The Complete Collectibles Guide
Mickey Mantle
Yoo-Hoo collectibles and two trips to the Orient
Part II
Yoo-Hoo Beverage and
Japanese Collectibles
By Kelly Eisenhauer
W
hat is this fascination that Yankee fans
have with Mickey Mantle? Even in death,
Mickey is as popular as ever in the sports
memorabilia world. Why has this All-American boy
from Commerce, Okla., captured our hearts and
made us want to have every item ever issued with
his likeness?
The answer may not be that difficult to explain.
Mickey was as popular as the president of the United States. He played on the great Yankee teams that
won one world championship after another. Back in
the 1950s and 1960s, it was common to see him on
NBC with Bob Hope and even on Sunday night with
Ed Sullivan. Mothers who didn’t know the first thing
about first base knew who he was.
In this, the second installment in a multi-part
series “Mickey Mantle: The Complete Collectibles
Guide,” we’ll look in-depth at items connected to
Mantle’s affiliation with the Yoo-Hoo Beverage Co.
and with the Yankees Tour of Japan in 1955. The
first part, “Topps Test, Secondary Issues and Inserts
1952-69,” appeared in the Feb. 6 issue of SCD.
While on one of his promotional
tours during the 1960s, a woman
reporter asked Yogi if Yoo-Hoo
was hyphenated. He said, “No,
ma’am. It’s not even carbonated.”
MickeyMantle
A
lbert Olivieri died in 1984. Who was Albert Olivieri, you may ask? Olivieri was the founder and
former president of the Yoo-Hoo Beverage Co. Back
in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Yoo-Hoo produced some of the greatest Mickey Mantle collectibles
ever made.
For the record, Olivieri founded Yoo-Hoo in the
1930s. It all started while he was helping his wife
preserve the family tomato sauce. The idea struck
him that the keys to preserving a chocolate drink
on which he had been working were temperature,
pressure and time. He thought that if he could heat
chocolate like his wife heated the tomato sauce, he’d
have a winner.
Well, as time would tell, Yoo-Hoo was a winner.
Any true Yankee fan can tell you this. There are
those of us who would prefer a Yoo-Hoo than a cold
brew. I can’t believe that I just wrote that!
The original Yoo-Hoo name was being used by the
family to sell fruit drinks. At this point, the Olivieri
family decided to use the Yoo-Hoo name to market its
new chocolate drink. The rest is history.
In 1959, after some very promising years, one of
the greatest advertising campaigns in the company’s
history was employed. The Yoo-Hoo company and
Olivieri hired New York Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi
Berra as its spokesman (Photo No. 58). Yogi, as well
as his Yankee teammates, pitched the chocolate drink
with slogans like, “Me-hee for Yoo-hoo” and “Yoo-Hoo:
the Drink of Champions.” And yes, there’s even a
Yogi-ism associated with Yoo-Hoo. While on one of
his promotional tours during the 1960s, a female
reporter asked Yogi if Yoo-Hoo was hyphenated. He
said, “No, ma’am. It’s not even carbonated.”
It really was a favorite of the Yankees and with
Yankee fans (Photo No. 59). In fact, one of my
favorite Mickey Mantle pictures shows Mickey in his
Yoo-Hoo T-shirt drinking a Yoo-Hoo or is that a beer?
Oh, well. I tried. (Photo No. 60)
The first baseball memorabilia produced by YooHoo started in 1959. Nine different bottle caps were
made. The bottle caps included two different Yogi
Berra caps showing a portrait of Yogi and the second
showing him drinking a Yoo-Hoo. Whitey Ford was
shown with his Yankee cap straight and also tilted.
The remainder of the caps featured Tony Kubek, Gil
McDougald, Bobby Richardson, Bill Skowron and
Mantle.
Mantle would be the subject of three different bottle caps with slight variations (Photo No. 61). The
first Mantle bottle cap has “Me For” at the top of the
bottle cap with Mantle’s name and Yoo-Hoo printed
below Mantle’s picture. The second bottle cap is set
up in the exact same format, but a slightly different
photo of Mickey has been used. The third variation
has a totally different design and caramel color coating with “Me” to the left of Mickey’s picture and “For”
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on the right side. “Mickey Mantle” is located below
the words, “Yoo-Hoo.”
