8 x 10 photo, since my dad was an unknown artist. Although unlike sports cards or photographs, this is unique and one-of-a-kind!
This drawing measures 8¼" x 10". The autographs are crisp and clean (except the 'r' in Spencer appears on the black background). There is loss to the paper in small spots, mostly on the margins, but also on Spencer's forehead. The Duelberg image is spot-free, as are both signatures. This condition is reflected in our price.
The autographs have not and will not be ‘certified’. This would require my sending the drawing away so it can be looked over with a loupe, only to be told what I already know – that it is authentic. Any buyer will have two weeks to have the autographs certified if they desire it. And as always, your purchase may be returned for any reason for a full refund. This item will be shipped flat by Priority Mail, UPS, or FedEx. Insurance will be required. |
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