Wire Photo Question

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by varsitycollectibles

Thanks for the response! I mainly collect HOFers from the 50s and 60s and the thought came to me to try and pair a vintage photo with players that I have autographed baseballs of, thinking that would be cooler than the standard 8x10.

The ones that have caught my eye have been tied to specific games and have AP stamps.

Here is an example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bob-Gibson-p...item3376cfabaf

Very cool. Yep, this would be a wire photo or a type 3. If this is what catches your eye, you can usually buy these at very reasonable prices. Because they are not off the original negative, clarity will be compromised a bit. This one looks really nice for your application though. Good luck!

[drc]

If you're just looking for something for your autographs, the simplest tip is to get something with an official stamp/name on it-- like AP, UPI, ACME or International News. Then you know it's an official news photo. Most news photos have the maker's name on it somewhere. Beyond that, you can decide if it's a nice looking image.

You can probably get good deals on originals of many 1950s-60s players.

[repsher]

I collect original photos of hall of famers, they are different than "wire" photos like the one you listed. If you want an original photo of Bob Gibson I would go with something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CT-PHOTO-asp...item51a1aac3a1

It is original and would be classified as Type 1. It also is more than likely a one of a kind photo since it was taken by a staff photographer. I actually would probably purchase the photo myself but I already have quite a few Bob Gibson originals.
The same seller does have quite a few "wire" photos of Gibson for $10. If that is still what you are looking for.

The best place to learn about photos is a forum like this and books on the subject. I've made mistakes purchasing in the past but you'll learn from them.

[thecatspajamas]

There are a couple of short "informational" films that were produced in the 1930's-40's that do a better job of explaining (and more importantly for me, showing) the actual wire photo process. The original "Type 1" news photo is the one you see them attaching to the apparatus on the sending end. The "Type 3" wire photo is what is produced on the receiving end and typically exhibits some slight loss of clarity (though I have seen some very nice ones that you would never have known just from looking at the image) and have the caption embedded in the front image of the photo.

Spot News (1937)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LetlcmqZFyA

Good Neighbors (1944)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0aXF0JQWEo

[Forever Young]

Great visual reference! Outstanding add... thanks for sharing Lance.

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

There are a couple of short "informational" films that were produced in the 1930's-40's that do a better job of explaining (and more importantly for me, showing) the actual wire photo process. The original "Type 1" news photo is the one you see them attaching to the apparatus on the sending end. The "Type 3" wire photo is what is produced on the receiving end and typically exhibits some slight loss of clarity (though I have seen some very nice ones that you would never have known just from looking at the image) and have the caption embedded in the front image of the photo.

Spot News (1937)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LetlcmqZFyA

Good Neighbors (1944)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0aXF0JQWEo

[varsitycollectibles]

Great responses guys. I'm going to dig a little deeper before I decide if I will go with wire photos or originals.

Repsher: Thanks for the link. Bob Gibson is my main PC focus and I would love to see what you have.

I don't know about you fellas, but on a lazy Saturday with not much to do I tend to spend money. So I decided to pick up my first photo. I got it from the seller Repsher mentioned. It's a Chicago Tribune archive photo of Bob Gibson from Game 1 of the 1967 World Series.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280970494623...84.m1423.l2649

[thecatspajamas]

Ben, glad to be able to add something helpful. I must admit that the actual "wire photo" process was a mystery to me for a long time until I ran across a reference to one of those films. When I saw them, it was like the proverbial lightbulb turning on for me. It's really pretty amazing technology for the time when you think about it!

My favorite quote: "...and here is the finished picture, just 8 minutes by wire..."

Can you imagine how long it would have taken to transmit all of the photos used in just a single edition of a newspaper? Let alone the cumulative time to transmit all of the wire photos in any given paper's archives?