Need Help Dating Hilltop Park Silver Print

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Posted By: Kevin O

I won a silver print (9 1/2" x 12 1/4") of Hilltop Park at an auction this past weekend. I am trying to date the image with a bit more accuracy than simply "1903-1912." Is there something in the scene that helps to date it? I know there are also images of this entrance that do not show the "Greater New York Base Ball Club of The" message on the roof and facade, and in place of the "Of The" there is a simple "N.Y." (see: http://www.ebaseballparks.com/hilltop.html ) It would seem to me that the longer title pre-dates the shorter title, but I have no clear proof of that. Is the two-word "base ball" significant? 25 cent seats? The automobile or the coach driver? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Kevin O.

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Posted By: Kevin O

Sorry about the size of the jpeg, but I'm having a heck of a time posting one of sufficient size. Hope this works.

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Posted By: Julie

There's a horse-drawn carriage on the left, and a gasoline driven (very early) car on the right. Gas cars took over very quicky after their invention--but not quickly enough to help you date the photo more exactly. 1900-1010?

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

My other passion is for restoring automobiles. Now, I won't claim to be an expert of turn of the century cars, but that one pictured looks awfully similar to an early Mason (as opposed to a Ford, Buick, etc - which are much more identifiable). Now, If my memory serves me correctly, Mason's were first produced in 1906. So, I would guess your picture is from 1906-07, since the later Mason's were longer and less "box-like". I must admit, the picture of the car is really small though so I hope I don't have the wrong model!

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Posted By: VintageBall--RobertS

This exact photo is featured in the book "New York Yankees: The First 25 Years" (By Vincent Luisi, Arcadia Publishing's Images of Sports Series, 2002) on page 14.

The caption reads: "The entrance to Hilltop Park is shown c. 1903, when the park opened. Note that horse carriages were still in use and that going to a ballgame still required proper dress."

Interestingly, on page 13 two other images of the park are featured -- one with the "Greater New York Base Ball Club" lettering on the roof of the ticket office (?) and one without.

I would have thought the lettering came later, given that the park was rushed into operation before the field was even completely filled in and before the finishing touches were put on the ballpark (see Reisler's book "Before They Were Bombers" for info on the park's opening).

So -- I wonder of the caption is correct. If it is, and one would think Luisi and Arcadia did their research or their copy of the photo had markings, then this photo of yours is an absolutely amazing find from the first year of the Highlanders/Yankees!

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Posted By: Julie

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Posted By: Hankron

The word 'circa' was put on this earth for old photographs.

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Posted By: Julie

my favorite add on discriptive word in latin is (sic), meaning "this idiot author said exactly what I have written, but of course we all know he's an idiot, and it couldn't be wronger (sic).

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Posted By: Kevin O

The baseball knowledge of people on this site never fails to amaze me. Thanks so much for the willingness to share your expertise. I also found this picture in the Burns and Ward book "Baseball" (p. 69) that accompanied the PBS series. There was no date in the caption or reference.

By the way, if anyone is interested in using the photo for a website or anything else, by all means do so. If you require a better scan, I can send you a much larger (6.4 MB) bitmap image. There were two other silver prints in the lot as well: one of a very old automobile lineup in Union Square (NYC, not SF) and another of recruiting for the Old Guard Regiment in the same location (the notation on the back reads that the recruiting was for the Spanish-American War, and that the picture was a part of the Philip Degon Exibit (sic) -- just had to use it). If you'd like to see or use them, just ask. They're already scanned.