7 years of collecting vintage photos pays off
 

Nearly 7 years ago (March 15 2012) I started the following thread about vintage photos asking for assistance to learn more.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=148848

Since then I have gotten a nice little collection mainly, but not exclusively, using RMY auctions. Most of the photos are of Major League baseball, but do have some Negro Leagues, Forgeign Leagues, and Females playing sports.
Then even outside of sports I have obtained some WW2, Pop culture, and aviation photos.

My 8 year old daughter came in to spend time with me and knowing she was willing to pass the time looking at cards with me but ultimately had no interest I pulled out a binder of photos. The photos are in order by date. So as we were going I was able to show her and discuss the ramifications of slavery and segregation. I was able to show her the early photos didn't have "dark skinned" and "light skinned" people in the same photos. Then even more so that women and men typically didn't play the sport together outside of some small city teams.

Then as we went through the photos she could see Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics standing on the podium and the ramifications for him at the time and Hitler being in charge and what he believed. As well as a photo of Earhart a year later mapping out her flight and explain to her that Earhart never landed on Howland Island.

Then a few photos later she saw my photos of the bombing of pear harbor. This was followed by a few photos of MLB players in Military Uniforms and mixed with photos of women in baseball. Even included is a woman working on an engine with a caption about women taking the roles of men during the war. Then a nice picture of the Invasion of Normandy. Followed by an A-Bomb test and a VE Day celebration.

Then she started seeing Satchel Paige, Campanella, J. Robinson, Elston Howard and Monte Irvin playing alongside "lighter skinned" players.

I was then able to show her some photos of people like Neil Armstrong, whom she was excited to see, because she had heard of him but didn't know what he looked like. I also have a photo of Billie Jean King and was explain what she did to try and pave a way for women in sports.

Overall it was great to be able to discuss nearly 70 years (with a lot more focus in the 30s and 40s) with her and she was enthralled the entire time because there were visuals for her to really link it all together. She understandably confused as to why anyone would not allow someone else to play the same sport with them just because of their shade of skin. She also was really excited to connect some of the stuff to things she already had learned about (like when WW2 came up she recognized that because of a book on F.D.R. she read, though didn't know more than him being a president at the time).

She was excited to share all this new knowledge with her mom. Even though my photos were baseball heavy, I could explain how the history of the time had effects on the game. Photos were able to connect her to specific things in history more than any baseball card had done before.

Ya know, when I saw the title of this thread, I immediately thought that it was a posting about a super-valuable photo bought on the cheap due to the poster's photo knowledge, and the seller's lack thereof.
I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Some things are much more valuable.

Yes. If you can't share the collection it really has no purpose (which is why I think we like card shows and this forum), but to be able to share it with your own offspring and use it to teach them history. It is priceless.

Awesome post, Andy. Very cool! :)

Great story, Andy.
Nothing better than sharing a connection with our young daughters.
Well done.

As a father of two daughters, I can share your enthusiasm. Doing things like you've described will bring you more joy than you can imagine today, and it will come back to you in spades. I know because mine are both in their 20's, and we constantly talk about all things sports, life, school, etc. It's something I've never had with my own father.
Today, I'm fortunate because they still go to games and card shows with me, along with many other activities.

Enjoy every moment of the journey.

Outstanding!

As a history teacher....I think it is a fantastic way to share history! To be able to share with your child...it is something that can’t ever be taken away! I was able to do similar things with my son through collecting. Nice thing about it as you purchase more photos I bet it will be easy to share them with your daughter!