The Natural (1984, TriStar) 1939 Chicago Daily Tribune Prop Newspaper

Roy Hobbs made the Knights famous. The Earl Hays Press made the papers that proved it.

This is an original production-made prop newspaper created by The Earl Hays Press for Barry Levinson's The Natural (TriStar Pictures, 1984), starring Robert Redford. The front page of the Chicago Daily Tribune, dated 1939, carries the headline “Sox, Tigers Divide; Cubs Maul Knights, 15–2” - placing Roy Hobbs and the fictional New York Knights squarely in the sports pages of Depression-era America.

The Earl Hays Press has been Hollywood's premier prop house for printed materials since 1915. Period newspapers are among the most demanding props to produce. Every typeface, column width, and headline style has to match the era. This Tribune front page was designed and printed to pass as a genuine 1939 broadsheet under the scrutiny of the camera.

Limited stock available. Each piece comes with our Certificate of Authenticity and is guaranteed for life.

Once these are gone, they're gone.

As seen in:

• 🎬 The Natural (TriStar Pictures, 1984) - directed by Barry Levinson, starring Robert Redford

Frame it. Display it alongside your baseball memorabilia or classic film collection. This is a tangible piece of one of the most beloved sports films ever made — and a rare artifact from the production that turned Bernard Malamud's novel into a cinematic legend.

Did you know? The Natural is set in 1939, the same year the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first induction ceremony in Cooperstown. The film's production design went to extraordinary lengths to recreate the look and feel of late-Depression-era baseball, from the uniforms and stadiums to the printed ephemera that populated the world of Roy Hobbs. Randy Newman's score earned an Academy Award nomination, and the film remains a touchstone of American sports cinema.