My opinion on the matter-- re: type 1, generation 1 debate

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Jimmy,
That is an excellent question, obviously the GPC cancelled in 1951. Now if all of these phptos actually had verifiable cancellations on the back from when they were printed that would be nice. I have no doubt as I have said before that some of these photos may have been printed within hours or days of the photo being taken. There is just no objective way to tell and the attempt to quantify/codify it with a tight timeframe (2 years, etc.) IMO is a futile effort designed to benefit sellers and graders. I also have no limit to the amount of faith that I have in people in general to oversell their wares and IMO this helps. Edit to add, I am an active buyer of photos.

"Now if all of these phptos actually had verifiable cancellations on the back from when they were printed that would be nice."

They do so to speak Jeff. While some photos are dated by a date stamp and many by the date on the slug, many can also accurately be dated due to their stamp. Over a twenty plus year period, Henry Yee had the foresight to create the largest know "fossil file" of stampings from newspapers, syndicates, news services, magazines, free lance photographers, and so on. He has painstakingly cross referenced all known dates to the corresponding stamps. His "fossil file" is tens of thousands strong and is absolutely mind blowing.

He has studied photography from the technical side to the artistic, from the photojournalist to the news room editors, many of whom he has interviewed of the last two plus decades. He actually hung out and I believe worked at some of the papers/syndicates. He has also spent countless hours in the labs as well as in research depts with film manufacturers such as Kodak.

His "dating" methods also include lab testing and cross-referencing the type of paper and photo developing styles used at certain times in history.

We're talking about an obsessed man here and the fruits of his labor are the results we all benefit from today. Also, it should be noted that Marshall & Henry created the "TYPE" system long before they were brought on board at PSA, so it's out of line for anyone to suggest that said system was simply created by the TPG Companies to make more money.

And, all of this is basically just the tip of the iceberg in the amount of blood, sweat & tears that Henry has put into his field of expertise. I'd hate to think where this sector of the hobby would be without his groundbreaking work.

Sincere regards, Jimmy