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Here is what the card is:
1) Portrait photo of Deacon White 2) 1888 Old Judge card 3) Wrong team name – Indianapolis instead of Detroit 4) Wrong position – Manager instead of 3rd base 5) Wrong player name – McGreachery instead of White There are three errors on the card, team name, position, and player name. Old Judge made errors in team names at times (Lady Baldwin with Cincinnati, Kid Baldwin with Detroit are examples). Offhand, I don’t know of any other examples of wrong positions for players, but there probably were some (Jay and Joe would know better than me on this). There were plenty of misspelled player names in the Old Judge set. OK, let’s sum up the possibilities for this card. 1) Traditional theory – the card is an unintentional error card, explained as follows: a. Picture was taken in Indianapolis, so wrong team name of Indianapolis was put on the card by mistake. b. Picture is a portrait, which were usually (not always) reserved for managers, thus the manager designation. c. Name was intended to be a real Indianapolis player name of McGeachy, which is close to McGreachery. Pros for traditional theory: • Each error is possible, based on other errors within the Old Judge set. Cons for traditional theory: • Hard to believe all of these errors were accidentally applied to the same card. 2) CySeymour’s theory – the card is an intentional error card, explained as follows: a. The name is meant to be a riddle about Deacon White – CySeymour’s current breakdown of the riddle is that it was a double-entendre based on the root words McCrea/Chery and Creach, meaning "Dear Son of God/Fall from Grace". b. The manager part was intended to be a joke, based on White’s old age. c. No explanation for the team name of Indianapolis. Pros for the riddle theory: • Because there are so many errors on this card, maybe the made-up name was done intentionally and included some hidden meaning (whether CySeymour is right or not in his interpretation is still open to conjecture). Cons for the riddle theory: • There are no other riddles in the Old Judge set, so why would they do this for this card. To me, the interesting part of CySeymour’s theory is that the card may have been an intentionally created error card. That is still a possibility. I don’t think it was, and I don’t think his hidden meaning is correct even if it was (I think the card is spelled with a “G” and not a “C” after the Mc, which would throw off his hidden meanings), plus I really don’t believe someone would have thought White had fallen from grace at that point in time or any other for that matter. He was a Hall of Fame-calibre player, which is why he is finally in now. All this riddle stuff sounds more like trying to turn an unusual Old Judge card into a Da Vinci Code or National Treasure riddle. Those made for good fiction, but I don’t see any basis of this in reality with this card. |
I can't respond to every post of everyone who chooses to believe or disbelieve my theory, but let me just say that the idea it would be coincidence that the root words of a fake, created name used as a substitute for someone named "Deacon" - that those root words would randomly mean "Dear Son of Jesus" - is highly implausible. It almost must have been intentional.
Let me also add that Deacon White's extreme religiosity was far outside of the lock-step for what was the fashionable thinking at the time regarding Philosophy and Religion. Prior to the mid-19th century, philosophical thought stemmed mainly from the Greeks, with Socrates and Aristotle, who believed in a cool, dispassionate understanding of the world. They chose to believe in God, and used the Pythagorean Theorem as prove against skeptics that there was indeed an ultimate truth (God) that could remain constant, and that it portrayed itself in mathematics. That all changed in the mid/late 19th century with the advent of the aetheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who sided with the pre-Socratic philosophers and dramatists that passion, fire and emotion were valuable Dionysian traits and should not be discarded for the Apollonian traits or cool, calm and reason. Regard the following quote: "In his first notable work, The Birth and Tragedy and the Spirit of Music (1872), Nietzsche contrasted the Apollonian and the Dionysian, these two faces of the Greek world... the Dionysian element means to give the fullest expression of pent-up emotions, passions, dread and madness... the Apollonian framework is of story, plot and coherence. Nietzsche said it was the fault of Socrates and Greek academic philosophers to give too much to the Apollonian at the expense of the Dionysian." -Paraphrased quote of Daniel N. Robinson, Oxford University Nietzsche was not only an atheist, but a philosophical rock star of the late 19th Century. France was known as "a country of 50 million atheists." Nietzsche had proclaimed "God is Dead". There are stories of what a huge deal it would be if he showed up to a cocktail party. He was the ultimate dinner guest, and his work was well-read around the world. Since that was the fashionable thinking of the time, imagine just how far out of lock-step someone like Deacon White was, who still believed the world was flat. That's why he was so subject to ridicule. But it also supports the theory of "Dear Son of God/Fallen from Grace" as taking a jab at Deacon for his religiosity. It is as if to say, "Deacon, you think you are above us like Apollo, but really you are just another Dionysian creature of sin like the everyone else". No one knows for certain whether the producers of the card read Nietzsche, but considering his fame, it would not be far-fetched to think they had, especially since they possessed the intellectual sophistication to create a riddle of this magnitude. Nevertheless, it shows just how far out of step the ideas of Deacon White were with the prevailing attitudes and ideas of his era. |
Wow, its like the last two posts aren't even on he same planet. This is a cool thread :D
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I liked your post, though :) |
Cy, it's certainly very educational.
