U2101

Joe Louis

Champion Professional Boxer

Original Artwork by Frank Pennington, FDC Pioneer

Fred's Anecdotal Note

This "Joe Lewis" First Day Cover is deicated to First Day Cover pioneer, noted boxing columist, and personal friend  Frank Pennington. Original Pennington artwork is featured in this hand painted FDC. The sketch of young Joe was featured in the Yuma Sun, an Arizona newspaper, in 1935. An older Lewis, the crowned champion, is from a drawing in 1946. References tp Pennington's sports writing career are also prominently displayed on this Collins Cover. Finally, a portrait rendered from a 1940's photograph provide a period study of the cachetmaker pioneer who contributed so much to the hobby. This one's for you Frank.

Collins Cover Announcement 

JOE LOUIS 

Dedicated to Frank Pennington

First Day Cover Pioneer Noted Sports Columnist

Good Friend

In my cachetmaking endeavors every so often over the years I get the good fortune to be able to produce a COLLINS First Day Cover that has a chance of becoming a truly extraordinary collectible within the hobby. This is such a time.

When Joe Louis was announced, Frank Pennington and I decided to collaborate on a First Day Cover for the issue. Frank sent me quite a bit of material from his files with a long cover letter saying that I should use the material however I wanted. At the time Frank and I talked I had in mind a cover similar to the ones we did together for Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson. But, after reviewing the material, I realized immediately that everything was at hand for a quintessential item that could be cherished by all present collectors and those who will come after us. So, "surprise, Frank, because this Joe Louis is dedicated to you, my friend, and to all that you have done for and meant to our hobby".

Let me tell you about this first-rate hand-painted cover. In 1935 a young artist named Frank Pennington sent in a sketch of an aspiring young boxer named Joe Louis to a Yuma, Arizona newspaper. That 1935 Pennington sketch of young Joe appears on this First Day Cover. Nine years later in 1946 Frank did a portrait of world titlist Joe Louis wearing his heavyweight championship crown. That original PenningLon artwork also is prominently used on this cover. These two Louis renditions, done almost sixty and fifty years ago respectively at the very times of Joe Louis' career, make this FDC a classic in its own right, but there is much more.

In the material that Frank sent I soon discovered that he was a prominent and well respected sports writer and boxing columnist. He contributed to various boxing and sports magazines and newspapers and had his own column in "The Ring". One of his features "Rambling Around Northern California" about boxing is reproduced on the cover and it gives a nice "period flavor" to this Joe Louis cover. And, finally, there was included in the files an article about Frank and it contained a 1940's era photograph of him, so my dedication cover also features a portrait of Frank Pennington as he appeared during the career years of Joe Louis.

 Frank and I first met during one of my stamp trips to California in the late 1970's. He started doing First Day Cover cachets in the 1930's and 1940's, so we're talking about a FDC pioneer who has been involved in the hobby during seven decades. We've corresponded off and on over the years, and at the yearly conventions we usually find a few quiet moments to have coffee and just talk. He's a straight shooter and a guy who's "been there" in a hobby which only really got going in the 1930's. I value highly our association over the last fifteen years and am honored and proud to call Frank Pennington my friend.

Knowing that this cover would be something special, I took special care in its composition and visual appeal. I brought in a strong and varied use of bright colors in the COLLINS tradition but was careful not to overpower the magnificent original Pennington artwork. Because this is a "Joè Louis" COLLINS FDC, it is destined to become a sought after item and a relatively quick "sell-out" is a strong possibility. But, much more pertinent is the fact that the cachet features the artwork of a famous hobby pioneer, and, in fact, is dedicated to his many accomplishments and contributions to First Day Covers and to the sport of boxing. Don't miss this one because the test of time will crown it the champion by a knock-out. This one's for you, Frank. Item #U2101. $11.75.

Summer 2020 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 19 U2101 — Joe Louis 6-22-93

This is my special dedication cover to the famed pioneer cachetmaker and my long-time personal friend Frank Pennington. In 1935 Frank sent a drawing of a youthful, aspiring boxer named Joe Louis to a Yuma newspaper. Eleven years later he did a portrait of Louis wearing his Heavyweight Championship crown. From the July 1, 1946 edition of "The Decision" boxing magazine a portrait was published of a young columnist, and it is that picture of Frank that appears in the center of the cachet. I had been completely successful in surprising him, and he wrote in a note to me: "Now you gave me the surprise of my last 60 years when I received the cover with the two Louis pictures and most of all mine also. This is the greatest honor that has come my way since I've been in the cover hobby and the biggest surprise yet." I'm glad Frank appreciated this Joe Louis cover I dedicated to him. He earned and deserved the recognition. A unique Collins.