1918 Boston Red Sox (vs. Chicago Cubs) World Series Program with Babe Ruth

Offered is an exceedingly rare 1918 World Series program issued for a game played at Fenway Park. The series saw the Red Sox win their fourth championship of the decade in six games. This is one of the rarest of all World Series programs. It has always been one of the most elusive keys to the assembly of a complete World Series program run. Because the United States was involved in World War I at the time, the Red Sox's 1918 World Series program reflects the modest design mandated by wartime austerity measures. In both form and composition it appears exactly like a regular-season program and, as such, was easily damaged, a fact that is no doubt at least in part responsible for its great rarity today. The unassuming cover design features a portrait image of Red Sox team owner Harry Frazee alongside red-lettered printing identifying it as a World Series issue ("World's Series 1918/Fenway Park"). Advertising for "Between The Acts" cigarettes appears below Frazee's image. The back cover displays advertising for "Fatima" cigarettes. Aside from a team photo of the Red Sox and a portrait image of manager Ed Barrow on the interior front cover, the interior pages mirror the cover designs and primarily display advertisements. The center-page interior preprinted lineups include Ruth, Hooper, and Strunk for Boston, and Merkle, Vaughn, and Hollocher for Chicago. The offered program (approximately 6.75 x 10 inches), which is unscored, displays a light pencil mark and three chips of paper loss on the front cover, a few scattered creases, and light staining on both covers. Aside from those relatively minor flaws, the program, which lies perfectly flat, is in Excellent condition. This is one of the finest examples known of one of the key rarities of all World Series programs.