Cartoon panel commemorating the first Opening Day of Yankee Stadium (April 18, 1923) by Fisher, Thornton (1888 - 1975) - 1923

[New York, 1923. Pen and ink on artist's board, each image captioned; inscribed (ses below), signed ("Thornton Fisher"), and dated ("April 26, 1923") by the artist. 1 vols. 11-5/8 x 17 inches. Matted and framed; fine. Pen and ink on artist's board, each image captioned; inscribed (ses below), signed ("Thornton Fisher"), and dated ("April 26, 1923") by the artist. 1 vols. 11-5/8 x 17 inches. Opening Day, Yankee Stadium1923 - Inscribed to the Inventor of the Hot Dog. The cartoonist and illustrator Thornton Fisher drew several newspaper comics and panels in the 1910s, including 'Kitty Keys', 'Raising the Family', 'Betty's Brother Bobby' and 'The Marrying of Mary'. He also frequently treated baseball and sporting subjects, and this comic commemoration of the very first opening day at Yankee Stadium, is inscribed by Fisher to yet another legendary name associated with the Yankees: Harry M. Stevens, the famous concessionaire who introduced the hot dog at a baseball game at the Polo Grounds in 1907. When Yankee Stadium opened in 1923, Stevens was already a familiar figure to the players; in fact, Babe Ruth - a passionate lover of hot dogs - considered Stevens a second father. The centerpiece of the composite drawing shows the large figure of Babe Ruth, smiling and cocking his bat, with the caption beneath, "Babe opened the Yank Stadium by Poking a Home Run in the 4th, Scoring Dugan and Ward." Nowadays, of course, Yankee Stadium is known as "The House That Ruth Built." Fisher's inscription reads: "To my good friend Harry M Stevens from his sincerely and merrily / Thornton Fisher / April 26th / 1923" A priceless association, and a superb memento of the birth of a baseball legend.