Sterling Sports Auctions #36
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/17/2014
The 1928 Exhibit boxing set features a number of different format cards. One of the major variations from the 1928 set is called the “Doubleheaders” because the cards feature two different boxers’ pictures back to back. Doubleheaders were printed on two-sided stock and, interestingly, the stock always has different colors on each side. Some of these cards are found in colors not known as part of the one-sided series. Certain of the fighters also are not known in any of the dated sets (yet). The Doubleheader offered here is one of the more desirable ones known. It features Goldie Hess, a Los Angeles-based fighter, and Kid Francis, whose real name was Francesco Buonaugurio. Francis was one of two professional boxers with known cards who were sent to the Auschwitz death camp during World War II and forced to fight in gladiatorial contests for the amusement of the guards. It is not clear whether he was a Jewish fighter sent to the camps for religious reasons, or whether he was sent there for political reasons. Regardless, Francis was in the camp and forced to fight. The bouts were brutal. Winners were fed, the losers executed, so each bout effectively was to the death. Francis was murdered in the camp some time in 1943, presumably as punishment after he lost a bout. His few cards are highly collectible. EX-
1928 Exhibit Doubleheader Goldie Hess/Kid Francis
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