Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
After a long baseball career that eventually led to a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cap Anson retired to Chicago and embarked on a new career - Democratic politician. When the city's Democratic Club was founded in 1903, Anson, by then a popular business owner, was the organization's first Sergeant-At-Arms. By 1905 he was ready to begin seeking office. This 9" x 11" advertisement was part of Anson's campaign for Chicago City Clerk. The sheet pictures The Captain in his Chicago White Stockings heyday, below which reads "CAPT. A.C. Anson DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR CITY CLERK" A box below encourages his fans to "SCORE ONE FOR THE CAPTAIN BY PLACING AN X BEFORE HIS NAME". Anson was swept into office in a Democratic landslide, but his tenure was not as successful as his ball playing career. A stack of 200 dog licenses disappeared from his office, each worth almost $50 in today's money and he drew further ire when he declined to pursue the back business license fees he owed the city which was the duty of his office to collect. He famously quipped that he would pay it as soon as the City Clerk sent him notice. Then a few clerks in his office were prosecuted for collecting paychecks while not working. He tried to run for sheriff in 1907 but was soundly defeated at the polls, marking the end of Anson's political career. This stunning advertisement is professionally framed to 10" x 12" size and is in amazing condition considering it is over 100 years old.