1950s Rawlings Salesman Sample Baseball Mickey Mantle

This is a 1950s Salesman Sample Rawlings Baseball, with Facsimile Autographs. The markings AB 5 oz Horsehide cover are on the ball. I've seen two of these baseballs , that only have a few Facsimile Autographs on them and both were described as "Salesman baseballs". Because There are only a few Signatures on the Baseballs they probably were not for sale. I would think they were used as samples given to Sporting goods stores as a gift, as to showcase their product. Sort of like Topps when they gave dealers a free Mickey Mantle Bronze rookie card when they ordered a certain amount of Topps products. I would thinks these Baseball are very rare. The two salesman sample baseballs bellow; Photos bottom left, are from 1961. You can see the one side of the ball is exactly the same (Warren Spahn) But the Mantle Signature is different. The ball from 1961 is Mantle modern signature.

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1961 Baseball	1961 Baseball	1950s Baseball