Cy Young Rookie Card?
 

The current SCP auction includes a John H Ryder cabinet of Cy Young featuring the image of Young that appears in the 1891 Cleveland Spiders team composite baseball schedule display. This dates the photograph being taken prior to the 1891 season. However (big however) can the cabinet be dated to this time? If Ryder took the image then it likely dates to early 1891. If Ryder contracted to use someone else's image then it could have been produced at a later time. The only reason I have some doubts is that the Ed McKean cabinet a few lots later features the image of McKean used in the 1891 Cleveland Spiders team composite baseball schedule display, but it is a Weldon Smith cabinet. While two different photographers could have taken images for the schedule display, the most likely scenario by far is that one photographer took all the images. The question is, which one? How do others feel about this? Am I being too skeptical? BTW, the lot write-up, as I read it, implies, but does not actually state, that this is Young's rookie card.

Dibs.

Jay, I am not sure about the SCP cabinet, but I believe that there is a different Ryder cabinet showing Young in street clothes that has been dated to 1890. I think that there is a George Davis in that 1890 "set" as well.

There is also a pre-rookie Rogers cabinet of Young dating from his time Uhrichsville.

That being said, both the Ryder and Pifer cabinet cards are both amazing.

Wow. No opinion on whether this is a Rookie issue or not but wow. Those are amazing cabinets.

Cy Young is in the Just So Tobacco set I always thought that was his Rookie card.

It just depends on your definition of a "card." Some people do not consider generic cabinets "cards" and view them more as mounted photos.

The Just So of Young is from 1893, just like his Pifer cabinet, which has the same exact image. In fact all Just So cards and Pifer cabinets use the images.

What kevin said!

Oh, and I’ve always wondered about Studios sharing and/or selling images to other Studios. My Perkins Studio Cab of Jennings is the exact same image that’s on the 1894 Betz Studio Cab of the Baltimore Orioles. Which came first? That is always my question as a HOF “rookie” collector.

https://photos.imageevent.com/derekg...20Jennings.jpg

https://photos.imageevent.com/derekg...894%20Betz.jpg

Here is the JA Rogers Cabinet of Cy Young from Uhrichsville, Ohio. I believe its one of a kind.

I see they used the same image on this schedule for the 1892 season. The SCD Ryder Cabinet is top left.