He would also appear on a very rare, large,
twist-off cap, that topped a 21-ounce bottle of YooHoo Chocolate Syrup (Photo No. 62). These twist
caps actually started as uncut sheets of metal, before they were transformed into bottle tops. Pictured
is a rare uncut, metal sheet autographed by Mickey
with his famous No. 7. (Photo No. 63)
Also in 1959, five different baseball cards were
issued as a promotion. The cards featured Yogi
Berra (Photo No. 64), Whitey Ford, Tony Kubek,
Gil McDougald and Bill Skowron (Photo No. 65).
All of these cards were 27/16-by-51/8 inches with tabs
located at the bottom of each card. The tabs were to
be cut and redeemed for prizes. Cards with the tabs
still attached bring a premium value today, with
most being valued in the $800-$1,200 range.
A Mantle card that shows a black-and-white portrait and the words, “Me for Yoo-Hoo” with facsimile
autograph was issued, but is in a totally different
format. It is thought that the Mantle card might
have been actually made a year or two later. The
size of the Mantle card is 25/8-by-35/8 inches (Photo
No. 66)
Two of the nicest advertising pieces ever made
were of Yogi in his empty Yankee locker drinking
a bottle of Yoo-Hoo (Photo No. 67). This display
piece measures 211/2-by-261/2 inches and features a
cardboard wood grained frame.
The second piece showed a colorized picture of
Yogi along with Mickey, who is holding two bats and
a glove in his left hand while drinking a bottle of
Yoo-Hoo. Both Mickey and Yogi are shown in their
Yankee road jerseys with facsimile signatures. The
two are leaning on a cooler that states, “The Drink
of Champions.” The dimensions of this very rare
advertising piece is 28-by-35 inches (Photo No. 68).
An 8-by-10 photo puzzle of this same Mickey and
Yogi image exists (Photo No. 69).
Mantle also appears on a side panel of a cardboard case that contained four six-packs. Mick is
shown in the form of a drawing, while wearing his
famous No. 7 jersey (Photo No. 70).
Another collectible that was actually part of
the production process has Mickey’s signature on a
paper advertising cone at the top of Yoo-Hoo bottles.
His signature appears in silver with the rest of his
Yankee teammates. The brown cone was only issued
for a few years (Photo No. 71).
Yoo-Hoo also was sold in cans, which featured pictures of Mickey, Yogi and the rest of his
Yankee teammates. The pictures of the Yankees
are inset in drawings of bottle caps (Photo No.
72). Values for unopened cans can be around
$400-$500, while opened cans are worth around
$100-$150.
Go to MICKEY MANTLE on the next page
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MANTLE SERIES from previous page
Two hard cardboard advertising displays
were made in the early 1960s. The first standup ad shows Mickey and Yogi with a bottle of
Yoo-Hoo in the lower-right corner. The ad is
yellow and brown in color and measures 9-by-12
inches (Photo No. 73). The second stand-up ad
is identical to the first, but a can of Yoo-Hoo is
shown, instead of the Yoo-Hoo bottle (Photo No.
74). The first display piece that shows the bottle
is the rarer of the two.
Yoo-Hoo also promoted its chocolate drink by
issuing matchbooks. A Mantle matchbook, yellow
in color, shows a picture of Mickey looking to his
left with the words, “Me For Yoo-Hoo.” Mantle’s
name appears below his picture inside a drawn
bottle cap image (Photo No. 75). Depending on
condition, complete unstriked matchbooks can
bring as much as $400-$500.
In 1962, Yoo-Hoo made a counter display in
yellow and brown that measured 11-by-14. It
shows eight Yankee players: Yogi, Mickey, Bill
Skowron in a Washington Senators cap, Elston
Howard, Joe Pepitone, Tom Tresh, Bobby Richardson and Whitey Ford, all holding a bottle of
Yoo-Hoo with their left hand (Photo No. 76).
The display piece contains the slogan, “The drink
of champions!” It is valued between $1,200$1,500 in Excellent condition.
Another interesting collectible made by YooHoo was a Mickey Mantle T-shirt. It is unclear
how these shirts were distributed. The shirt
has a drawing of Mickey’s face inside an orange
circle (Photo No. 77). Below Mickey’s face is a
facsimile signature and “Me for Yoo-Hoo.”
Other Mantle Yoo-Hoo advertising collectibles
include a small rectangular table standup with
Yogi. The table tent shows head shots of the two
Yankees and just the word, “Yoo-Hoo.” There
is a small white circle, which was used for the
merchant to fill in the price per bottle (Photo
No. 78).
