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davidcyclebackJason, I can't bid until I get my catalog with bidder number, and I suspect others are waiting simularly. I think many bidders in other auctions also wait until they receive their catalog, before getting serious. At the least, the four pound catalog on the doorstep is physical reminder that there's an auction going on.
Jason, for your benefit, I will back up that the photo you linked is a nice and rare one, and that the extra large size old photos were commonly made for VIPs, like the team owner, player or for public display in the local town hall.
Even with modern photographs, the supersized photos are commonly referred to as 'display' or 'exhibition' photos and were expensive to make. Even if a collector doesn't know why the photo was made, a super large photo was made to be displayed prominently somewhere.
*** One exception (not applying to Jason's photo, as his is obvously a display/exhibit type photo), is that some monster sized 1800s baseball photos were the photographer's proofs, or original art, used to make smaller cabinets and cdvs. In fact, curtousy of its owner, the proof/original art to the 1880s Iowa team cabinet is on my site somewhere (I'm not being coy, I'm not sure where it is).