Is Anyone In This Photo Recognizable To You?
 

Picked this up in a lot of old photos today at a local auction.

The photo credit on the back is Bill Billotte which seems to have some connection to Omaha which is perhaps why this photo ended up in this area.

At very first the tall guy in the middle resembled Lou Gehrig to me, but I know it's not him. Don't recognize others but I am not that good at facial recognition..

Might be golfer Loyd Mangrum?

I don't recognize anyone, but based on some of the attire, and look of the athletes, my first thought was golf as well.

Hey Dan. I think the guy on right in white may be Ben Hogan. It looks like him, he was a big smoker and the guys seem more focused on him (and the gentleman standing next to him.)

I'd check the 1939-40 New york World Fair. The typeface on the building dates from that time and I think there was a workshop every week at the fair called something similar. Babe Ruth and many other sports stars made appearances. You received a card signed by the famous athlete that was present.

I was right - this was a pavillion at the 39-40 Worlds Fair. If you look online you can find many signed cards from this "Academy of Sport" including DiMaggio, Ruth and... Gehrig. (I'm not sayin' it's him int the photo, though).

1939 New York World's Fair Academy of Sport
 

Gary is correct - this was a significant attraction at the 1939 NYWF. I have difficulty posting photos, but here's a rundown on activities according to an October 30, 1939 NYWF press release from Christy Walsh for the organizing committee's closing event of the season (the showing of a film called SPORTS AT THE FAIR):

"The sports committeee, with Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker as Chairman, and consisting of 225 men prominent in sport as writers, athletes and leaders, was organized in 1937 by Christy Walsh, Director of Sport for the Fair and founder of the All American Board of Football.

The school for juvenile athletes was conducted twice weekly for five months, under the personal direction of such competent instructors as "Moose" McCormick, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Connie Mack, Joe McCarthy, Jim Crowley, Lou Little, Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio, Steve Owen, Paul Derringer, Bill McKechnie, Leo Durocher and many others. Every manager in the two major leagues conducted at least one instruction period and 70 big league players gave their time and advice to the youngsters in practical physical demonstrations.

Football brought the semester to a thrilling and timely close with classes conducted by the head coaches and players from Columbia, Fordham, N.Y.U., and the two professional teams, Giants and Dodgers. Forty-eight football players participated.

Every boy who attended a class in any sport received a 'Laurel Card" - bearing his own name and the name of the sport celebrity who instructed the class of the day. Nearly 50,000 of these cards were carried home by the youngsters, a unique autograph and a lasting souvenir of a meeting with a famous personality, face to face.

Registrations showed that boys attended the sport classes from over 200 cities but the radio carried the thrill of each session to millions of added listeners from coast to coast, through the facilities of the National Broadcasting Co. and the Mutual network. Bill Stern, Stan Lomax and Clem McCarthy divided the broadcasting duties.

Inside the Academy of Sport a varied and unequalled collection of traditional trophies thrilled an army of visitors. Invited flags from 115 colleges, baseball clubs and athletic organizations decorated the walls of the sport building, providing a brilliant and spirited background for such time-honored prizes as the Davis Cup, Little Brown Jug, Sugar Bowl, Old Oaken Bucket, Kentucky Derby, Jack Dempsey's championship belt, Mrs. Gehrig's baseball bracelet, Babe Ruth's silver crown and old uniform, Red Grange's '77' jersey, Christy Mathewson's first Giants contract ($4,000 per year!), Babe Ruth's $80,000 Yankee contract, Gertrude Ederle's medals and cups, a baseball signed by King George of England and his late father, George V; Man 'o War gold cup, Seabiscuit-War Admiral Cup, Poughkeepsie Regatta Cup, Stanley Cup, Woodlawn Vase and many others. The trophies and flags have been returned to their owners accompanied by certificates, as evidence of their display in the Academy of Sport at the New York World's Fair.

The unparalleled collection of sport treasures was guarded by police on 24 hour duty in the building. According to their estimate, over two million children and adults filed through the doors of the Academy of Sport."

The press release I have is on NYWF letterhead and is accompanied by a list of 41 sports cartoonists who contributed original drawings to the World's Fair exhibit. Also included is a list of the 81 baseball players, managers and even an umpire who served as Instructors for Sports Classes for Boys. Notables on the list, but not mentioned in the press release cited above, are Feller, Ott, Hubbell, Terry, Dickey, Gehringer, Ted Williams, Pie Traynor, Paul Waner, Vander Meer, Lombardi, Monty Stratton and Casey Stengel.

Thanks for the info guys...that sure does look like Ben Hogan to me as well (Thank you Peter!)...the sign on the sidewalk area to the right says "Baseball" and I can't make out any other words...none of them look recognizable as baseball players to me though.

Almost 100% sure that is NOT Ben Hogan and I do not recognize any of them as golfers or baseball players.

Not sure who they might be.

Two Net54 members PM'd me yesterday to say the guy to the right of the middle guy looks like James Braddock

It could be the tall man is Christy Walsh, which would make sense as a promoter. I also think it is more likely the person in all white is a tennis player rather than a golfer.

Google Walsh for man in middle and Hogan for man on right. Not a chance on either.

I have studied tennis players of this era for years and I am confident there are no prominent players in this photo.