Cabinet Card Photo Identification Help Needed

[robertsmithnocure]

I am interested to see who the identified players are.

How do we know that they are baseball players? Is there any provenance for these cabinets? Were they part of a newspaper archive of some sort, or just pieced together over time?

Why does it seem like so many of these players always pictured in their street clothes? You would think that baseball players would generally be pictured in their uniforms unless the image was taken for personal/familial reasons.

[rjackson44]

Lets get the rocket scientist that sold these on ebay and was 100 pct they photo matched. These seem like old photos of family members. Value $3 to $ 5 each ..

[bgar3]

Since I can easily identify McAleer in the first 5, I have no doubt the other 4 are also ballplayers and not some supposed photo matched ebayers dream. As for the remainder, the poster has no idea who they are and if they are even associated with baseball because he has said so himself. I should be able to identify even more of the first 5 than McAleer, but I do believe the poster they are all players. I would happily pay $3 to $5 for any of the first 5 if anyone has any😁
Where are the identifications of the first 5, I can’t seem to find them in the post?

[nolemmings]

The first unidentified looks a little like Will Smalley, although I have only seen the Baseball ref pic of him and since he died so young, there are probably not a lot of pics to compare. If so that would pindown the date of the cabinet to likely late 1890 very early 1891. Jimmy McAleer is spot on and the others look to be as identified also.

[pro9]

Wow, I did not expect such rancor. Now I remember why I post so rarely on this forum even though I started the forum back in 2001.

I did not post the names of the players that I have identified because I thought that others might enjoy trying to recognize them on their own. Since some of you seem obsessed with who they are: Top Left is Ed Cartwright, Top Right is Tom Brown, Middle Left is Hardy Richardson, Middle Right is Jack McGeachy.

As one poster pointed out I readily admit that the other 6 might or might not be associated with baseball, but there is a better than random chance that they are since they were found together with the other 5. In any event I am not selling any of the 11.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by pro9

Wow, I did not expect such rancor. Now I remember why I post so rarely on this forum even though I started the forum back in 2001.

I did not post the names of the players that I have identified because I thought that others might enjoy trying to recognize them on their own. Since some of you seem obsessed with who they are: Top Left is Ed Cartwright, Top Right is Tom Brown, Middle Left is Hardy Richardson, Middle Right is Jack McGeachy.

As one poster pointed out I readily admit that the other 6 might or might not be associated with baseball, but there is a better than random chance that they are since they were found together with the other 5. In any event I am not selling any of the 11.

There's a difference between rancor and an honest question.

[nolemmings]

A rather odd assemblage of players. As for Smalley, allow my imagination to run wild. Since McAleer was from Youngstown, maybe Smalley was staying with McAleer briefly after the 1890 season and they went to the photographer together (he was only 19)? According to at least one press account from Oct 1890, Smalley, McAleer and Tebeau were slated to play in California next season. McAleer’s brother was a bigwig out there, so perhaps Smalley was just hanging with him after the 1890 season ended (although Smalley was a California native so likely would have not problem with the move). Many of the cabinets show the subjects to be dressed in colder weather clothing, which would make sense if they sat for the photos during the off-season. Even though none of the three would play in California in 1891, their futures were abit uncertain, since McAleer and Tebeau were both leaving the failed Player’s League after 1890 and the teenage Smalley could have been homesick.

[pro9]

In answer to the question about why so many ballplayers are pictured in suits rather than in uniform.
In the 19th century getting your photo taken was quite a big deal. It was expensive and a special occasion. People got dressed up in all of their finery for the photo. So, baseball players the same as the general public got dressed up in their best suit for the photo. Similiarly even in the 1950's and '60's people used to put on a suit and tie to go to a baseball game compared to today. The world has changed.

[autograf]

Eliot (OP) is a VERY advanced cabinet collector and I understand his hesitancy to come back here for sure. And, as he said, he started this forum before Leon took it over.

Anyway, I don't have much to add on the ID of them. I think of the ones you can't identify, a couple of the younger men look very familiar to me--especially #2 with the mustache and #4 with the cleft palate. The old dudes I got nothing on. Youngstown is Southeast of Cleveland and West of Pittsburgh, so I'd pursue those two teams for the 19th century guys in #1 and #2. No photographer on #3 and #4 complicates things a little.

Good luck Eliot.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

There's a difference between rancor and an honest question.

Asking what the evidence is for a claim is often considered bad and rancorous for some reason. If the thing is backed by demonstrable evidence, it is, of course, a very easy thing to just show the evidence. But this avenue is not commonly chosen for some reason.