Willie Hoppe Early Photo

[aelefson]

Thanks for the try Henry! I have heard stories about some of the crowds in the past. I lucked out this year as a snowstorm kept a lot of regular buyers (and even some dealers) away. I love searching through ephemera and other antique shows as you never know what you will find.

Aside from the Hoppe photo, I found an autographed cabinet photo of the 19th century soprano Nellie Melba (Melba toast was named after her. Yes, it is missing the bottom half but I still thought it was cool to have), 4 B33s (3 basketball and one baseball), and several Boy Scout items (pins and pre 1920 postcards with a 1918 basketball team one scanned below). Below are some additional scans. The best part was the price. I bought the Hoppe, Melba, and a few other items for about 100 dollars, and paid 30 dollars total for the 4 B33s.

[Runscott]

Yes, it's Willie Hoppe. I've seen other copies of the same image before, also mounted as a cabinet. You can find some of my Hoppe photos via the link below.

[aelefson]

Thanks Scott! I am very happy to hear that. You have some really cool photos of Hoppe on your site.

Thanks again,
Alan

[D. Bergin]

Great guys. Maybe I can put this one to bed. Been kicking this around for years. It was originally part of a large boxing collection and identified to me as Willie Hoppe.

I determined it was NOT the boxer named Willie Hoppe. On to the pool/billiard player. It bears a remarkable resemblance but I could never find a decent enough photo of Hoppe from that age bracket (or his left ear at that approximate age) to convince myself for sure that it was him either.

Would love any opinions one way or another. Thanks.

[Runscott]

Not Willie Hoppe the pool player.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Not Willie Hoppe the pool player.

Thanks Scott, I had a feeling and wanted to get a definite NO from someone so I can move on.

I'm pretty sure it must be somebody at least known. It came out of the old Al Grayber mostly boxing and other misc. sports collection of photos and cabinets that was sold off 15 years ago or so.