Photo Identification

[Archive]

Posted By: Patrick McMenemy

I recently purchased a photo of Roger Bresnahan on EBAY. On the back of the photo, all of the writing is in pencil. There are no official stamps. In addition to Bresnahan and The Ring, there is Con and the next character is a half circle ). Curious if our photo expects such a David, Robert or Scott know how Charles Conlon maked his photos. The photo is 6 1/2" X 8 1/2."

Thanks, Patrick

[Archive]

Posted By: Hankron

Conlon had a variety of stamps, including some with his name and some for the company he was working for. His photos don't always have a stamp on back. He commonly wrote in pencil on the back of his photos-- player's name, caption, etc. He also commonly signed and circled his name (usually last name only). His writing is readable but usally appears hurried. If you post or foreward an image of the photo, I can compare writing and image style.

Old photos don't have to have stamps or such on the back to be valuable. As Conlon is so famous, if you can identify it as an original Conlon it will typically at least double the normal value.

[Archive]

Posted By: Hankron

In other words, if the writing on the back of photo includes a rather hasty-looking attempt to write 'Conlon' in pencil and quickly circle it-- that is consistant with many original Conlon photographs.

[Archive]

Posted By: Patrick McMenemy

Thanks for the response David. I am finally going to purchase a scanner this coming week, and hopefully I'll be able to send you a scan of both side of the photo.

[Archive]

Posted By: RobertS

Sometimes Conlon photos were marked with a big "C" -- so that half circle may be Conlon's "C"...

What color is the mark?

[Archive]

Posted By: Julie Vognar

is entirely consistant with David's. A pencil-written "Conlon" with a half-circle around it is the way he usually wrote his name on the back of photos, so a hasty "Con" with the half-circle sounds O.K.

Look ma...

[Archive]

Posted By: LJH

A scan of a Conlon photograph is shown here (front and back, including signature). The image was used as the original artwork for the 1929 R316 Kashin Publications set (card for Ralph Kress). The artwork measures approximately 5 x 7 inches. The Kashin cards measure approximately 3-1/2 x 4-1/2. Hope this helps in identifying your photos. --Lyman

[Archive]

Posted By: LJH

The Conlon photo of Ralph Kress measures about 6-1/2 x 8-1/2, the same as your photo. --Lyman