Troy, it's interesting that you think it's a G and not a C. I've thought that too, but I've never seen a hi-res scan so I've assumed it was a C. Looking at the McGeachy card with a loupe... The G looks very similar. |
Cy/Jaime
forgot to also recommend "Easy Money" In one scene, a girl is playing piano. Joe Pesci walks into the room and says.. "What are you Playing?" And the girl says, "Scales" Pesci says, "Never heard of 'im" |
It was a C because that the name "McCrea" is a real Irish name, while the name "McGrea" is not. "McCrea" is a common part of the Irish lexicon, while "McGrea" is just gibberish, nonsensical.
That is why the Old Judge book authors inferred to be a C and not a G, because intuitively they know that McGrea is not a part of our lexicon, while McCrea is. Other examples exist of cards with the letter C that appear to be G. Take Owen Clark on p. 176, card 75-3. Same effect as the C that Troy refers to, looks blotched at the bottom, it reads like "Glark". Also, you can see from the printing of McCreachery that the third C, contained in "Chery" is also a bit heavier at the bottom. These reasons show that it had to do with a fuzzy printing process, not that it was intended to be a G. |
If you're not sold yet, you won't believe what I have just uncovered (I'm stuck at home today waiting for a delivery guy). It is a joke card regarding Pretzles Getzien's name.
Getzien is not a real German name. It derives from the word "gesehen" which means "to have been seen." http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gesehen Yet on some of his cards in the OJ book, it reads "Cetzein", and in fact, it caused a confusion in a few newspaper articles succeeding the publishing of the card, where he is called Cetzein. But it turns out that the name "Cetzein" was also a joke. You can see from this passage, "Cet zein": "The word he translated ‘investigate’ is cet zein, which can carry the semi-technical sense ‘subject to a Socratic examination.’" http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us The joke is that, as a German foreigner, Charlie Getzien was an oddball subject to examination. Get it? These guys are using the roots of words of the player names to make jokes!!! -------------------------------------- "Detroit has a pitcher in Cetzein who is second to. I none ia the League, and he ... The record of the pitchers shows that Cetzein has done work that entitles him to ..." http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%...20-%200018.pdf "Cetzein pitched for us that day. He vowedi eome time previously that if we ever did win again he would drop dead. And ihe almost kept his word. As the last man ..." http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%...20-%200018.pdf Batteries Cetzein and Bennett; Hutchinson and KittredKC. I. At Philadelphia—. R- H. E.. Philadelphia...0 2 0 1 2 5 0 0 0-1013 0. Cleveland. .0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0— ... http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2...20-%200039.pdf |
Another note that the "Cetzein" cards in the OJ book all date to the same year 1888 as the McCreachery card! The OJ producers were making jokes of the names!
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Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmm....
My 1887 Pud Galvin card looks like it says "Calvin."
Do you think that was a subtle reference by the creators of Old Judge cards to theologian John Calvin, upon whose theories Presbyterianism was based? Furthermore, through that could it be a veiled reference to the Presbyterian cocktail as a subtle dig against the teams in the American Association - the upstart "Beer and Whiskey League" - that was challenging the teams from the more established National League? Galvin came from the American Association to the National League in 1887. Just a thought. ;) |
Kevin speaks the truth. It is well-known that the Goodwin family was an uppity bunch, always willing to take potshots at those they deemed less fortunate. They were also huge supporters of the French.
