George Grantham Bain photo

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Posted By: brock

Hello
I also just bought this photo, i belive it's by George Grantham Bain because of the top writing. Is it original from the early 1900's. And does anyone know what a good auction value would be, like hunts or REA. I payed around $150, also the people are Wilbert Robinson and Bill Carrigan. Thanks

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Posted By: scgaynor

It is a Bain, you can see his stamp popping out from under the Culver label and the writing in the negative is also a dead give away. $150=200 is about right for that photo.

Also, I am guessing it is before a 1916 World Series game. You might want to try and look under the label for a date, it may be typed in blue ink.

Scott

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Posted By: Rhys

Scott is dead on in both description and value. I bid on that photo as well, he actually had the identical photo a few weeks back too. You could potentially get a touch more than $200 to a particular buyer, but not a huge amount more. With all of Jay Parrino's photo's you will need to remove the stupid sticker they place on the backs of all their photos. It can be a pain as they are really tough to remove. His photos are beautiful and some of my favorites and I think they are undervalued in the market right now. Best bet would be to hang onto it for a few years and then sell it if that is your goal. I have about 125 Bain photos I have been buying up and I think they are a tremendous investment for the future.

Rhys

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Posted By: scgaynor

I agree with you 100% about the value of Bain photos. They really should be worth more and are a good future investment. The Culver archive has put alot Bain photos on the market so it may make collectors more aware and the value should go up once they are absorbed into the market. There is alot of duplication in that archive too, I have seen some images over and over again with just slighly different flaws.

Scott

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Posted By: brock

Rhys
When i get the item and try to remove the bar code, should i also try to remove the Culver piece of paper or should that stay. Also if i send this to PSA/DNA is it consider a Type 1 photo. Thanks

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Posted By: Rawn Hill

A copy of a similar photo is currently on ebay without the sticker on the back and 1915 is written on it, However Robinson was the manager of Brooklyn in 1916.

Congrats on the photo, I wanted that one.

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Posted By: Rhys

You are not going to be able to remove the Parrino sticker without at least sticky residue on the back. I usually slowly peel the sticker away and then use something like Mineral Spirits or something in LOW amounts (on a q-tip or something) to remove the residue.

As far as the Culver stamps (I think the blue ones you have are adhesive stamps but I could be wrong) I wouldn't mess with them. I do not belive those either add or detract from the value and in many cases it add's to the provenance and appeal of a photo to know it came from a major archive.

These are considered type 1 photos I believe which is a period print from the original negative. At least that is the impression I have been operating on for years. Most of mine (and probably yours behind the stickers) have a date stamp as well.

In the 1940's through the 1960's a photographer named Sy Seidman re-shot a bunch of Bain photos. I believe he did this to enlarge them and because old Bain photos tend to be somewhat brittle when handled a lot. He actually took photos of the photos and did not use the original negatives. I believe these would be type 2 Bain photos so if you ever a photo that looks old and has his name handwritten on the back, they are still collectible but not period to the negative. Hope that helps.

Rhys Yeakley

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Posted By: Rhys

Rawn

You just perfectly illustrated the last comment I made regarding Sy Siedman right on cue. Take a look at the back of the photo and you will see what I am talking about. The "1915" photo is a Second Generation Siedman photo of the original Bain print.

http://tinyurl.com/28z7hn

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Posted By: Rhys

Here are a few Bain's from the same day, same set of photos.

Rhys

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

If anyone can tell me who took these two shots I would be grateful. Rhys you sold these to me 2-3 years ago. No markings on the back, but they are definitely type 1 photos.

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Posted By: brock

I also bought this one from the same seller. By what you guys are saying i believe this was reshot by Sy Seidman because it has 1915 on the back. What do you think this one is worth maybe $100. Thanks for all the help again.

P.S I just told my dad the other day that i was never going to pay over $100 for a wire photo and then last night i payed $150.

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Posted By: Rhys

I remember those photos Dan, didn't you also buy the Frank Chance day photos from me at about the same time? Bain photos and many of the other period news service photographers used a slick paper to produce their photos. Snapshots from back then were usually done on a different type of paper. If I remember right, the photos you have were probably either a local photographer, or someone who was shooting these for personal purposes, maybe even one of the players or a team photographer or something. I dont think those are news photos Dan, but just "photos" for whatever that is worth but they are ABSOLUTELY Type 1 period photos.

On the Doyle photo, I am guessing it is worth in the $25-$50 range. You can get a period Bain photo of Doyle for between $65-$100 so a Seidman re-shoot is probably half that or less.

You did fine with the one you bought last night. Hall of Famers typically sell well and Robinson is a popular subject.

Rhys

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Posted By: Joann

Not to hijack the thread, but it's not very often I can chip in with anything even remotely related!

My GGB photo. One of my favorite items. I think it's really cool. I believe there were five taken that day. Two team photos (the second much like this one but from further back), and three individual action photos. Someday I'd like to have one of each. Images of all on loc website.

Note markings on back (my attempt to relate this post to the actual thread).




A tip o' the cap to Rhys for hooking me up with this one.

Joann

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Posted By: scgaynor

The Sy Seidman photos are usually on thicker stock, that is one way to tell the different between an original Bain and a later print made by Siedman.

Something to watch out for too, whoever did the "grading/authentication" for the Culver photos didn't always idenify the Seidman photos as 2nd generation so you should be careful when buying one to look at the back of the photo as well.

scott