Matty McIntyre's ca. 1905 Photo Album

[yanks12025]

But why would he write his name and a friend in the one photo and not Me with a friend or the friends name?

[prewarsports]

That was common back then, it was a more formal to refer to yourself in the 3rd person.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

But why would he write his name and a friend in the one photo and not Me with a friend or the friends name?

What Rhys said. There were a lot of conventions back then that seem strange to us now. I have an item that Ray Morehart's wife wrote 'Babe himself' on the front. Another item has 'Walter himself' written on the front, supposedly by Walter Johnson's wife. Seemed weird to me. Actually, I think Walter Johnson wrote it, not Hazel, but that's for another discussion

[slidekellyslide]

The one photo I had with the inscription "My Boy In Detroit" with a 10-12 year old kid with a baseball mitt still has me perplexed though since McIntyre had no children. I guess it could have been just a kid that was like a son to him. Either way the McIntyre signature that you provided is fairly convincing and has me leaning towards the inscriptions being written by McIntrye himself.

[prewarsports]

The slant and letter size/formation are more important than the actual "match" in comparing signatures. 100% that is his signature in white, the comparison is dead on.

[Michael B]

I would have to agree with Rhys on both of his points. First, I could state comfortably that the handwritten identification is in the same hand as the signed team sheet. Consider that the team sheet may have been signed on the quick or standing up so there would be minor anomalies, but the 'M' and 'y' are distinct. Secondly, it is not uncommon for people to use the third person when identifying photos. May people consider that relatives or friends may view a photo album after they have died so they use formal names. I have attached two scans. The first is on the back of a photograph I received in 1990. It was received shortly after Percy Beard, 1932 silver medalist in the 110m hurdles, had died. For the longest time I assumed it was in his wifes hand as she sent it along to me. That was until I picked up a group of index cards that included the second scan. I came to the conclusion that he had some of these presigned and his wife sent them out after he died. These are both in my Olympic signature database as his signature. I maintain a database of all Olympic signatures that pass through my hands, whether for keeping or selling.

Cheers,

Michael

[Runscott]

So it's okay to check off the outfield from my '1909 Tigers starting line-up' autograph collection? (Small images because I have to fit in 6 more )

[ser1979]

Picked this photo up the other day and ran across this thread while I was doing some research. Photo came from the McIntyre photo album and shows 12 people in the picture. 11 player and the 12th is the head coach of the Tigers. The team is getting ready to board a boat and head to Cuba.