Photos by Paul Thompson

[Runscott]

I was just going through some of my favorite prints and noticed that the back of this 'Thompson-stamped' print of rookie Fred Lindstrom, had extensive penciled notes. I remembered the debate we had after the 'T205 Thompson' auctions last year, as to whether or not Paul Thompson took his own photos (or what % he took). To me there is a 'Paul Thompson look' to many of the 'Thompson-stamped' prints. This is one such print. The handwriting on the back matches up perfectly with other such stamped prints, some such writing being identified in auctions as Thompson's. I can't say whether or not Thompson took any particular photo, but I think this one has a pretty good chance.

If you have a Thompson-stamped print with similar handwriting on the back, please post up.

[Runscott]

Looks like I'm the only forum member with a Thompson print with his handwriting. I didn't realize these were so rare, but obviously happy to find out.

[drcy]

I have no special insight into Thompson, but know that Bain and Matthew Brady also used other photographers.

[TCMA]

Your print came out of the archive I work with. There are many examples with handwritten notes on the back. Who wrote the notes and when is certainly debatable. I’d have to pull multiple and examine them closely to determine if there are any handwriting matches.


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[Runscott]

Originally Posted by TCMA

Your print came out of the archive I work with. There are many examples with handwritten notes on the back. Who wrote the notes and when is certainly debatable. I’d have to pull multiple and examine them closely to determine if there are any handwriting matches.


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Thanks Andrew, for the added information. I was kind of joking - I always do that if one of my uninteresting esoteric threads goes a day or two with no response.

I was able to compare the handwriting to a few others that had the 'Thompson' look. I was hoping that this thread would get a few Thompson print owners to check the backs of their prints, get excited when they saw the handwriting matched mine, and post. I was further hoping that the ones with what I consider Thompson's 'look' would be the ONLY ones with the handwriting mine has, which could have been a clue that he did not handle so much the prints created by his news service.

But with no data...

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Thanks Andrew, for the added information. I was kind of joking - I always do that if one of my uninteresting esoteric threads goes a day or two with no response.



I was able to compare the handwriting to a few others that had the 'Thompson' look. I was hoping that this thread would get a few Thompson print owners to check the backs of their prints, get excited when they saw the handwriting matched mine, and post. I was further hoping that the ones with what I consider Thompson's 'look' would be the ONLY ones with the handwriting mine has, which could have been a clue that he did not handle so much the prints created by his news service.



But with no data...

It’s definitely worth looking into. I bet there are some examples to look at just from the shots I’ve got on my phone. I’ll take a look tonight and post if I come across anything interesting.



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[TCMA]

Originally Posted by TCMA

It’s definitely worth looking into. I bet there are some examples to look at just from the shots I’ve got on my phone. I’ll take a look tonight and post if I come across anything interesting.

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I can tell you that for the portrait images those definitely have the same handwriting for the player ID’s:






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[TCMA]

And to add to the confusion there are also Thompson images with similar handwriting plus what appears to be Conlon’s handwriting, though it may all be Conlon’s now that I’m looking at it again.






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[Runscott]

That's definitely Conlon's handwriting on the back of those Thompson's.

I think we need Ben in here.