06 September 2015

Honus Wagner by Nils Hanczar

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As of Dec 2012, Johannes Peter Honus Wagner still holds the honor of having the most valuable baseball trading card. This mural is a replica of that card (which brought $2.8 million at auction). The reason why his card is so rare is due to the fact that Honus Wagner didn't want to be used to sell tobacco so he never gave permission to use his image on a card. At that time baseball cards were packaged with tobacco rather than gum. It was printed in 1909, but recalled at Mr Wagner's request, so a limited number of cards made it into circulation.

We were tempted to list Honus Wagner's baseball statistics here, but it's easy enough to get the stats for the Flying Dutchman elsewhere. We'll just say probably the best short stop ever, and not a chance he was on steroids!

The town of Carnegie is obviously proud of one of their own. The mural was designed by Constantine Hanczar, a longtime member of American Legion Post 82 – where the mural is located. It was painted by his grandson Nils.

Constantine and Nils Hanczar in front of the mural. Photographer unknown.

Summary:

Artist(s): Nils Hanczar
Address: 421 Jane St
City:Carnegie
Zip Code:15106

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