Photo help please

[3-2-count]

Do you think this is more than likely just a town team photo or does anyone see someone in here that rings a bell. And no, Babe Ruth and Moonlight Graham are not present.
Has a Williams Bloomington stamp on the bottom of the mount. Thanks in advance.

[Chris Counts]

On a whim, I did some Google searches for "Williams Bloomington." By far, the most interesting thing that came up were many hits for old postcards and photographs from the c. 1910 era, taken by a C.U. Williams of Bloomington, IL. Most date from 1908 to 1910, which seems like a dead ringer for your photo. Some depicted scenes from Bloomington, while others featured out-of-state subjects. Most are street scenes, but he did produce a popular studio shot of Billy Sunday. All, like your photograph, look like they were taken by a professional. I found several references to Williams describing his postcards as "highly sought after by collectors." Could the "B' stand for Bloomington? These guys look to me like more than just your typical c. 1910 town team.

[3-2-count]

Hi Chris and thanks for the reply. The "B" could in fact stand for Bloomington. Although not confirmed yet, the person I purchased this from mentions this may be a team photo of the Bloomington Bloomers. A minor league team who were members of the Illinois-Iowa-Indiana League based in Bloomington, Illinois that existed on-and-off from 1903 to 1939. Another interesting feature of this photo is the reverse. It displays a light image of a different team. It must have been stacked under this one while still wet and has left a ghost like image.
Can't quite make out the team name on this one though, but it looks like KEN_LAND or something of that nature. Still trying to get a good id.

[Chris Counts]

This is a real long-shot, but it turns out that George Cutshaw, a decent major leaguer and an Obak card subject, played for the Bloomington Bloomers in 1908 and 1909. Anybody have a nice head shot of him? Another big leaguer, Les Nunamaker, played for them in 1910. Fred Beck, who has his very own T205 and T206, was a Bloomer from 1905 to 1908.

There's a wonderful website about the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League at www.three-eye.com. And for what's worth, there's a rural community called "Kentland" in Illinois.

By the way, that's a great-looking photo ...

[GoldenAge50s]

Chris---

That's a super job of info & research!

[slidekellyslide]

16 guys in the photo...very nice warmup jackets...this is undoubtedly a minor league club. Not sure if it's Bloomington or not, but that would be a good guess. I don't see Nunamaker in the photo, and nobody stands out.