November 2016 Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/19/2016
In the summer of 1921, Taylor hobbled into a Converse Chicago sales office complaining of sore feet and persuaded executives to create a shoe especially for basketball. Taylor, who was a two-time All-State selection at Columbus High School and a journeyman jump shooter for eleven professional seasons, was an entrepreneur and involved in all facets of basketball promotion. In 1932, Converse added Taylor's signature to its trademark five-pronged star shoe, and sent its new basketball ambassador on the road to promote the sneaker. Initially, "Chucks" were only available in high or low canvas in either black or white, and sold only in sporting goods stores. Converse All-Stars became the best-selling basketball shoe in history making Chuck Taylor's name a household word. We offer a signed Basketball FDC envelope from 1961. Taylor is an excruciatingly tough autograph to find! We’ve only seen a handful of his signatures in 30 plus years.
We offer an extremely rare 3.5” x 2.5” cardboard membership card signed by Taylor in 1956 from his “Chuck Taylor Coaching Camp”.