Info requested on 1890's cabinet card

[scooter729]

OK, well, I guess I should have done some Google searching first. I just discovered the same card (with the same writing) but with another studio mount. The image is small and doesn't link to anything to help, but I found this interesting....

At least it confirmed for me that the writing is NOT on this card itself.

Now, anyone with any more info?

[rhettyeakley]

Looks like a badly made reproduction of an original Elmer Chickering cabinet known from the Library of Congress collection. The writing was fountain pen on the original cabinet which on subsequent copies would "appear" to be part of the image.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collecti...em/2008678935/

Pretty easy to "make" these by taking a reproduction image of the player photo and pasting them on an original cabinet mount.

Just as an FYI very rarely are you going to find a Boston National League (for example) players cabinet card like this on a non-Boston photographers mount. The exceptions would be from a city of an opposing team (the Boston team was in New York so they got their photos there) or sometimes a player being photographed at a studio near where they lived but the cities on those two Allen mounts make no sense and are 100% fakes. Usually the city the photographer was in makes sense with the given subject matter.

[scooter729]

Thanks Rhett - that is great info! The LOC image clinches it for sure. I thought something seemed up with this but couldn't quite put my finger on it, so your comments were extremely helpful so I can avoid being stuck with this copy.

Much appreciated!

[GregMitch34]

Not sure if relevant but I recently picked up this Cabinet of Boston Beaneater, Tom Gunning. In this case, it's a Boston studio--they have it labeled circa 1888 but must be earlier as he only played in Boston 1882-1886. I see no record of existence of any other example of this cabinet--or the photo studio. Would seem odd that no other Beaneater had it done there? Or did players just do it on their own and this could even be old Tom's only copy? Interesting to speculate...
http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1387511386

[spec]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Not sure if relevant but I recently picked up this Cabinet of Boston Beaneater, Tom Gunning. In this case, it's a Boston studio--they have it labeled circa 1888 but must be earlier as he only played in Boston 1882-1886. I see no record of existence of any other example of this cabinet--or the photo studio. Would seem odd that no other Beaneater had it done there? Or did players just do it on their own and this could even be old Tom's only copy? Interesting to speculate...
http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1387511386

Greg,
Over many years of baseball research in Boston, I never encountered anything indicating this studio photographed baseball players. In this period, Hastings, Waldon Smith, Conly and Gray were often mentioned in connection with the teams. However, there were many photographers in Boston and I suspect Gunning chose Pepper for this personal portrait. If you Google A.F. Pepper, you will find other cabinet photos with his imprint. As for the time frame, Gunning was from the Boston area (born in Newmarket, NH; attended Boston College and Holy Cross in Worcester, and after completing med school at the University of Pennsylvania practice for many years in nearby Fall River, MA. Thus, he might have had this photo taken by Pepper any time between 1880 and 1900. Nonetheless, it was a nice pickup. How did you happen to spot it and make the connection to baseball?
Bo.b Rich.ardson

[GregMitch34]

Thanks for that info on Gunning. Very interesting. Not sure how or why SGC labeled it "circa 1888." His baseball career ended around then so maybe they took that as a safe point. The front and back are very clean except for faint handwritten "Tom Gunning" on reverse, which could has been done back then or later. I spotted it just searching for SGC things closing on a certain day and there it was.

[drcy]

My off hand guess is the first is a fake, in part as I've seen reprints of that same image.

Though it isn't impossible for a player to be photographed in another city, in particular if it's a city in the same league. A city's photographer was sometimes responsible for photographing players in the entire league, photographing visitors as the came through. Red Wing is a bit obscure-- though I've been there! Home of Red Wing Shoes. For a legitimate photo, big city Minneapolis or St. Paul would make more sense.

Examine the player image with a very strong magnifying glass. If you see multi color dots, it's a reprint. The cardboard mount itself could be antique.