Ty Cobb Photo Question
 

I'm trying to date the Cobb photos below on this notebook cover (I've not seen it before) and wondered if anyone recognizes them. Thanks!
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…since my opinion was not actually wanted.

Good luck with your sale.

cobb
 

It's considerably earlier - the photos are of a much younger Cobb than the 1920's.

It looks like a 1920's type font and the images of Cobb look like 1920's.

If it turns out that I'm wrong, then sobeit, but you asked and I gave you an intelligent response. I also dug around to compare to other type fonts, including 1910's, and all I'm seeing is 1920's. If you can find examples from the 1910's, or earlier (not sure how old you are trying to make this), then please show images.

Cobb
 

My post asks if anyone recognizes the photos because I'm trying to put a date to them. Here are closer-up views. Anyone?

You posted a picture in a discussion forum. I gave some comments. Placing a date on the type fonts, along with an estimate of the age of Cobb, should have helped you date the photos, and thus help you locate the actual images. If you want to ignore such information, rather than saying "thank you", that is your prerogative.

1912 photos
 

Mystery solved! They are 1912 photos. The Tigers wore pinstripes and an upturned collar only in 1912 and 1913 (as seen in the photo of him catching while wearing a home uniform), and 1912 was the last year their road uniforms had striped dark caps (as seen in the other two photos), all per the Baseball Hall of Fame Uniform Database.

If dating the photos is all you were interested in, then I would say you have your answer. If you are dating the notebook, I think Scott has some valuable information.

If I was dating a 1915 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb based on uniform only, I'd date it 1912.

1912
 

I'm just after photo dates, but given the use of three 1912 images the notebook cover seems more likely than not to date from that era, too, especially given the volume of Cobb images to choose from various years had it been from a decade later.

OK, since no one else has said it and ample time has passed, and because I'm working on my first cup of coffee, I'm probably wrong, but that photo of a player about to catch the ball looks absolutely nothing like Cobb to me. Looks more like Matty McIntyre, although he was gone from Detroit before 1912.

The shot of Cobb with his back to us looks like it was taken at Hilltop Park (if I'm going by the look of the stands), and if that's the case, then it would definitely be from 1912 or before. I actually think he looks a little bit younger in the swinging shot, more along the way he was wearing his jersey in 1908 or so. If we had better photos with complete backgrounds, then I could probably narrow it down a bit more, but yeah, I think the assessments of the board members are correct.

In regards to the piece itself, I can't give any proper opinions. I would certainly trust someone like Scott when it comes to his knowledge regarding the date of the fonts, though - that sort of thing is certainly in his wheelhouse.

Just my two cents.

Graig

font
 

Here's a 1913 baseball notebook cover with lettering that seems evocative of the style of the Cobb cover - scroll halfway down the thread - which would also tie in to the time period the photos come from. http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=81331 . Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

I think it looks Donie Bush.

I personally don't care if it's from 1905 or 1930 - all I was doing was attempting to provide you with some information that might help you.

I'm glad you managed to date the photos to the period that you wanted them to be from. Regarding fonts, you could ask someone like Steve B, but I'm sure there is a way of placing an 'earliest' date on these fonts. Hopefully it's 1912 or earlier.

I'm actually really bad on fonts. I can usually pick out ones that look wrong for the era, but far from 100% and I usually can't say exactly why other than it just looks wrong. (Ok, maybe if someone used a late 60's album cover font on a teens advertising piece I could say why, although I found out one of those fonts was actually from the 1890's :eek: )

There was someone who seemed to know fonts but I don't recall who. Like knows fonts by name and date of introduction - that sort of knows

Using old photos even when newer ones were available was really common. Especially if the producer of the item had paid for a photo earlier and still had it to use as source material. Think T213, three sets over several years using images from a 1909-11 set where some images were older still..........

Steve B

Thanks Steve.

I have definitely seen the 6-fingered 'is it really Cobb?' photo before. I'm guessing it was probably in a period Spalding or Reach Guide, as that's primarily where I would be looking at photos of this quality. Perhaps that will help someone who is more inclined to do further research for the OP.