Star BB Club CdV

[h2oya311]

The stars are upside down in David's image, but right side up in Jay's. I think they are different teams, personally. Plus the issue with the pants. Just my observation, but I love the image(s)...

[sago]

I think the mountains in the background rule out Brooklyn. It looks as if the photos were taken at a quarry or mine of some sort.

[oldjudge]

Interestingly, if you look between the fourth and fifth players there appears to be a policeman on the "field" level. I agree that it looks like a quarry or an open pit mine that possibly was smoothed out to use as a field. The factory and other buildings on the upper level might have been used to process what came from the most mine. I know that limestone and coal came from the area. It doesn't look like coal though.

[oldjudge]

After a little research the building on the upper level looks similar to some images I have found of a smelter. Virden, IL was a mining area, but for only coal, as far as I can tell. Sunbury, PA had coal, but also limestone, and more importantly lead and zinc, both of which are smelted. The picture below is of a smelter. The tall smokestack is what struck me.

[oldjudge]

Compare it to the CdV

[yoyot1]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

The stars are upside down in David's image, but right side up in Jay's. I think they are different teams, personally. Plus the issue with the pants. Just my observation, but I love the image(s)...

It looks like the 3rd, 6th, and 9th stars are upside down in the CdV as well. Maybe the 1st as well.

[the-illini]

As an Illinois resident Jay, I can tell you that it is likely not Virden. It is just south of the state capital of Springfield and that area would not have a rolling hill of that size like the one you see in the CdV

There was a California CDV that was sold at auction a year or so ago possibly identified as the Eureka Blue Stars ca. 1880's (if memory serves me). I agree with the mining theory as the fans seem to be standing on slag heaps, and the baseball diamond looks like it was strip mined to bedrock, or a good sized cut. Not saying it is California, but it may be another possibility.

Here's the link to the California CDV with players in uniforms. Obviously the players in your photo & this one have different colored ballcaps: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...=183660&page=3

[JustinD]

I did an image search based on the original REA auction in 2008 for this card and really found nothing -

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...2008/1163.html

One nice lead I have is from a very nicely written thesis detailing the Montana Mines leagues called "Joy in Minersville" located here -

http://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/view...10&context=etd

So many teams used the name "stars" in the 1800's it could be close to impossible to locate. However, the reference used in this paper on page 69 is 143 "SC 783, Star Baseball Club Records, Montana Historical Society Archives, Helena Montana."

If you really want to dig, you may want to see if they have any photos for comparison. The name and the fact they were in a mine league is a good start.