An example of their family's affinity for the French can be found subtly on the card of Frenchy Genins. The Goodwin's were still much maligned earlier in the 19th century for their ardent support of the French during the US-French battles at sea from 1798-1800(known as the Quasi-War). While the Old Judge cards didn't come out until generations later, their support was undying and unwavering. Being a company located near a huge US harbor, they were always welcoming towards their French allies during the 1887 time period. The Goodwins themselves were seafaring people and they owned a small island in the NY harbor, not far from their company. The spelling of "Genius" on the Frenchy Genins card was not an error nor a jab at the player. Rather it was a beckoning call towards the French to resume their attacks, intelligence at the time indicated that the defensive mentality of the U.S. towards the French was down due to the recent goodwill shown by gift of the Statue of Liberty in 1886. Thus my friends, Frenchy Genius was a subtle nod to the French that times were right for war. |
Guys, don't poke the bear... He's likely to expand those statements into the extremest of levels, and then turn all of that into fact. Next thing you know he'll be referencing the OJ Checklist here http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=85245
and he'll notice that the first letter in the last names of each player listed for each team are A, G, M, S. Obviously, that's a jumble that spell out "mags". Clearly in reference to gun "magazines". Also noting that the first 4 players listed for Chicago are Anson, Hoover, Clark and Sprague, resulting in A, H, C, S. Clearly, in this code, the second letter is thrown out and the remaining letters are jumbled once again to spell out CSA or Confederate States of America. And that the first player listed for New York is Slattery, sounds pretty close to Slavery. Duh! It's so obvious now.. "CSA" combined with "MAGS" and the choice of using Slattery first, conclusively shows that they were supporters of the south, who trying to re-start the Civil War.. |
You know, it's great that we have a bunch of comedians on the board. You would have done well as Old Judge card producers. ;)
I noticed the bit about Calvin and Galvin on my own as well as I was going through the C's and G's. It's clearly a double-entendre about galvanizing Calvinists. :D It is all good and well to poke fun at me, I am not as serious as you think. I still think that the McCreachery riddle is very feasible. It would be wickedly clever if it were so. As far as Cetzein, it sure would be cool if it were so. As I've calmed down from the excitement of the initial association, yeah... maybe as not likely.. but anything is possible!:p For your viewing pleasure: Yiddish: vet zein translates to "will be", likely that a corruption of cet zein. So using cet zein as a form of Socratic questioning is to learn what will be. Which is reasonable. It's impossible to know the intentions of the OJ producers, but clearly cet zein is an expression, and it has been used as Getzien's name. So whether it was intentional or not will remain a mystery, but still very interesting! |
No such thing as "Cetzein" N172. Not worth posting twice, just check out cyseymours other thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=160145
CySeymour, if you read my posts, my main objective was to correct your errors. I didn't attack your riddle. I think it is a bit silly, but I find it very interesting. I'd rate this as one of my favorite threads of 2012 despite the low blows. I like your enthusiasm for OJs, but you will find far more support if you simmer down a bit and avoid stating wild speculation as fact well before you've confirmed any of the facts. Hope to meet you in person some day, perhaps at a National. To answer previous inquiries, some do believe the McCreachery card is really McGreachery. It is tough to tell. Lew Lipset catalogued the card as McGreachery. So what riddle is buried in McGreachery??? |
Joe,
With a "G", there would be no riddle in "McGreachery". If you go to post #87 you can see the reasons why I believe it to be McCreachery. But another reason is that I believe, among etymologists, the general rule of thumb is that if one is unsure between two different letters, and one of those letters creates a name or the root words of a name, while the other one is gibberish, then you go with the one that creates the root words of the name, as it is the most likely answer, seeing that it's a part of human language. I'm still fairly confident that McCreachery was meant as a riddle. While, per the other thread, I realize that you are correct that "cetzein" was not, the McCreachery name does happen to be on a joke card and is derived from a fake, invented name, making a riddle much more likely. As far as stating opinion as fact, I think it's just my writing style. I hadn't even considered it to be an issue, but I will try to be mindful of it in the future. I didn't mean to send you a lot of low blows, in fact, I hadn't realize I was. Sorry if you felt that way. Honestly, I felt that throughout the thread, you were consistently writing derogatory things. But I have no reason to drum up the past and bring up old posts. Those are already done and finished. For the McCreachery card, still very possible it was a riddle, especially considering the context of the names and that the card possesses an invented name. As for Pretzel Getzien, it was interesting to learn a little German and the likely whereabouts of the Getzien family today. I do plan to go to the National as well, and definitely hope to meet you. There is no doubt that you and your book co-authors have contributed a tremendous amount to the hobby. I also thank you for chiming in on this thread. As for me, I am someone who likes to challenge preconceived notions, even if I can't be right all the time. That's a standard which probably no one can live up to. Cheers |
The first law firm I worked for had a heavily Irish partnership including the managing partner. There was one German-Jewish partner and as a joke they wrote a "Mc" on his door namplate prefacing his last name. Perhaps part of the name used on the card was a similar nod to the Irish composition of the sport in the era.
