Need opinions on 1920's photo...

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Posted By: Scot York

Who do you think it is?
Where do you think it was taken?
Is it original?,era?, has a silver tint to it.
What team is it?

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Posted By: Rhys

I sold this photo a while back on ebay. When I sold it, the photo was still attached to scrapbook paper with 10-15 other college baseball player photos from 1921-23 era. I think the exact date was on it but I cant remember. It was from a scrapbook where I could absolutely confirm the age and that it was major college baseball players photographed. I sold it as looking like quite a bit like Lou Gehrig and if you hold it in person next to the only known College photo of Gehrig in Columbia Uniform, the resemblance is extremely strong.

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Posted By: Scot York

Thank You! Rhys,
I immediately thought it was Gehrig, I wanted more opinions though. I now know the era. Anymore opinions/thoughts of this tiny photo (1-1/2" X 2-5/8") are welcomed.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I saw it when Rhys first offered it and I just couldn't tell...there is some resemblance, but I wouldn't say with any certainty this is Gehrig.

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Posted By: Rhys

When you look at it under magnification (since the photo is so small) there is a VERY strong resemblance and I showed to a few other collectors when I first saw it and they agreed it was most likely him but due to the size of the photo and lack of identification on the jerseys there will probably never be any concrete evidence.

I do remember now that the photo was from the scrapbook of a Springfield College athlete named WW Watters(The YMCA Sports College that Basketball was invented at). He was the Football Captain and had something to do with SPorts Photography at the school because there were hundreds of Sports Photos in the scrapbook. There is no way this player was a Springfield player because they jerseys were not even close. If you could do any research and find out whether Columbia played Springfield during the early 1920's that might help a little for you. I looked but could never find anything.

Rhys

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Posted By: Scot York

Rhys,
I just did a search and came up empty as well. I have some homework to do.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I just don't think it's him...Gehrig looks a little bit stockier - thicker calves...slightly different shape of face.

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Posted By: Scot York

OK Dan,
This is what I wanted. With the different uniform, same build but, lighter weight, could we be looking at an even younger Gehrig?

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Posted By: Mark L

Have you checked with the people at the Hall of Fame library? Gehrig's high school pictures? Quite a few years ago the Hall of Fame library helped me with something.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

It's possible...I think the key is finding a schedule that has Springfield on it.

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Posted By: Scot York

Thank You Men,
I'll try and contact the HOF library and/or find a Springfield schedule. The HOF library will probabely be much easier though.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

This is a photo I found on ebay from a Springfield college scrapbook - this photo is from 1921-22. Looks like your photo could be a Springfield player after all.



Here's the link to the auction
http://tinyurl.com/6hrwvf

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I have a picture of my father singing an Otis Redding song in 1972, but I'm pretty sure it could be Lou Gehrig! How do I tell? Sorry. Sorry.

Is it just me, or has there been an overabundance of threads as of late with this premise?! I love it!

Take care,

Jodi

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Posted By: Scot York

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Huh? I know the "punk" part of that was aimed at Jodi, is the "challenge" part aimed at me? I don't get it...you asked for opinions. I saw this photo about a year ago when it was first offered and I didn't think it was him then and I clearly don't think it's him now with this photo of the Springfield baseball team showing up on ebay. If someone sold the photo to you under the premise that it is Gehrig then I think you should show the seller this thread and ask for your money back.

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Posted By: Max Weder

Scot

It may be helpful to the thread if you scanned the image at 1200 dpi or so and posted the larger scan. I can't tell anything from the small photo.

Max

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Posted By: David York

Scot,

Do not fret over Jodi, it's probably just that time of the month for her. For the record, outside of Nebraska baseball, how much knowledge can you expect.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Ummmm...Okay. If the York's want to believe that photo is Lou Gehrig more power to them. I'm not going to get in a pissing match over it. I guess I should just stick to questions about Nebraska.

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

moronic and imbecilic thing to say, York.

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Posted By: Rhys

For the record, I am not the type of person to claim something if I dont really believe it. Having owned that photo at one time and being the one to pull it from the book and showing it to several others who also held it and looked at it under magnification, I really do believe it has a VERY strong resemblance to Gehrig as did others. When I sold it I did not claim it to be him, I just mentioned that it was a strong resemblance and the date was right.

However, having said that, I saw nothing wrong with Dan's post. It was just an attempt to show the uniforms and not a claim that any of the guys in the picture were the same dude.

Rhys

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I should have made it clear too that when Rhys was selling the photo he made NO claim whatsoever that it was Gehrig. Sorry Rhys I should have mentioned that.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Where's my Tampax? I really feel the need to ski and play racquet sports with more confidence and vigor.

Don't fret; sometimes this board takes itself a little too seriously. I'm just having a bit of fun. Dig out your old issues of BCM to see what I mean.