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Circa 1962 Roy Campanella Ballantine Beer Cardboard Advertising Display
Presented is a circa 1962 Roy Campanella Ballantine Beer cardboard advertising display. Campanella was a Hall of Fame catcher on the Brooklyn Dodgers and one of the first African Americans in Major League baseball, beginning his career with the Dodgers in 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke the long-standing Major League "Color Line," with Brooklyn. "Campy" began his professional career at only 15 years old, as he played on a Negro League team on a part-time basis when he was in high school. After playing 10 seasons in the Negro Leagues, Roy signed with Brooklyn and played minor league ball in 1946-47. As a Dodger, Campy was a superb handler of pitchers, with great hands and a powerful arm. He was a 3-time National League MVP, in 1951, '53. and '55. His talent and leadership became a major part of the Brooklyn Dodgers' only World Series Championship, in '55. The 11-time All-Star owned and operated a liquor store in Harlem, in upper Manhattan, in New York City. In driving home to his residence in Glen Cove, on Long Island, after closing the liquor store on the night of Jan. 28, 1958, Campanella's car skidded on ice, and his severe injuries caused him to become a quadriplegic. Although he had to remain in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Campy rehabilitated his arms and hands, and he was employed in baseball as a part-time coach and in other capacities by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1962, he hosted the Roy Campanella Show on WPIX TV, Channel 11 in New York City, the Yankees' TV station at that time. The advertising display reads, "DOUBLE HEADER! Ballantine BEER with a bright new label!! Roy Campanella Show * on Yankee Baseball/*Between New York Yankee Double-Headers WPIX TV CH 11." The approx. 13x20" display shows Roy, as if on a television screen, nattily dressed in a jacket and tie, while before him is a bottle of opened Ballantine and a beer glass filled to the top, with a frothy head of freshly poured beer. Many ballplayers at that time were reluctant to appear in advertisements for beer or liquor because of their image as clean-living athletes, but Campanella was no longer a player and openly owned a liquor store and felt no such compunction. Campanella, who passed away in 1993, often spent lots of time sharing his baseball knowledge by advising Dodger catchers, such as fellow Hall of Famer Mike Piazza. The advertising display would be hung in places that sold Ballantine Beer and it has a few small stains, and some minor creasing. The easel on back is missing and has some nail holes from being hung on wall. Aside from the aforementioned imperfections, the poster is in very good condition.
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