Hey guys,

I just picked up this photo today in an estate auction, and since you guys nailed the other Indiana U. photo to the tee, I wanted to pick your brains on this one. The photo is in a great period frame that is cloth covered, and has great oxidized back boards with square nails. I took the photo out to scan it and photograph it, and the back has a photographer stamp of JW Hubley of Lancaster PA. The photo measures about 14 x 11 inches, and is mounted on a stiff board. The players are wearing big style jerseys with LANC on the front, and sport ring bats, etc. One of my favorite parts of the photo is the great handdone? tinting to the grass in the forefront. Based on comparing the photo including the board, frame, etc, to others I've dealt with, I was thinking of the date on this one to mid 1880s, but I am not sure what to make of the catchers mask - i don't know much about the types of 19th century masks. It is difficult to see in the scan/photos but one of the players wearing a workman style glove, and the player next to him is wearing a fingerless glove. If my dating is correct, there are 3 teams this photo could be, and I am hoping the Lancaster historical society could help me narrow it down. It could be the Lancaster Lancasters who played in the Keystone Association in 1884, Lancaster Ironsides who played in the
Eastern League in 1884, or the Lancasters again who played in the Eastern League in 1885. Any thoughts to my dating of this photo?

keith,
check out this auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/Lancaster-County-PA-Collection-17-titles-CD_W0QQitemZ320241507471QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20926QQcmdZViewItem
under the 6) Industrial and Commercial Resources of Pennsylvania (Historical Publishing Company, 1886, 122 pages), jw hubley is listed for lancaster. i dont know if this helps but it at least tells you that he was active in the area in the late 1880's.

Thanks for the link J,
I have emailed their historical society and hope to hear back. I know the auctioneer that sold the photo had talked to them before the sale, and they requested a scan of it for their archives, so I think I might get some good assistance from them.

I think mid-late 1880's is correct. You have tremendous luck at finding these types of photos Keith. I envy you.

Killer photo Keith. I'd say early 1880's. I dont know who on this board posted it but I remember reading someone's posting where they stated 'rings on the center of the bat- 1880's. Rings on the end- 1890's.' Easy way to date photos from this era and seems to pretty much always hold true. So that would put it in the 1880's and with a fingerless glove in the image, leads me to believe its early in the decade.

Thanks Dan and Brock. That is a nice tip regarding the placement of rings on ringbats, I never realized that before. The historical society got back to me and the photographer was in business from 1866 to 1888, so I believe it to be one of those 3 teams from the '84 to '85 era. There were some major leaguer on those clubs, so I hope to be able to get a definite team identity with some further research.

I don't think the historical society will be able to help me out with Id'ing this squad as they don't have any photos in their archives. In my research, I found that the 1884 Baltimore Monumentals of the short lived Union Association moved to Lancaster midway through the 1884 season, to become the Lancaster Ironsides. One of the players who played for the Monumentals in 1884 was W. G. "Yank" Robinson, who went on to play for the St Louis Browns with Comiskey from 1885 to 1889. What do you guys think about the possible photomatch of one of Yank Robinson's Old Judge cards with the player laying on the left forefront of the photo?

Looks like the two have the same shaped head and face. Noses really look alike to me as well, and both have the same 'boy-ish' look. I'd give a thumbs up for a positive photo match.

I dont know what it is about that photo but the more I look at it the more I like it. Maybe its the hand tinting of the grass or the great assortment of equipment but there is just something very attractive about that photo. Congrats again on the great find Keith.