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We'll never know for sure, but the pun and the joke of him being Irish fit very well within the context of the life and times of Deacon White. |
Since the conversation on the Pretzels thread creeped back around to the McCreachery card, I thought I ought to reintroduce the topic on this thread. Per Joe saying that he saw the card in 2008 and deemed it McCreachery, I think we ought to assume it's that for the sake of conversation until more conclusive evidence can be produced.
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Jack McGeachy
I'm gonna defer to Adam W. on this one. He can be the final arbiter. Unless he disagrees with what I think.
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I was wondering when this thread would turn.:confused:
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n172 cloak and dagger
It is funny. I can barely tie my shoe, but I have an HP Deskjet 3520 from Best Buy for $70. Slabs are ugly. But, Hey. What are ya gonna do?
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McGreachery- part deaux
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I recently received the OJ book in the mail, and have had a chance to look at the Deacon White portrait card pictured on page 87 of the book. I looked at the name under a magnifying glass and I believe that the third letter is a "G" and not a "C". The third letter is printed in the same way that it is printed on this Jack McGeachy card that I just got in the mail from JVSC on ebay.... (pardon the blurry scans, I still need one of those cce scanners or whatever they are called to scan the sgc holders without a blur)
Attachment 83822 Attachment 83823 My opinion had shifted throughout the earlier portions of this thread, and after reviewing the higher resolution picture on page 87 and reading more about the n172 Poorman card. I have changed my opinion again to some degree, although I cannot draw any conclusions. The Poorman card is clearly an intentional joke. It is spelled with two words, "poor" "man" and the photo has the player posed like a beggar, bowing with his head down and hands outstretched and cupped. So, it is clear that the producers of the cards would, on occasion, make puns and jokes with the captions and the photos. I'm not sure what to make of the card now, except that I am convinced that the name in the bottom caption is "McGreachery" and not "McCreachery" I would also highly recommend the OJ book to anyone interested in early baseball cards and/or history. |
I don't see an R in his last name at all
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BUMP - New Information Available
After close inspection, the owner of the Deacon White N172 portrait has confirmed that the spelling on the card is in fact . . . McGreachery (a "G", not a "C") While I enjoyed this thread, a riddle is no longer likely unless, of course, McGreachery is an error and Goodwin really intended McCreachery :):) Thank you to the card's owner, cyseymour, and others who helped make this an interesting thread. |
Thank you, Joe, for getting the owner of the card to look at it, and thank you to the owner for taking the time. It is highly appreciated and certainly provides some clarity.
It is fun to have theories about cards, and even if they are disproven later on, it was a great conversation that I enjoyed immensely. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate. Probably we'll never have a true explanation for the card, but it seems like it may have been a misspelling of Jack McGeachy, who was the manager of Indianapolis at the time. The only thing we know for sure is that it is one cool card!!! :) |
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Thanks for the update. Since the last time we visited this topic, I was able to buy a better scanner. Here are some better scans of McGeachy. I believe it was determined that he was the indy CF at the time and I had proposed that he could have been a player/manager towards the end of the season even at 23 yrs of age, but it is just conjecture. Fun topic..................
Attachment 95428Attachment 95429 Attachment 95431Attachment 95430 |
Just read through 11 pages. Good stuff. I am nearly 100% Irish myself and we are not just "reputed" to be drinkers. We can put it away! And I am going to tip a glass to both Mr. White and the mysterious McWhatever.
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Well... Just put it this way, I wish I read the last page before I read the entire thread... At least I freshened up on my Gaelic English, French, and Greek... :rolleyes:
Some of the references and facts used to prove the McGreachery name being a riddle was comparable to Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas trying to explain how gun control will lead to same sex marriage and sex with animals... Very comical to say the least. Although, some points to the riddle were plausible.. All in all, I enjoyed the critical thinking (mostly done by Cy;)). It is something that is seldom done in my generation of people. I rather read a thread like this than watch a mindless sitcom on TV. But now it looks like my Irish heritage is telling me to pour a glass of Dewar's scotch whiskey to take away the headache I've developed reading it. Thanks for Bumping this :) |
I hate to bring up an old can of worms, but I was thinking about this thread this morning, and it dawned on me to research the name "McGrea". It turns out that "McGrea" is in fact the same name as "McCrea". They are just variable spellings. In fact, according to this website, are stem from the same name.
