Hey all,
I was interested in knowing whether any of you had any rare or odd pictures of any of the historic MLB ballparks from the first half of the 20th century (or even further back, if they exist) - especially ones which clearly depict outfield advertisements. I am especially interested in images of the Harry M. Stevens panoramic stadium shots that were auctioned off by Lelands in 1996. These photographs were used to demonstrate to advertisers the state of their scoreboard ads for a given year. The image clarity of these photos is astonishing, as they were produced from glass plate negatives. The dates depicted ranged from 1934 to 1956 I believe, and many of the MLB ballparks were depicted, including: Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Fenway, and Braves Field.
Some of these panoramics made their way onto ebay at some point (and continue to do so), and I managed to get my hands on shots of Yankee Stadium from 1936, 1947 and 1949. It was immediately after that I sold them back to collectors. Why did I do this you may ask?
If you haven't seen the thread from my good friend thekingofclout, I am an artist who specializes in painting vintage baseball scenes, most of which lie in the first half of the 20th century. Being a stickler for historical accuracy, these kinds photos are invaluable resources for my work - as they provide the exact look of stadium advertisement signs from each particular year. Though many photos exist of stadiums from these eras (especially to be found on Corbis, Getty Images, AP, etc.), it's harder to find reliable resources in regards to the stadiums from the 1930s and 1940s - which incidentally is my favorite period to depict.
Now, I've been visiting and contributing to sites like baseballfever and the PSA message boards for years now, so I'm well aware of the the photos in their various threads, so I was hoping to find some new material. I am not into the collectibility aspect of them, as I make high quality photocopies of the images to keep for myself. What I ask of you fellows, is whether you own or have access to photographs such as these. I wouldn't necessarily be interested in buying any of them per se, but would most certainly love to arrange for high quality scans/photocopies of the panoramics to be made if anyone was willing to do so. I would certainly pay for the materials, time spent, and if desired, would be happy to provide prints of my artwork for compensation.
I have enclosed a scan of one of the Harry M. Stevens photographs I speak of, as well as some examples of my artwork (more can be found at
www.graigkreindler.com). If anyone can help out in anyway, please feel free to contact me via email/PM/phone/smoke signal.
Thanks!
Graig
gkreindler@gmail.com
http://www.graigkreindler.com
