T206 antecedents.Photography and Lithography behind the T206s.

[ethicsprof]

Brian,
your help and Martin's are most appreciated.
i will certainly keep you posted and please do the same.
these uncharted meanderings are most enticing.

all the best
barry

[Brian-Chidester]

T206 is such an interesting story, not just when the cards were made, but its progress through the years. Shakespeare couldn't haven't written a more strange and compelling drama.

I still remember the first card show my dad took me to in 1985, and gave me $20 to buy cards. All the heroes, like Strawberry and Clemens and Puckett were featured on colourful, pristine new cards. I can't recapture what it was that drew me to this one man's table that had a booklet of beat up tobacco cards in plastic pages< But I bought a T206 Hoblitzel for a few bucks nonetheless, and went to find my dad to show him what I had bought. He knew it was old, and even at 8 years old, I knew it was interesting, but neither of us knew exactly what is was just yet. A "dangerous" cigarette ad on the back... look at that uniform!... why are they so small... who is Hoblitzel anyway? It was the beginning of a fascinating journey, which never ends...

But that's another story, and we all have them.

[Bridwell]

Yes, many of the T206 photos were taken long before 1909. Some were used on W600 cabinets which date to 1905-1908. Others were used in Sporting Life team composites from 1905-06. You've probably noticed that some of the portrait poses in T206 show some very young-looking players, such as Cobb or Hal Chase. I remember reading that Chase was a pretty boy in his early years, as shown on the portraits. In 1909 he had a bad case of small pox and nearly died. When he returned, he was presented with a Trophy Cup by some fans. However, his face was scarred up by the illness. So in his Trophy pose in T206 he looks a lot worse than in the 2 portrait poses.

[ethicsprof]

Ron,
very interesting.
i've often put the pink,blue,white cap, dark cap,trophy alongside each other just to compare the handsome youth with the 'weathered' Chase of trophy.

Do you happen to know of any of the Conlon action poses that 'begat' the
T206s?
thanks for the interest and help.
best,
barry

[Brian-Chidester]

Some T206 poses, like the Eddie Plank, were used even earlier than the W600. Plank's pose was used in the E107 Breisch Williams series.

[Ericc22]

Greetings,

I found this thread in the archives and loved it. Figured it was worth reviving. I was fascinated by this :

http://runscott.homestead.com/T206Origins.html

Interesting to see where those drawings come from. I've always been curious at how realistic the images on the cards are. I want a Johnson eg, and can't see getting the 'hands on chest' because that person looks so generic. I am glad to see at least there is a reasonable match to the image in the portrait, and the real person!

Thanks for all this info. Hope more images can be added!

Eric

[Jantz]

I may be able to add a little more to this thread.

Van Oeyen took the photo of Sam Crawford for his T206 (throwing) card. The photo appears in the book "A Portrait of Baseball Photography". I compared the photo with his card and its a spot-on match. Wish I could provide you with a scan of the photo, but I would have to break the binding of the book to do so.

The photo was part of a lot sold by MastroNet Auctions in 2004.


Hope this helps


Jantz

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Ericc22

Greetings,

I found this thread in the archives and loved it. Figured it was worth reviving. I was fascinated by this :

http://runscott.homestead.com/T206Origins.html

Interesting to see where those drawings come from. I've always been curious at how realistic the images on the cards are. I want a Johnson eg, and can't see getting the 'hands on chest' because that person looks so generic. I am glad to see at least there is a reasonable match to the image in the portrait, and the real person!

Thanks for all this info. Hope more images can be added!

Eric

Hi Eric, Thanks for your comments. I was not participating in the hobby when this thread was active, so I missed it - very interesting stuff. Makes me think I should add the photographer and date to that page (when known). In addition, Mike recently sent me a great Sheckard photo to use on the site, which helped get me fired up at adding some more cards and photos.

If anyone has photos to supply, please send to me. Thanks.