20" x 16" c1895 basketball team - Is this a colorized photo or an art print?

[murphusa]

his phone number is on the back, give him a call and ask

[marvymelvin]

Even though there are a few guys with 'staches, I think it may be a high school team.

Adrian Michigan has used the name "Maples" for many years, as have Seaholm in Birmingham Michigan, and Maplestown in Greensboro Pennsylvania. I hope this helps.

All of these locations are not too terribly far from MO where the coloring treatment was done. Let me know what you find out. You should ask the person you bought it from where they got it. And then follow it back if you can. This has worked for me on more than one occasion.

Brad in Utah

[Runscott]

Basketball, not soccer

Adults, not high school

Given the above, it might be easier to determine location.

[CarltonHendricks]

Thank all of you for your input and opinions...Especially Mr. Cycleback for clarifying the kind of print it is.

Upon closer inspection of the ball...it appears to have the same seams as a soccer ball...and a piece of round leather trim on the end...looks more like a soccer ball than a basketball...It's a mysterious photo...

[drcy]

My guess is it's basketball. Soccer balls usually had different panel patterns/designs.

[drcy]

It's also possible they were playing an obscure sport we don't know about. Who knows what what was going on all the time in the gym circa 1895. I remember climbing ropes in gym. But my best guess is still basketball.

[murphusa]

Basketball was invented in 1891 by a gym teacher and in the early years they used balls they had around gyms but mainly soccer balls.

You know you can look this stuff up

[vintagesportflips]

Here is an image from an 1894 Spalding guide. The ball shown, and likely being held by the player is an Association ball. It was used for soccer, but as Jim said, early basketball games likely used soccer balls. Also, here is an image of a women's basketball team found via a google search that shows the same style ball.