A six-pack carrier insert card was also made
circa 1962. This card shows Mickey and Yogi at
the top of the card with a special offer for two autographed ballpoint pens and bank for 50 cents
(Photo No. 79 closeup, and No. 80 complete).
The insert carrier card was only used for a limited time and is very rare.
Finally, a yellow and brown, rectangular
display piece, about the size of a bumper sticker,
was made to promote Yoo-Hoo Frozen Bars. The
piece shows a circular picture of Mickey on the
left and Yogi on the right (Photo No. 81). It was
the last Yoo-Hoo item to feature Mantle.
GO to MANTLE SERIES on page 36
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The Author: Kelly R. Eisenhauer
Kelly R. Eisenhauer of Lehighton, Pa.,
has been a fan and collector of Mickey Mantle
memorabilia for more than 40 years. He supplied photography for the HBO documentary
“Mantle, The Definitive Story” and is featured
in Richard Wolfe’s current book, For Yankee
Fans Only – Volume 2. Eisenhauer owns and
operates his own Mickey Mantle webpage at
www.hofmemories.com. Anyone with questions or comments can reach him at mrike@
ptd.net.
Many of the photographs from this multipart series, including a remarkable number of
one-of-a-kind pieces, came from the Mickey
Mantle Collection of B.S. Alpert.
I
Mickey Mantle’s
Japanese collectibles
f you’ve ever wondered about the origins of Japanese
baseball, wonder no more. Japan has been playing baseball since 1873. Introduced to the game by
American educator Horace Wilson, Japan organized its
first amateur teams around 1880. Baseball clubs were
formed around the country, and many of the country’s
colleges quickly adopted the game as part of their extracurricular schedule.
In an effort to establish better cultural relations,
Japan and the United States would frequently tour one
another’s country and play the game of baseball. The first
Japanese visit to the United States dates back to 1905. In
1908, a team called the Reach All-American Team traveled to Japan and played a total of 17 games, with the
U.S. winning all of them. Since that inaugural year, the
United States has sent many teams to the Far East to
teach the game and help make baseball Japan’s favorite
sport.
In 1934, the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig All-Stars
toured Japan and won all 17 games that were played.
Japan would then form its first professional team called
the Nihon Baseball Club, which later became known as
the Yomiuri Giants. Other tours followed in 1949 and in
1951, with Lefty O’Doul and Joe DiMaggio heading up
their respective teams (Photos Nos. 82 and 83).
In 1953, coming off a World Series championship
by defeating Brooklyn in six games, Yankees’ pitcher
“Steady” Eddie Lopat would headline a list of All-Stars
(Photos No. 84 and 85) that included Bob Lemon and
Mike Garcia of the Indians, Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons (Phillies), Eddie Mathews (Braves), Enos Slaughter
(Cardinals), Harvey Kuenn (Tigers), Hank Sauer (Cubs),
Constantine Niarhos (Red Sox), Nellie Fox (White Sox),
and fellow Yankee teammates Billy Martin, Yogi Berra
and Mickey Mantle.
The trip to Japan for Mantle never materialized. His
trip would be cancelled due to a further examination of
his right knee. Since the trip, which included 12 games,
was to begin on Oct. 23 in Toyko, it was too late to stop
the presses in Japan. Tickets (Photos No. 86 and 87)
and game programs with Mickey’s likeness (Photo
Nos. 88 and 89) were already printed. In fact, pictures
of Mickey, Yogi and the Crown Prince of Japan, Prince
Akihito, were taken to promote the upcoming tour when
the Prince visited Yankee Stadium on Sept. 16, 1953
(Photos Nos. 90 and 91). It was not to be for Mickey.
He would spend the winter in Commerce, Okla., with his
wife Merlyn. The Lopat-led All-Stars would win 11 of the
12 games played.
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MANTLE SERIES from previous page
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In 1955 after losing the World Series to Brooklyn,
the Yankees entire team was off on another goodwill
tour. The tour would start in Hawaii (Photo No.
92) on Oct. 11 for five games, continue in Japan for
16 games from Oct. 22 to Nov. 17, and conclude with
a two-game visit in Manila on Nov. 19 and 20.
George Weiss, the Yankees general manager,
ordered everyone to do his duty and make the trip.
