I have done a ton of research on photos used to make cards through RMY Auctions and I believe a large number of the early cards like T206 etc. used generic bodies and sometimes used head shots etc. I also believe many were "inspiration" photos that were then used to make cards so they are nearly identical matches but spacing might be off or something to that nature to fit the spacing of a small card. There are many cards that people have been on quests for years to find the original source photographs that I think do not exist, like the E90-1 Joe Jackson for example. Someday someone is going to find a photo of some sandlot guy leaning on a bat and find out it was the photo used to make the Joe Jackson card in my opinion.
Having said that, many will never be found because there are no "matches" but it sounds like a cool project.
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