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/McGraw Therefore, the name "McGreachery" could very well still mean "Dear Son of God". In fact, the counter-theory for this card was that the confusion of the card was that it was really intended to write McGeachy, after Jack McGeachy of the Indianapolis team. But the thing is that Jack McGeachy's name also means "Son of God" McGea - son of God Chy - child Gaelic was a very rough language with many different spellings. That's why you are seeing variations of this word "Crea" in the form of "Gee", "Kee" (as in D. Mc.Kee), Crea, Grea, Graw, etc. In light of this discovery, it is very unlikely that the name "McGreachery" was a misspelling. My view is that it was probably done intentionally. Also, when you take into context the player involved, the card, and the name on it, was almost certainly a joke. Deacon White was a very well-known player - the greatest third baseman of the 19th century. Goodwin and Co. took seven other photos of Deacon White - they must have had a very good idea of whom he was. Remember, Deacon White had been in the league for over fifteen years by that time. He was also known for his wacky religious beliefs in an era, like today, of growing atheism. Also, keep in mind that most people were given a classical education in latin and french back then, and the word for God (crea/grea/graw/cray, however you want to pronounce it) is a vary basic word. Knowing all that, I just find it very hard to believe that the McGreachery name was written as some sort of accident. One of the reasons why we had the confusion between C and G for the card is that they look alike. They must look alike because those two letters were used almost interchangably in ancient times. So in retrospect, I don't believe that the fact that the name is McGreachery instead of McCreachery really makes it a flawed theory after all. |
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Good theory Jamie; I like that. BTW, here is the only other card with this Deacon White image, the proof used to create the N172. As far as I know, both the N172 and the proof are unique.
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Thank you very much for sharing that image. I am sure that other members also truly appreciate it. Seeing as though he was inducted into the HOF this summer, Deacon White's baseball career has been viewed again, in a positive light. I, for one, think his inclusion is warranted. Best Regards, Eric |
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Thanks for the bump Jamie, I do find it interesting although I would still classify it as a theory. But much of what we write about the set is just that.
Great cabinet Jay. I do find it somewhat interesting that out of the 9 proofs that have surfaced (which account for all 9 N172 poses Deacon enjoys), the portrait is the only one in which his name is not written on the negative. "White 3d B., Detroit." appears on all other 8 negatives/photos. |
Great cabinet, Jay.
Jaime, without checking to see if I'm contradicting myself, my problem with your theory is that the makers of the riddle would have to have intentionally created one of the most obscure inside jokes of all time. It would have taken 120 years and sabr-esque research to unveil their joke on a single tobacco insert, that appears to have been discontinued after a single printing. I remember making a Rodney Dangerfield reference from 'Easy Money', as he played a photographer in that movie. |
Joe--as always, an excellent observation. Do you think that because there was no name on the proof that a Goodwin employee screwed up the name on the N172, or are you of the mind that it was a joke?
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I do believe the card makers did know who the portrait was however. Deacon was very recognizable figure. I do think they were poking fun at him by calling him a manager. As for the riddle in the name, there is merit in Jamie’s theory, it is quite possible the name plate was a joke on a couple levels . . ., son of God/child, better suited to be a Manager than player, etc. But Goodwin may have thought better of the card and stopped producing it after a very short run (ie may have stopped when Goodwin & Co. management realized what they were printing). I will say however that Deacon's religious beliefs were not "wacky". He was one of many bible following citizens at the time although not many could be found in the baseball ranks (teammate Lady Baldwin being an exception, another bible quoting and following player). Deacon was generally looked up to, not made fun of. There was a great deal of respect for him, he was recognized as perhaps the greatest player of the 1870s (best catcher in a decade were catching was the single most important position) and he wasn't too shabby at 3rd base either (his "second" career during the 1880s). Most in the baseball world, players and press alike, found his beliefs and morals refreshing (not wacky), role model like. |
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Jay, thanks for sharing the stunning cabinet of Deacon White, and I agree that Joe makes an excellent observation about Deacon's name/team not being on this card. As much as I would like to think that it's a joke, because I love the story of it being a joke, that does suggest that, once again, I may be mistaken that the card is a joke. Definitely the OJ book got it in my mind that the card was a joke, but staring the cold reality in the face, this could very well just be perhaps the oldest and rarest error card. Since White's name wasn't enscrolled on the cabinet, that does suggest to me a case of mistaken identity. Couple that with the very small print run (one card in existence) and that is another characteristic of an error card. Even modern error cards often have very low print runs, so the McGreachery does fit in that category of an error card just in the behavior of the card. So I would say that, in the plain light of day, Rob must be correct that this was not intended as a joke. That said, as wild as my theories were, they did at the very least created the conversation needed to observe certain things about the card that could help us come to a logical conclusion, such as the spelling of the name and characteristics of the cabinet. I really would have liked the card to have been a joke. But I am afraid that in spite of my logic above, the card may not have been a joke after all. But it is still truly a spectacular card, and the mother of all error cards. |
Okay, I didn't see Joe's post #116 before I made my post #117. Let me just say that we'll probably never know. I guess that's the best way to put it.
