A collection of photographs of Babe Ruth was uncovered at the first stop of the 2002 Chubb's Antiques Roadshow summer tour Saturday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. Photographs included shots of Ruth as a child, a young adult and in Yankee uniform that were signed and inscribed by the baseball legend. The collection was appraised at between $25,000 to $35,000.
A New York woman, whose great aunt and great uncle once owned a restaurant frequented by the Hall of Famer in the 1930's-1940's, brought the photos in to be appraised. Sotheby's appraiser Leila Dunbar called them a "rare treasure trove and glimpse into Babe Ruth's life that we don't often get to see." Ruth was a good friend of the restaurant's owners, and the photos hung on the restaurant's walls until the time the restaurant closed in the early 1960's.
Also appraised at the Seattle show was a baseball signed by Marilyn Monroe and the 1951 New York Yankee team. The ball, which included the signatures of both Joe DiMaggio (in his last year) and Mickey Mantle (in his rookie year), was valued at $15,000. Pop Culture specialist Simeon Lipman said, "Something of that magnitude rarely, if ever, comes onto the marketplace."
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