Ken-Wel Sign

[vintagebrett]

I was watching this sign because I thought it was interesting:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0425226325

The seller claims that it was real but would Ken-Wel really spell the company name wrong on the sign?? ("with any Kenwell purchase").

[Mr. Mitt]

I was watching that sign for about two weeks, debating its authenticity, before buying it. I had never seen anything like it before and figured, what the hell, and took a chance. The funny thing is, I never even noticed the misspelling until after I pulled the trigger. I was talking with a fellow collector about it and he pointed it out. Though the odds of it being authentic dropped drastically, I still had a glimmer of hope that it might be original... errors and spelling mistakes do occur on occasion and perhaps that's why this particular style sign had never been seen before (maybe they were pulled from circulation or never hit the market in the first place because of the error). I received it last week and found immediately upon opening the package that it was a reproduction, a very poor repro. It wasn't more than five minutes before I repacked it and shipped it back to the seller. I'm promised a refund, but we'll see. If I don't get my money back, it's a small price to pay compared with multiple thousands risked on similar advertisements like the Stall & Dean Cobb countertop display. At some point I'll stop taking chances on advertising ephemera such as this because more than 99% of them are not original.

[Mr. Mitt]

What convinced me to take a chance on it were the stars on the bat/pen. The cardboard advertisement doesn't contain any stars, nor do any of the countless Gehrig repro signs flooding the market. Ken-Wel catalogs and glove boxes, however, are riddled with stars. To me, this meant that a casual forger of an item like this might not associate Ken-Wel with stars because finding boxes or original catalogs is much more difficult than a repro Gehrig sign. Basically, I was betting that the laziness of a potential forger would not make the stars association with the company, and ultimately, it might be original. Needless to say, the bet didn't pay off.

[okdoak]

You're not alone in that regard, Mr. Mitt. About 10 years ago I paid $50 for one of those Red Man BB Picture Card signs at an antique mall. I was thrilled with my purchase until I got on to ebay the following year and saw hundreds of them being sold as repro's in the $10-$20 range. So I learned my lesson. Until last year when I found a L/S Ask the Batboy sign for $28 at my local antique mall. But this one was on really thick, old cardboard stock. So I was 99% sure it was the real thing as long as it was the right size. I looked up the one from the Sotheby's Halper auction (sold for like $18k if I remember right), and sure enough it was the same size. It just didn't have the easel back. Anyway, I was beyond thrilled (again) until another collector suggested that I go over the picture of the Halper sign with a magnifying glass and see if it had the same print defects, etc as my sign. Sure enough. I still have it hanging on my wall because it is a neat looking sign nonetheless. Have to admit that I was more than a little bummed for a while when my find of finds turned out to be a repro. Oh, well. Hope that I remember that when the next one comes along. Also hope you get your refund.

[Number9]

I never understood why someone didn't, or hasn't, legitimized this stuff by being honest about it. Obviously there is demand for it. Perhaps licensing agreements would be a tough hurdle. Just seems like there are enough people who like this stuff for their displays to make it worthwhile. All you need is a "reproduction" stamp on the back or along the edge to make it clear. Why run the risk for $300 a few times when you can be up-front and honest about it and charge $50-100 each a few hundred times? With a large market for vintage baseball and vintage advertising, it seems like easy math to me.

I've chased more than a few of the Cobb displays knowing full well that they are repros. Unfortunately for me, they always seem to eclipse the price that I set for a piece of tea-stained cardboard. If anyone got "burned" on a Cobb display and wants to get rid of it, PM me.

[vintagebrett]

I agree - if someone was making vintage looking reproductions, selling them as such, and keeping the price low, I think the demand would be stellar. I really like the Cobb piece but it always sells to high. I used to see them at antique shows in the midwest once in a while - always the same story - found them in a barn, etc.