Fun tintypes

[steve B]

I just got a group of 3 tintypes. One baseball player, or maybe an actor portraying a baseball player? Fun bunch, and more interesting than the usual baseball tintypes.

First up, the player in uniform by himself
http://www.mindspring.com/~sblackstone/tintype1small.jpg

Ok, nice but pretty ordinary. Just a player and his bat.
Next one he's got to get his wife into the picture. I'm assuming it's his wife, based on how very happy she looks. I can imagine her thinking " a big thing like having our picture taken and he's got to wear that darn baseball uniform"

This one also makes me wonder if it's atually a player. He's wearing shoes that don't seem right. Plus her outfit is fairly elaborate, almost a costume. And there's the cloth crown on the chaise.
http://www.mindspring.com/~sblackstone/tintype2small.jpg

Last one, he's dragged some other people into things. His male friend or relative seems to be having fun or playing it cool, but the women really look unhappy about now. And the bat rising up out of the coats is just weird.
I 'm almost sure one of the women is thinking " as soon as we get home that bat's going in the stove!"
http://www.mindspring.com/~sblackstone/tintype3small.jpg

Anyway, I might have overpaid a bit. But the pictures have already given me at least a half hours worth of amusement. And if anyone recognizes the uniform that would be a wonderful bonus. (Recognizing the player is just too much to hope for)

Steve B

[barrysloate]

Steve- those are very cool, and you might be right that the first image is an actor holding a bat, perhaps for a play. It's a nice combination of baseball and humor. Thanks for sharing.

[drc]

Don't recall the same player appearing in three tintypes like that

[steve B]

Thanks guys. I'm a bit on the fence about thinking it's a player or an actor. It's an odd set of pictures for a player for sure. I hadn't thought about a player only being in one or similar poses, probably because I've only seen single tintypes of players.

But if he's an actor then the women would presumably be other performers in the play. I'd think that other performers would look a bit happier about having thir pictures taken in costume.

Certainly a fun puzzle.

Steve

[FUBAR]

did ball players wear pilgrim style shoes back in the day??

[GaryPassamonte]

Pilgrim shoes.

[Jason19th]

Very neat item-- my guess that is that the bat was just one of the props that the studio had

Made me think of a strange image I have-- John Ward and actors-- printed in Ward's 1888 Cosmopolitan Magazine article

[drc]

They count as baseball tintypes because they have, at the least, baseball themes.

Many photographers didn't want players wearing their cleats in the studio, so had them were other shoes or slippers. That would explain the odd footwear.

My opinion/educated guess is the guy is a baseball player in his own uniform, and is posing with members of his family and friends. They were just getting various family shots in one studio session. Though it is possible he is wearing a studio costume.

In the bottom photo, I'm sure there's some goofing around.

[drc]

You might consider getting them matted and framed together, as they would make a unique display.

[steve B]

I may do that sometime over the summer. The UV blocking glass is a bit expensive, so I don't always frame the nice stuff. since they're roughly 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 (very roughly, andthe last one is a bit wider then the others) I'm not sure how they would look framed. I'll probably mock up the display first to see if it works.

I do nearly all my own framing. I've seen very mixed results from "pro" framers on stuff my family has had done. Everything from wonderful restoration work using actual old glass to one that wrecked a poster by trying to dry mount it to a mat board, getting it wrinkled and stuck down still wrinkled then attempting to remove it. It was a modern poster, but from a museum show and out of print. The resto shop still gets some business, plus I sold them a bunch of old glass I got. I think the other shop is long out of business.

[jimthorpe]

Through we will probably never know for sure. But it looks to me like a father Mother and their two kids. Just a guess but the younger man looks like the older guy and the young women resembles the older woman.

The bat might be a prop but he could be a real player.

It is a cool group.