Home to the World Series just two months earlier, Yankee Stadium hosted the upstart AAFC's championship contest in '47. This program was issued for that re-match between the Cleveland Browns and host New York Yankees (the rivals had played to a 28-28 deadlock on November 23). The 32-page guide features text and photos detailing the combatants, as well as a front-cover illustration by famed cartoonist Willard Mullin. The Browns won the 1947 championship game 14-3 before 61,879 spectators—the then-largest crowd ever to see a professional football game. Yet very few of these programs appear to have survived, with only several examples ever having reached the auction block. EX condition.

The Portland Football Publication Archive

Our octogenarian consignor began collecting sports publications during his youth way back in the 1940s. His collecting interest was sparked when he first laid eyes on Exhibit cards at a Massachusetts arcade in 1943. The following year, he attended his first pro football game as a fan of the NFL's Boston Yanks. Understandably, our consignor was as primed as anyone for the debut of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946, and later the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. Programs, press guides, yearbooks, magazines, record manuals—he collected it all for the better part of the next 6 decades. Now, as this determined and meticulous collector has so aptly described, "it is time to pass on this outstanding library of sports publications to another generation!"

Thus, three auctions' worth of such rare and desirable material will be presented over the next six months. This first installment focuses primarily on those early NFL and AAFC programs, with numerous rarities and standouts. Incredibly, there are almost 200 AAFC programs alone, which is just about unparalleled in hobby history. All are organized by team as home games, unless otherwise noted. Some represent complete home seasons, plus exhibition games that are, in several cases, the respective franchise's first-ever contests. Best of all, our consignor purchased much of his collection during that vintage era when he was witnessing the stuff of legend first-hand and when he had the uncommon foresight to sock away everything for posterity. Now, three-quarters of a century later, it is our distinct pleasure to bring this uniquely impressive archive to auction. Let the pub crawl begin!