[Frozen in Time]

Originally Posted by Leon

I am posting this for John Rogers. He feels the rest of the story is important for this spectacular and historically significant photo. I am glad to help.
.



"I am the consignor of the much discussed Mickey Mantle Type I image that was used for Mantles 1952 Topps baseball card. With the current discussions, I felt it was important for me to provide some facts as to the photos history, my personal experiences with our nations news archives, etc.

For a brief walk through of what my business is, you can read up on us at www.rogersphotoarchive.com.
History of lot # 1341 in the current Legendary auction:
This photo was discovered in one of the many news archives we acquired over the last three years.

We have been asked "How do I know there isn't another example?" Of the top 100 news papers, based on circulation in the U.S., I have either purchased, or physically examined 93 of the top 100. We have acquired 52 million images and this is the ONLY example we have located thus far. Besides the top 100 papers based on circulation, my staff has toured dozens of other smaller, regional papers plus archives currently housed in institutions, libraries, universities and museums. In fact, there is rarely a week that's gone by that I haven't been in a newly discovered archive, with hopes for a potential purchase.

Sadly, the vast majority of newspapers have not been good protectors of their photographic history. For every 6 archives we inspect, we only issue a proposal to one. I have been in our nations oldest and most storied news archives and most have no photos prior to 1970. When there is representation of pre 70's photos, too many times we discover the major stars, athletes, politicians, and especially baseball Hall of Famers, have long ago been donated, stolen, or thrown out.

I hear the same stories from the old time photo librarians time and again....."We threw them away years ago" and "When we moved to our current building in 1982, we left the old archive behind", or, "our corporate bosses made us downsize and we threw them in the dumpsters in the mid 1980's"

These stories are what drive me to continue to preserve this lost history.

So, could another example of this much discussed image of Mantle possibly exist somewhere in the world? I say it is possible but, HIGHLY unlikely. I feel like at this point I've physically viewed 95% or the news archives that are worth viewing and after 3 years of digging in Mantles file at every stop, this is the only example discovered to date. Besides me not having personally seen another physical example, I encourage collectors to go search the web and try to find any digital representation of this image BEFORE we presented it via Legendary. When you go to Corbis and Getty, you will see they have a combined 212 million images. This image of Mantle was not one of them. With there being no digital image anywhere on the web, it makes me say with confidence that I believe nobody else in the world owns one.

Moving past Mantle.....anyone who has been collecting original Negro league photos should be labeled "smartest guy in the room". There is ZERO representation of original negro league photos in any news archive I have viewed thus far. The only exception was The Sporting News Archive and I can count them on my two hands. Original Negro League imagery is non existent from my experiences. Almost the same goes for quality big name Hall of Famers from the pre 1920 era. I can count on my two hands how many original Joe Jacksons, Christy Mathewsons, or Wagners, from their playing days, that I have seen in my inspections and acquisitions.

I believe we are in the infant stages for all things photo collecting. I would compare it to where baseball cards were in 1982. I hope that makes sense!

Thank you to every member of net54 who regularly bids in our weekly Ebay auctions. We have a HUGE announcement coming in the next week of our most recent archive acquisition. For pre war baseball fans, it is exciting!

Thanks,

John Rogers
P.S. Excuse my typos....this was done on my Droid and my fingers are too fat!"



.
.

I took John's advice and looked on Corbis and found the attached image.

I'm confused.


Mickey Mantle Holding Baseball Bat
Stock Photo ID: BE002468
Date Photographed: ca. 1951
Model Released: No Release
Property Released: No Release
Credit: © Bettmann/CORBIS
License Type: Rights Managed (RM)
Category: Historical
Collection: Bettmann
Max File Size: 8 MB - 3470px × 2718px • 11.00in. × 9.00in @ 300 ppi