Presented is a quaint, vintage 1952-61 Reading Indians' game time sign that was displayed at Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium, in Reading, Pennsylvania. During the aforementioned era, the Reading Indians were a Class A Eastern League farm team of the Cleveland Indians. Years before becoming a franchise affiliated with Cleveland, the Reading team was independent and produced the Brooklyn Dodgers' great right fielder, Carl Furillo, known as "The Reading Rifle" for his ultra-powerful arm. Later, continuing to the present, the Reading team became the Phillies, a farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies. In the 1952-61 era, Reading's Municipal Memorial Stadium was on the outskirts of the city, close to beautiful, bucolic farm country. The team produced numerous Major League stars and quite a number of solid, long-term Big Leaguers: Roger Maris was a 20-year-old outfielder when he played for Reading in 1955, showing early promise of his power hitting while launching 19 round trippers in 1955. Six years after playing at Reading, Maris broke babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60 when the young New York Yankee right fielder hit a record 61 blasts in '61. A future star with the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers, Rocky Colavito was Reading's power king in '56, with 28 home runs and 121 RBIs, terrific totals for a minor league season that was almost a month shorter than the Major League campaign. Other noteworthy Reading Indian players: Hank Aguirre, Joe Altobelli, Earl Averill, Herb Score, Brooks Lawrence, Mudcat Grant, Steve Hamilton, Gary Bell, and Jim Perry. The offered tin sign measures 21x27". It has a white background, and red, blue, and black lettering and numerals. The sign features the "Smiling Indian with Feather" logo of the Cleveland Indians, an image now considered stereotypical.
The hand-stenciled and hand-painted words and numbers on the sign read: "Reading Indians/Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium/Follow The Indians/GAME TIMES/Single Game 8:00 PM/Double Header 6:30/Sunday Single 2:00." The sign shows great use. There are some small stains, and metal and paint surface loss, and tiny areas of rust, mostly along the edges and around the corners, and some corners are bent. Despite the aforementioned minor imperfections, the sign presents well and has a vintage charm that evokes great memories of minor league ball and the stars who played on the Reading Indians at Reading's Municipal Memorial Stadium.