Maybe I’m missing something so I’ll post these images here to garner some feedback. I recently was engaged in communication (telephonic and e-mail) with a dealer of stadium seats who has been in business for around 30 years (web site, hobby/industry references etc) and I was asking for his help in obtaining an aisle seat from Crosley Field. The style of seat I am looking for is very similar in design to those at old Comiskey Park.
I called him as it appears I was using an incorrect term as I referred to what I was looking for as “figural end” as opposed to what he told me I should be calling it, a “radiator design.” I thought this might have been the crux of the disconnect so I told him I would send the images I had. He informed me I could send the images, but they would not change his mind as he has seen these types of photos and they are “misidentified” and “misinterpreted.”
After seeing the various images (exact same ones posted here) the dealer in question told me in no uncertain terms that this style seat was never installed in Crosley Field and this remained his unwavering unwavering opinion. To make sure I am capturing his sentiments accurately, these are his exact words via e-mail:
“Good luck my friend those are Comisky Park seats”
“Never where in Crosley Field.I've seen other seats in many photo's that are not accurate.Nobody,I mean nobody as ever come across a seat of this style ever coning out of Crosley Field”
“Not Crosley Field.”
“Ask the other seat dealers,and they will tell you the same thing.”
I have annotated the images so the source is apparent. As someone with a professional background involving imagery analysis, source data is a critical component in evaluating the veracity of what an image portrays. Part of this process often involves looking at multiple images, from multiple sources, from multiple angles, at various times. In this case I feel I have done that as the images in question are attributed to Crosley Field by three separate sources over a six year span of time:
-1st Night Game , May 1935 with the source being the engineer who helped design the lighting system for Crosley Field.
-April 1940 with the source being an AP Wire photograph of a documented rain out at Crosley Field.
-Opening Day 1934 at Crosley Field with the source being a photograph taken by a Cincinnati Post Staff Photographer.
I feel I have also ensured the image quality and discerning characteristics in question are readily apparent and discernable when comparative analysis is conducted (photograph of CREDS aisle logo design and spacing between the legs of the seats).
If you have other or similar photographs, please post them or contact me. Additionally, if have similar evidence that shows how or why these photographs should not be attributed to Crosley Field, I would welcome that information equally as well.
Dave Grob
DaveGrob1@aol.com