Very Early Baseball Player Tintype Image- auction

[Jeffrompa]

1860's for sure . I didn't see that one on auction .

[barrysloate]

Has anyone seen any 1860's baseball image before that had a ballplayer wearing knee high leather boots? I haven't, and I wonder if he actually played wearing those things. If so, he wasn't a base stealer.

[drcy]

Technically speaking, the only error I noticed in the auction is listing when the seller said the paper envelope dated the photo to the 1860s. Paper envelopes existed beyond then.

However, it is an 1860s photos and those may indeed be Civil War pants he's wearing.

And I did notice the boots

[GasHouseGang]

Also, it appears his belt has upside down lettering on it. It looks like P-H-I on the part of the belt that shows on our left of the photo, the subjects right. Maybe Philadelphia?

[benjulmag]

It is an exquisite image IMO well worth the price paid.

[ramram]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

Also, it appears his belt has upside down lettering on it. It looks like P-H-I on the part of the belt that shows on our left of the photo, the subjects right. Maybe Philadelphia?

Any lettering will show up as a "mirror" of the original as with all dag's, ambrotypes and tintypes so I don't believe it is an upside down "PHI". At this early date, the team names would not be expected to reflect the city they are from but instead would reflect their social club name.

Rob M.

[Texxxx]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Has anyone seen any 1860's baseball image before that had a ballplayer wearing knee high leather boots? I haven't, and I wonder if he actually played wearing those things. If so, he wasn't a base stealer.

They may have to share the field with the occasional rattlesnake that went through.