September 24 in Toy Train History - Babe Ruth

[lionelsuperotrack]

Thanks to Joe Lechner and the TCA sponsored TTML for this introspective tie in with toy trains and history.

For those that are interested check out the below Babe Ruth link:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml

Mike Spanier

PS No <G>, I never saw Babe Ruth but I was always fascinated by his legacy as
one of the, if not, the great baseball player ever.

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When George Herman Ruth made his farewell appearance as a New York Yankee in
Yankee Stadium 75 years ago today, he was widely admired as the greatest
baseball player who ever lived.

Ruth acquired his famous nickname in 1914 when his Baltimore Oriole teammates
began referring to the 19-year-old rookie as Jack Dunn's new "babe". As a
southpaw pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (1914-1919), he set a World Series
record of 29 consecutive scoreless innings that stood for 42 years.

After Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920 for $100,000 (by far the
largest deal in MLB up to that time), he became an outfielder and quickly earned
national fame for his batting prowess. The Bambino led the American League in
home runs for twelve seasons and appeared in ten World Series.

Joshua Lionel Cowen was surely a fan of Babe Ruth's. Cowen would often invite
his associates to Yankee games, and according to biographer Ron Holland, he was
notorious for betting on every pitch.

Advertisements for the Baby Ruth candy bar have appeared on Lionel trains since
the 1930s. Curtiss Candy Company (which introduced the bar in 1921) denied
naming it after Babe Ruth, but Curtiss sued and won when a competitor attempted
to market a "Babe Ruth Home Run Bar" (with Babe Ruth's approval). Curtiss
claimed that its candy bar was named for Ruth Cleveland (daughter of former
President Grover Cleveland) who had died at the age of twelve in 1904. Its
publicists even claimed that Miss Cleveland had visited the candy factory -
which was impossible, since Curtiss was not founded until 1916. Quite possibly,
this Cleveland story was invented as a defense against the inevitable objection
that Babe Ruth hadn't authorized Curtiss to use his name.

Baby Ruth and Lionel share a long history together. Ads for the candy bar began
appearing on Lionel products as early as 1931, possibly motivated by promotional
payments from Curtiss, or by Joshua Lionel Cowen's preoccupation with the New
York Yankees, or both.

The first Lionel product to wear the Baby Ruth name was #1514, a 6" lithographed
boxcar introduced in 1931. Other prewar boxcars included #1679 (1933-1939) and
#2679 (1938-1942).

Lionel's #156 station platform (introduced in 1939; still cataloged after World
War II) and its postwar successor #157 both had picket fences on which
advertisements, lithographed on tinplate rectangles, were mounted. Almost all
vintages of these stations include an ad for Baby Ruth candy bars, as do the
#256 freight station and the #356 operating freight station with baggage carts.

Lionel's first postwar boxcar, the #2454 (1946-1947) was lettered for both Baby
Ruth and the Pennsylvania Railroad. So was the smaller #1004 Scout boxcar
(1948-1952) and its knuckle-coupler successors #6004 (1950) and #6014
(1951-1956). Even the Electronic Control Set (1946-1949) included an orange Baby
Ruth boxcar, #4454.

According to "Authoritative Guide to Lionel's Postwar Operating Cars" (Project
Roar Publishing), Lionel considered putting the Baby Ruth name on the #3454
merchandise car. Production versions of #3454 had only a PRR logo, but the
crates they delivered DID say Baby Ruth, as did crates for the
scale-proportioned #3854 merchandise car.

Fundimensions continued this illustrious tradition when it introduced the #9854
Baby Ruth billboard reefer in 1973.

Joseph Lechner