Lot # 3: The King Of All Golf Tees—The Giant Reddy Tee!

Starting Bid: $300.00

Bids: 14 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring 2020",
which ran from 3/9/2020 2:30 PM to
3/28/2020 8:00 PM



Hail to the giant Reddy Tee—King Of All Golf Tees!  This two-foot-tall behemoth, created as a smoking stand, consists of a solid wood stem attached to a wood-fiber-type head and a wood base.  Some vintage tees were made with wood stems and fiber heads, so the construction of this two-piece tee is in keeping with various tee manufacturing practices back in the 1920s (Reddy Tees were patented in the US in 1922).

This tee still wears its original finish and decals. There are two "The Reddy Tee" decals on the stem (one on each side), a "The Reddy Tee Smoking Stand" decal in the top of the tee, and one "The Reddy Tee" decal and an added "The Reddy Tee" metal badge affixed under the base. Modelled after an actual Reddy Tee and produced by the Nieblo Mfg. Co., maker of The Reddy Tee, this regal tee rises above all others in more than one way. 

This tee is in great condition!  The roughly hewn "vertical indentations" around both the top of the rim and the base of the tee are original to this tee. The original red paint, and green paint in the case of the base, applied to the head of the tee was also applied to these vertical marks and is visible all the way down inside their recesses.  I am not sure how the vertical marks were applied to this tee. These marks could have been purposely created once the tee head was formed, or they could have resulted from the process used to form this wood-fiber-type tee head.  

There are, however, actual nicks and dings to the original vertical marks on both the rim and the base of the tee. These nicks and dings have caused minor paint loss in those areas, which can easily be touched up with matching paint (a paint store can digitally scan the existing paint and create a match in just a few minutes), but there is nothing wrong with keeping this tee all original exactly as it is, especially since the auctioneer as well as his sources have never seen or even heard tell of another—and a tee this big would be noticed! Taking everything into consideration, the dings and dents are not a big deal.

There are a few burn marks on the top of the tee, down in the "cup," the result of this stand being briefly used as a "smoking stand."  Fortunately, it was not used much and overall still looks amazing.

All the tees and tee bags shown in the images are not included with this lot.  They are pictured to help provide size perspective.

This is truly a special item. It's larger than life—the largest vintage tee known (at least to the auctioneer and his sources)—and appears to be the only known example as well. Long live the King!

 

Views: 1003