William Heffelfinger Cabinet Photo?

[aelefson]

Hi-
I went out antique shopping this weekend and I picked up this cabinet as a gamble. I bought it because it said Pach Bros on the bottom, and I knew they photographed college football and major league baseball at the turn of the century. For 3.00, I figured it was worth a gamble. The name penciled on the back rang a bell with me, but it might be because it was such an odd name (and not that I had heard it before).
I took it home and searched Pach bros online. Of course, I found many common person photos and put it aside. Last night, I decided to search the name penciled on the back. It appeared to me to be Heffelpinger and as I was typing it into Google, Heffelfinger popped up. It appears he is considered the first ever professional football player. He was also a college coach for a number of years.
Is this a photo of William Heffelfinger? I have attached a regular scan (at 200 dpi) and a larger scan in the next post (600 dpi). Below is a link to an image of Heffelfinger on Wikipedia. Any thoughts as to whether this is him?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Heffelfinger
Thanks in advance,
Alan

[aelefson]

Here is the larger example (600 dpi). Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Alan

[bmarlowe1]

That's him.

[slidekellyslide]

Nice score!! I recently assessed a sports memorabilia/card collection for a divorce for a guy named Heffelfinger...it turned out to be Pudge Heffelfinger's great, great grandson.

[aelefson]

Thank you Mark! I really appreciate your knowledge on photo matching and am trying to learn from your articles and posts. I tried to do my own comparisons and thought it was him but it is great to have the expert confirm it.

Thanks Dan! On my way home, I was wondering why I bought it. I normally do not go looking through large groups of cabinet photos at antique shops but there was nothing else good to look at otherwise at this shop.

Did his grandson have any of William's items? It would be amazing to have the pay stub from 1892.

Alan

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Thank you Mark! I really appreciate your knowledge on photo matching and am trying to learn from your articles and posts. I tried to do my own comparisons and thought it was him but it is great to have the expert confirm it.

Thanks Dan! On my way home, I was wondering why I bought it. I normally do not go looking through large groups of cabinet photos at antique shops but there was nothing else good to look at otherwise at this shop.

Did his grandson have any of William's items? It would be amazing to have the pay stub from 1892.

Alan

He showed me a few items...some team photos, but he says he has more...these items did not have to be assessed because they were obviously pre-marriage.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

That's him.

I agree. Not that you needed additional help. Pudge was from Minneapolis and is highly collected for early football collectors. Really nice early item from the prime of his life. Good score. Jason

[vintagesportscollector]

Great find, Alan. Your instincts served you well. I've spent countless time sifting thru stacks of common cabinets at antique shops and rarely find anything nearly that nice. That's a gem - I imagine it is highly deseriable and valuable.

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Thank you Mark! I really appreciate your knowledge on photo matching and am trying to learn from your articles and posts. I tried to do my own comparisons and thought it was him but it is great to have the expert confirm it.

Thanks Dan! On my way home, I was wondering why I bought it. I normally do not go looking through large groups of cabinet photos at antique shops but there was nothing else good to look at otherwise at this shop.

Did his grandson have any of William's items? It would be amazing to have the pay stub from 1892.

Alan

Glad I could help. Quite a nice find.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by vintagesportscollector

Great find, Alan. Your instincts served you well. I've spent countless time sifting thru stacks of common cabinets at antique shops and rarely find anything nearly that nice. That's a gem - I imagine it is highly deseriable and valuable.

Agreed...I almost never do it any longer because I never find anything. It's nice to see that it still happens.

[aelefson]

Thank you guys! I also do not normally look in the photo boxes but I was frustrated that there was so little true vintage items to see in this shop. My previous best finds when digging through boxes of photos have been Newsboy actresses and other non-sports cards.

Overall, I had an excellent day of shopping as I also found a 1906 Holy Cross baseball team postcard with a couple of future Red Sox players, a 1921 Strength magazine with Ruth on the cover, and a Jumping Joe Savaldi wrestling/football broadside among other things.

I do my best to build my collection through antique shopping (flea markets, antique shows and shops). I do attend local card shows as well, but I very rarely buy from any other source. It is a fun way to build a collection.

Alan

[eastonfalcon19]

Great find Alan! He was also coach of Lehigh University which is 15 minutes from me.

[bgar3]

As a book guy, the name sounded familiar. There is a book from 1954 entitled THIS WAS FOOTBALL by Heffelfinger as told to John McCallum that might be of interest, I do not believe it is that expensive (20 or so). nice find!

[cmoore330]

Great find! I did a fair amount of research years ago about Pach Bros. trying to identify a baseball player. Based upon the address of 935 Broadway, your photo dates from 1895 or later.

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by aelefson

Hi-
I went out antique shopping this weekend and I picked up this cabinet as a gamble. I bought it because it said Pach Bros on the bottom, and I knew they photographed college football and major league baseball at the turn of the century. For 3.00, I figured it was worth a gamble. The name penciled on the back rang a bell with me, but it might be because it was such an odd name (and not that I had heard it before).
I took it home and searched Pach bros online. Of course, I found many common person photos and put it aside. Last night, I decided to search the name penciled on the back. It appeared to me to be Heffelpinger and as I was typing it into Google, Heffelfinger popped up. It appears he is considered the first ever professional football player. He was also a college coach for a number of years.
Is this a photo of William Heffelfinger? I have attached a regular scan (at 200 dpi) and a larger scan in the next post (600 dpi). Below is a link to an image of Heffelfinger on Wikipedia. Any thoughts as to whether this is him?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Heffelfinger
Thanks in advance,
Alan

Alan, Wow what a great find...I never find anything in stacks of photos...I don't even bother looking anymore...

[GoCubsGo32]

Well done Alan!!

[aelefson]

Thank you again everyone! I really appreciate everyone's comments and help.

Alan