1902 Pittsburgh Pirates Team Card

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Lots of good information there, Chris. I think the key to this piece is determining exactly what it is and where it came from. I don't think there is anyone disputing the subject matter.

Yeah, i was trying to figure what it was..theres mention? postcard maybe, photo maybe? then i found it could be a newspaper suplement just based on other team photos and to find the cut off border and found what it was---which i did find

[pawpawdiv9]

Info Update from Greg S,
Back in 2013, after Chris bumped this thread, I made efforts to establish the purpose of the photo and got nowhere despite help from two libraries in Pittsburgh as well as an archivist at the Hall of Fame.



It was not until the last REA auction where I noticed the same image used for a 1903 supplement from the Pittsburg Gazette, https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=50959. Now that I had the purpose of the photo it provided me just enough motivation to find out the identity of the photographer. Someone from REA provided me with a close up of the signature however as you can see when the Gazette went to print they cropped the bottom half of the name.



Over the following weeks I reached out directly and indirectly to several hobby photo experts who were not able to provide any help in my endeavor. I went back to the Hall of Fame and a research library at the University of Pittsburgh hoping that knowing the purpose of the photo would give them enough info to help me identify the photographer. Neither could help me with an id but the library was certain he was not a Gazette photographer.



Over the last 2 days I decided to start looking through Yahoo and Google at other studio photos of the team from 1901 to 1904. I found two photos that appeared to have been shot in the same studio and had full signatures however they were not 100% clear. http://www.hardwickfamily.com/storie...pi/1901team-2/ and the other on Pinterest . The signature either appeared to be D’Rosset or D. Rosser. In an earlier REA auction, Rob had another 1901 Pittsburg team photo, http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...-honus-wagner/ in which he could not make out the signature but he stated it appeared to be D’Rouse.



In searching deeper I found reference in several publications from the early 1900s referring to a local Pittsburgh photographer by the name of David Rosser. I also found a mention of D. Rosser by Peter Nash in his book, Boston’s Royal Rooters. . Eventually my digging found an entry in the Library of Congress’ Catalogue of Copyright Entries, https://books.google.com/books?id=Hv...201901&f=false.



And thanks to Barbara Langdon of Langdonroad.com, who was able to confirm an address for Rosser:

Rosser, D & Co, photo 347 5th av, D Rosser, H O. Baird, (1902) Polk's Pittsburgh and Allegheny Directory

Rosser, David of D Rosser & Co, 347 5th av, h Knoxville, PA (1902) Polk's Pittsburgh and Allegheny Directory



David Rosser died on 1/1/21 at 52 years old

Actual Photo (from Greg S.)




***All this updated Information was Provided by Greg S. *********

[BeanTown]

Chris, That is really good research and thanks for updating.

[pawpawdiv9]

Originally Posted by BeanTown

Chris, That is really good research and thanks for updating.

The thanks goes to Greg S., whom was a fellow board member. He just wanted to include some new info he had and all I did was update on Net54.
It is a tad interesting when you dig into it tho.

[h2oya311]

I was the consignor of the 1902-03 Pittsburgh Gazette Team Supplement that was recently auctioned at REA. I had no idea that there was a 3-1/4" x 5" card that also exists that utilizes this same image.

This is important to the "Earliest image of a HOFer" camp (the few of us that actually care) because it features the earliest image of Barney Dreyfuss. Who cares about those other guys in the image (e.g., Wagner, Chesbro, Clarke)? It's all about Dreyfuss!

Very good info and thanks for bumping this thread back to the top.