Lot # 2698: Circa 1905 J. Russell & Sons Real-Photo Postcard Lord Stanley Earl of Derby SGC VG 3 - Original Presenter of the Stanley Cup

Graded VG 3 by SGC. One of only two examples of this postcard graded by SGC. While few hockey fans will recognize the gentleman pictured on this rare twentieth-century postcard, his name today is virtually synonymous with the game: Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, or as he is succinctly titled here on this card: "Earl of Derby." It was Stanley, in 1893, who began the tradition of awarding a trophy cup to Canada's top-ranked amateur hockey team. Later, in 1915, it was awarded to the winner of the championship series between two professional leagues, the National Hockey League and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Finally, in 1926, "The Stanley Cup" became the official championship trophy of the NHL, with the tradition continuing to this day. The offered postcard was produced by the James Russell & Sons firm circa 1905. Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, known as Lord Stanley of Preston after 1886, was an English politician who later served as the sixth Governor General of Canada, from 1888 to 1893. He was also an avid sportsman, and it was his love of the game of hockey that motivated him to present the Stanley Cup in 1893. In 1946, Stanley was elected to the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame. The postcard displays remarkable clarity. This example has never been mailed and there is no writing on the postcard reverse. This is a very rare postcard relating to the history of hockey and the birth of the Stanley Cup.