Team Photo Questions

[aelefson]

Hi-
I recently acquired the photo scanned below and I have some questions regarding it. Any idea on the era? I am guessing 1940s-50s based on the equipment. I assume this is a semi pro team but does anyone know if minor league teams used this style of the Cubs uniform? Does anyone recognize any of the players?
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[thecatspajamas]

Cubs is/was a popular name for minor league teams:
Cubs:
Beaumont, TX: 1908
Brookfield, MO: 1911
Caldwell, ID: 1967-71
Carthage, MO: 1949-51
Centralia, IL: 1947-49
Clarksdale, MS: 1921-23
Clinton, IA: 1947-48
Clovis, NM: 1923
Columbus, OH: 1913
Davenport, IA: 1946-47
Daytona Beach, FL: 1993+
Decatur, IL: 1965-66
Drummondville, Que: 1950-52
Easton, MD: 1938
Elizabethton, TN: 1945, 1948
Erwin, TN: 1943-44
Fayetteville, NC: 1946-48
Fond du Lac, WI: 1908
Ft Wayne, IN: 1915
Franklin, VA: 1948
Geneva, NY: 1977-93
Hastings, NE: 1922-24
Hayward, CA: 1910-11
Huntington, WV: 1990-94
Huron, SD: 1969-70
Hutchinson, KN: 1946-48
Iola, KN: 1946-47
“Iowa”: 1983+
Janesville, WI: 1941-42, 1946-53
Key West, FL: 1975
Leon, Guan: 1979
Lockport, NY: 1943-44
Lumberton, NC: 1947-48
Marion, OH: 1944, 1947-48
Midland, TX: 1972-84
Morristown, TN: 1959-61
Moultrie, GA: 1950
Oil City, PA: 1907-08
Orlando, FL: 1993-96
Palatka, FL: 1962
Pikeville, KY: 1983-84
Pittsfield, MA: 1985-88
Pompano Beach, FL: 1976-78
Ponca City, OK: 1955-57
Portsmouth, VA: 1936-52
Pulaski, TN: 1957-58
"Quad-Cities": 1979-84
Quincy, IL: 1965-73
Sedalia, MO: 1911
Selma, AL: 1948
Shelby, NC: 1946
Sherman, TX: 1912
Springfield, MA: 1948-53
Springfield, MO: 1948, 1950
Statesville, NC: 1945-46
Tacoma, WA: 1910, 1966-71
Tarboro, NC: 1940
Terrell, TX: 1915
Tarboro, NC: 1940
"Treasure Valley": 1964-66
Visalia, CA: 1946-52, 1954-56
Waco, TX: 1925-30, 1933
Waterloo, IA: 1907
Watertown, SD: 1921-23
Williamsport, PA: 1994-98
Wytheville, VA: 1985-89
Zanesville, OH: 1941-42

Not all pertinent to the time of your photo, but just to give you an idea of how many possibilities there are. We may be able to help more if you can crop/upload smaller sections of the scan, as it's hard to make out much detail with the way it auto-resized when you uploaded the whole thing.

[aelefson]

Thanks Lance! I will try to post a larger scan this evening. I really appreciate the list as well, as it gives me some opportunities to google.

Alan

[thecatspajamas]

If you can make out any letter(s) on any of their caps, that can be very helpful as well.

[Butch7999]

We're finding this one inexplicably intriguing and we were hoping for faster progress in solving it. Seems like there's an abundance of clues in that photo...

Lance's list of minor-league Cubs is of great assistance.

The unis definitely look late 1940s to mid/late 1950s, as does what appears to be a short-sleeved shirt with a two-tone collar worn by the guy in the middle --
so perhaps, at least to start, the pre-war and post-'50s Cubs can be eliminated as candidates, reducing the list from 67 to 25:

Carthage, MO: 1949-51
Centralia, IL: 1947-49
Clinton, IA: 1947-48
Davenport, IA: 1946-47
Drummondville, Que: 1950-52
Elizabethton, TN: 1945, 1948
Erwin, TN: 1943-44
Fayetteville, NC: 1946-48
Franklin, VA: 1948
Hutchinson, KN: 1946-48
Iola, KN: 1946-47
Janesville, WI: 1941-42, 1946-53
Lumberton, NC: 1947-48
Marion, OH: 1944, 1947-48
Morristown, TN: 1959-61
Moultrie, GA: 1950
Ponca City, OK: 1955-57
Portsmouth, VA: 1936-52
Pulaski, TN: 1957-58
Selma, AL: 1948
Shelby, NC: 1946
Springfield, MA: 1948-53
Springfield, MO: 1948, 1950
Statesville, NC: 1945-46
Visalia, CA: 1946-52, 1954-56.

