Description

Description: Ted Williams used a blue pen to scrawl his autograph across this first day cover on a long diagonal.

This first day cover from the 3rd Pan-American Games in 1959 features a cachet with two relay runners, the torch, and the slogan “Friendship Through Sports.” The Games were held in Chicago that year, and the first day of issue cancellation is from Chicago, August 27, 1959, 9 am. The 10-cent stamp itself features a torch-bearer against a red-white-and-blue background. There is an additional “Soldier Field” rubber stamp inked on the middle of the envelope; Soldier Field was the main venue for the 1959 Games.

Ted Williams (1918-2002) was a Hall of Fame baseball player who spent his entire career (1939-1960 less two interruptions for service in the US Military) with the Boston Red Sox. He is widely recognized as one of the best hitters ever to play the sport.

Condition: Has a smidge of soil on the verso; near fine.