As far as White's religious beliefs go, from what I've read, White believed the world was flat, and tried to convince any who would listen that the world was flat. This was a very strange belief for 1887. Per the OJ book, White was one of the first catchers to stand directly behind home plate, and since it was the 1870's, that was almost certainly without any headgear. It is likely that because of this, he was suffering from dementia, as was sadly common with many 19th century catchers. This doesn't mean he wasn't respected as a human being and player, but his religious beliefs were way outside the norm. It was a time period where people thought religion was dead - that science was going to shed light on the world and that rational, scientific perspective would assume dominance over the world. We know now that, for better or worse, than never fully happened. |
Let me also say that, another factor is that every team seems to have a photo of their manager, and Indy didn't have a manager. Since the White card was unmarked, perhaps someone assumed that it was the manager card for Indy since their was no Indy manager card, not realizing that Indy didn't have a manager, and assuming White was the manager since he is old and is wearing formal clothing in the photo. Then the mistake was quickly realized and the card was pulled. That doesn't fully explain how the name McGreachery got on there, but it may have been associated with McGeachy, just a corruption. If the person didn't recognize who Deacon White was, then clearly they could have screwed up the spelling of McGeachy as well. It may have been done by an individual in the studio who was not that knowledgeable of baseball. The person may have asked the name of the Indy manager, been told it was McGeachy, mispelled it as McGeachery and thought White was McGeachy. Then the mistake was found and the card was quickly pulled. That might be the most logical explanation for the entire thing.
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Another problem with the "Dear Son of God" theory is that all these names, McGeachy, McKee, McGee, McGreachery, McGraw, McCray... that are all variant spellings and corruptions of the same name, which was "crea" which meant God in Gaelic. The word stems from the Greek "Gaia" (pronounced Gay-ah). Gaia also have variant spellings such as Graia, Gaea, etc. The trouble is that these spellings are transliterations. So if someone were to misspell the name McGeachy, it will almost invariably still mean Son of God since that is spelled in so many different ways.
As far as the part of whether White as the mgr. of Indy is a joke, as I was writing earlier, it must have been a case of mistaken identity. That the cabinet doesn't have White's name inscribed is very strong evidence, along with the very short print run, that this card is the mother of all error cards. Someone must have thought he was Jack McGeachy. I believe that McGeachy was the player/manager of Indy for a tad. Someone must have assumed that McGeachy was old and that the White photo was McGeachy. Another reason for this is that in spite of the fact that we view these players faces all the time, media wasn't so prevalent back then. A players face may have been published in the newspaper once a year. It's not like modern times where we are bombarded with images. So, in retrospect, I am pretty sure I was wrong in my theory in just about every way imaginable, and the card is an error card. I know that I have changed my mind a few times now, but as new information arises, it must be integrated. Thank you for everyone who participated in this thread, and in fact I think the story of this card is only enhanced by this thread and that this card is the mother of all error cards. |
Interesting stuff whichever way it seems.
A couple points. Spelling, at least in English was not consistent right into the early 1800's, maybe later. It's not unusual to see things written by even the well educated that have the same word spelled different ways on the same page. Printers probably corrected for books but written letters often were a bit sloppy. So I'd expect spelling of words in languages without Latin roots to be even less consistent. The classics were taught rather solidly, most advanced education included Latin. Especially in catholic schools since the Mass was in Latin. I'm not sure about the flat earth thing being religious. I thought the religious one was a earth centric instead of Copernican heliocentric model of the planets? It's hard to tell if the people who made up the negatives and did the photo printing would have been well educated or catholic, but since photography was a developing technology(Unintended pun, but I'll go with it:) ) It's likely they were more than simply trained workers. Steve B |
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