VintageBasketball.com, click for home.

Chip Hilton Series Books - Clair Bee

This is where vintage basketball collecting all began for me. I walked into an antique store and saw two Chip Hilton books. The rest is history! Within the "original" 23 book series written by Clair Bee between 1948 and 1966, there are 8 basketball-themed books. Championship Ball #2 was the first book from 1948. Other basketball books in the series include Hoops Crazy #5 - 1950, Backboard Fever #10 - 1953, Tournament Crisis #14 - 1957, HardCourt Upset #15 - 1957, Backcourt Ace #19 - 1961, Buzzer Basket #20 - 1962, and Comeback Cagers #21 - 1963. The slogan for the series was "Clair Bee, he knows what makes boys tick". Clair Bee was a Hall of Fame coach who spent much of his career coaching for Long Island University. The first six Chip Hilton titles were originally issued in bright red, smooth textured bindings, with blank outer covers and full color picture dust jackets. These first six titles were later re-issued with blank rougher tweed cover bindings and picture dust jackets, as were the first editions of issues #7 through #19. In terms of the basketball editions, #2 and #5 first editions were of the smooth red binding variety.

1 - View all Chip Hilton - Clair Bee
1948 - Championship Ball #2
1950 - Hoop Crazy #5
1953 - Backboard Fever #10
1957 - Hardcourt Upset #15
1957 - Tournament Crisis #14
1961 - Backcourt Ace #19
1962 - Buzzer Basket #20
1963 - Comeback Cagers

My Most Recent Blogs

Story-paper Tabloids - Feb. 28, 2017

You may be familiar with the term pulp, used to describe some of the older, cheaply made periodicals from many years ago. However, the term "story-paper tabloid" may not be as common. Story-paper tabloids are similar to pulps in the low quality of the materials used, but differ in their format and size. Produced using cheat wood pulp paper, they ...

Seldom seen Clark Candy Cards! - June 19, 2016

Recently, I was lucky enough to find 10 of the 16 cards from the 1954 Clark Candy basketball set. These cards are quite rare and seldom seen, even by advanced basketball collectors.

Rare Album Postcard Acquired - March 1, 2016

Recently, I came across a surprising find - the 1928 Cuban Aguilitas Album Redemption postcard. When I've seen these in the past, they have always been baseball related. This one is basketball themed and shows the same image as card #397, the HNOS Maristas. The seller of this item said he found it in Cuba three decades ago. It is a nice and une...

The rarest card ever in vintage basketball - C.A. Briggs - Feb. 7, 2016

On January 20, 2016, the 1933 C.A. Briggs card was added to the VintageBasketball.com collection. I am excited to share info about this card with all of you. While there are many rare items in our hobby, speaking specifically about cards, this is probably at the very top of the list in terms of rarity. Take a few minutes to read a little more a...

My Favorite Items

1933 C.A. Briggs Basketball
B33 Basket Ball Flannels 1912
Basket Ball Rules for 1893
Hamilton King L5 Leather 1912
Ken-Wel Advertising 1920
Naismith's Phog Allen Portrait Print 1936
Spalding Men - 1896
Spalding Men - 1899/1900
Spalding Women - 1901