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?