A birdhouse hangs prominently in the foreground. It looks to be built for purple martins, and we hoped that might be a clue. Unfortunately for the purposes of
this investigation, martins range over almost the entire continental US except for the northern stretches of the Rockies, so that doesn't narrow the list down any further.

The building behind the team is certainly distinctive. What is it -- a factory? A school? Corporate offices? There's something at the far left alongside
or attached to the building -- free-form sculpture? Some kind of Rube Goldberg air-conditioning unit?

Given the manicured lawn, the arbor, the birdhouse, and possibly a sculpture, the pic may have been snapped at a college, and the building should
still be recognizable. Unfortunately again, we'd bet there's a college in all but one or two of those towns, and it also opens up the possibility
of a college team called Cubs...

Looking forward to blow-ups of the photo...

[mybestbretts]

If those are bars on the windows could it be a penitentiary?

[aelefson]

Hi-
Thank you very much for everyone's help so far! I rescanned it at 400dpi and am using imgur to host it. Unfortunately, the hats were colred in red at some point, so details there are minimal. Please let me know if you need better scans. I really appreciate all of the help so far!
Alan

[Butch7999]

Thanks, Alan -- well, we can see now that those are pretty surely not college boys, so that rules that thought out...

bretts, good thought, the closer look does make it appear those are bars and not just architectural decoration, so quite possibly you're right
and it is indeed a prison building... although that seems like rather a lot of windows for a prison, and that lawn with the trees and birdhouse and all
seems a little pastoral for a prison setting... We still think identifying the building will be key to any possible identification of the team...

The "free-form sculpture" can now be clearly seen to be some sort of boiler/ventilation apparatus. The figure seated at its base might be wearing
prison garb. Or military garb. Or just workman's clothes.

The more we can see, the further away we seem to be getting from a positive ID of anything. Also of note, already apparent in the small pic:
there are only 16 players, which seems a few guys short of a minor pro team, and they're wearing two different styles of uniform. Based just on that,
Alan's original surmise that this was a semi-pro club (or even amateur) seems more likely correct, which means it'll be even harder to pin down...

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Butch7999

bretts, good thought, the closer look does make it appear those are bars and not just architectural decoration, so quite possibly you're right
and it is indeed a prison building... although that seems like rather a lot of windows for a prison, and that lawn with the trees and birdhouse and all
seems a little pastoral for a prison setting... We still think identifying the building will be key to any possible identification of the team...

Perhaps a sanatorium? That would fit better with the many windows (lots of "healing" light), manicured and peaceful grounds, but still a need for bars on the windows.

[Runscott]

The catcher has a strange forearm tattoo. A higher-res scan and you might be able to read the signature on the bat next to him.

The fact that there are so many players makes me think 'minor leagues', as in 'not prison or sanitarium'.

The piece has a gulf coast look to it (to me). Maybe Moultrie,GA? If so, you are out of luck - class D players didn't make it to the big leagues all that often. Same for any of the other lower-class teams.

[UnVme7]

I'm seeing a lot of Hillerich bats, one of which being a signature model. I'm guessing this is a minor league team, unless they are using a bunch of Hillerich bats that are pro stock's of someone. I doubt a jail or a company team would use nothing but Hillerich bats.

[aelefson]

Thanks again for everyone's help! It would have been nice if it was a famous team but I like the image anyway. I will try to research some of the teams listed above and see if I can ever figure it out.

Thank you,
Alan

[thecatspajamas]

Every time I look at this photo, my eye is drawn to the guy in the back row, 4th from the left. I could swear that I've seen him before, but haven't been able to put a name with the face.

Same thing, but to a lesser extent, with the guy just to our right of him, but I think it's just the eyebrows that remind me of Frenchy Bordagaray.

[Mark]

Is that a generic birdhouse or is it targeted to a specific species?