Even though Mickey really didn’t want to go, he
made the trip and did not make any waves. Being
allowed to take one traveling companion, most players took their wives. Merlyn, who was pregnant with
David, decided to remain at home and Harold Youngman, Mickey’s boss and friend, took her place.
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Japanese treasures filched in Oklahoma
In a story that is nothing short of classic Mantle, it was agreed
that Billy Martin would spend some time hunting and fishing
with Mickey as soon as he returned from the Far East. So as
legend would have it, Billy came knocking at the door with a
car filled with cameras, binoculars, jewelry, silk kimonos, and
more. Wanting to go out on the town for a few hours, the two
then decided to jump in Billy’s new Cadillac to hit one of the
local watering holes. After reaching the bar, Mickey persuaded
Billy that it wasn’t necessary to lock the doors.
“This is Oklahoma, Billy. No one is going to steal anything
from your car.” After putting in a good session, the two come
out of the bar only to find that everything in Billy’s car was
stolen. A classic Mantle joke that officially welcomed Billy to
Oklahoma.
While in Hawaii, Mickey and Billy were having a
lot of fun. They spent their idle time surfing, playing
poker and drinking. Then it was on to Japan for a
10-city, 16-game tour (Photo No. 93). After playing
in only seven games, Mickey wanted to go home. A
week in Japan was long enough. In order to go home,
however, he would need to figure out a way not to
upset Casey Stengel and Weiss.
So, with the help of Harold Youngman, the two
thought up a scheme where a fake telegram was sent
to Mickey in Merlyn’s name requesting him to be at
home for the birth of his second son, David. The telegram did the trick and Mickey was free to go home. It
was later found out that Meryln gave birth to David
about two months later in late December. Mickey, of
course, was fined, but he got to go home to be with
his wife and family.
Here’s
The
Pitch
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Memorabilia from the 1953 and 1955 tours includes
different game programs and magazines with Mantle
on the cover (Photos No. 94). These programs and
magazines radiate with color and show the superiority of Japanese printing technology. Newspaper
articles from one of Japan’s main newspapers, The
Sunday Mainichi, show Mickey and Yogi with the
young Crown Prince of Japan.
Ironically, as was stated earlier, Mantle did not
make the 1953 tour due to an injury, but his picture
appeared in the Mainichi newspaper on Oct. 20,
1953. The same photo of the crown Prince’s visit to
New York was used for the front page story (Photos
No. 90 and 91 on previous page).
Other Mantle collectibles are publicity photos in
both black and white and in color (Photos Nos.
95-99), biographical write-ups, and even two ½-page
advertisements for Morinaga Milk Chocolate showing Mantle wearing No. 6 (Photo No. 100), and an
advertisement for the F H Mitsuwa Bat Co. promoting Mantle and bats (Photo No. 101).
The Yankees also issued itinerary packets to all
the players and participants. Some of these have
made their way into the hobby. Perhaps the rarest of all Mickey Mantle Japanese collectibles is
a 21-by-29-inch display prize sheet (Photo No.
102). The uncut sheet contained 30 cards of various
sizes, which featured the top stars from America,
Japan and Hawaii. The “prize sheet” as it is called,
contained nine of America’s top players including
Mantle. The Mantle card shows Mickey wearing his
1951 No. 6 Yankees jersey. The “prize sheet” was said
to be the top treasure in a newspaper contest and
also contained large cards of Lopat and Berra.
Another collectable was an orange game ticket with
Mickey’s picture on the front and the Yankee lineup
on the reverse. It was issued for Game 2 on October
31, 1953, at Nishinomiya Stadium (Photo No. 87
on previous page). This particular issue marked
the first time an American ballplayer appeared on a
Japanese game ticket.
While on tour in 1955, the Yankees drew an amazing record crowd of 64,000 in their first game against
the All-Japan Stars in Osaka. Andy Carey would
slug an unbelievable 13 home runs on the tour, while
Elston Howard would bat .468 in 25 games. The
Yankees would go 15-0-1 in Japan. u
During my research for this article, I found Ms.
Miwako Atarashi, the curator of the Baseball Hall
of Fame and Museum of Japan in Tokyo, to be very
helpful. She was very knowledgeable and very willing to help. I thank her.
For pricing of more than 3,000 entries involving Mickey Mantle, go to the exclusive SCD
Auction Database at: www.sportscollectorsdigest.com