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WHEATIES BABE DIDRIKSON (ZAHARIAS) PANEL CARD
Starting in 1934, Wheaties cereal began featuring athletes on their boxes, which were commonly cut-out as panel cards. The first woman athlete to be featured was Mildred “Babe” Didrikson (Zaharias), holding a basketball in her All Americans barnstorming basketball uniform. The panel cards were jumbo in size and had a very fancy border. These are commonly found roughly cut or in poor condition. The Didrikson panel is extremely rare, with POP numbers well below that of the male baseball players also released that year. It is unknown if the production numbers were higher for the baseball players, or they were just simply more popular to cut-out and collect at the time.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias is considered one of the greatest female athletes of all time. Although she is most likely recognized as a track & field gold medal Olympian and record-setting golfer, she excelled in basketball from 1929 to 1932, becoming an All-American and winning the national AAU Championship in 1931. In 1932, she won 2 gold medals in record-breaking events at the Olympics. Her golfing career and founding of the LPGA is stuff of legend.
• The Associated Press voted Zaharias the Woman Athlete of the 20th Century in 1999.
• Zaharias is the highest-ranked woman, at No. 10, on ESPN’s list of the 50 top athletes of the 20th century.
• She has been inducted into the LPGA, National Women’s & World Golf Halls of Fame.
• Zaharias has a museum dedicated to her in Beaumont, Texas
Measurements: 6" x 6.5"
1935
