1932 POLITICAL WORLD SERIES: DEMOCRATS vs. REPUBLICANS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES [cover title]. Benefit of D.C. Unemployed. As the Game Goes, So Goes the Election

Washington, DC: Charles H. Potter & Co. Printers, 1932. Program for the game. 8vo. (4) pp., the title leaf illustrated with a nice political cartoon representing the game, and an Elephant catcher about to take a throw, while a Donkey slides into the White House. The next two pages print a program for the event, starting line-ups for each party, and notice of the umpires, one of whom was to be former boxing champion Gene Tunney, signed by him at the top of page three; the rear wrapper is a full-page ad for the printer: "We print for both Democrats and Republicans (Also Insurgents)." Tunney (1897-1978) was world heavyweight boxing champion, 1926-1928, (truncated) defeating Jack Dempsey twice, in September, 1926, and again, in September, 1927. Ink date "June 4, 1932" at head of front wrapper. Very good copy. Folded. (9765). A rare memento from the politics of the Great Depression era, showing a spirit of cooperation and a concern over the plight of the common man, for whose benefit this game, held at Griffith Stadium, home of the Washington Senators, was played. The front cover features a wonderful unsigned cartoon, the program promised a performance by the U.S. Marine Band, the President (Herbert Hoover) throwing out the first pitch, and an auction of a baseball signed by the President. The starting line-ups are accompanied by the names of substitutes, a bat boy, and an "official protester" for each team. Despite the printed note on the front wrapper "As the Game Goes, So Goes the Election," the game was no prognosticator of the coming election. An ink note at the bottom of the front wrapper records the "Score 20 to 5 in favor Republicans." The Democrats lost the game, but Franklin Roosevelt defeated Hoover by a wider margin in the electoral college. A rare ephemeral item; we were unable to find any record for it, or a serial, in OCLC, and could find nothing in the online catalogue of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Heritage sold a program for the 1933 game in 2012 ($500), but that one didn't share the Tunney connection, the political acumen of the cartoonist, or the annotations. (Inventory #: 62164)