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Originally Posted by bbpostcards
For more early material visit http://www.sportingoregon.com . Always buying!
To my knowledge, this 1876 card marks the first time a baseball scene at a true baseball park - Boston's South End Grounds - was used to promote a product, and is the earliest panorama of Boston's South End Grounds.
The engraver is John A. Lowell. He was involved in Boston baseball from the late 1850's forward and was so influential that the Boston Lowells was named after him. The message on the reverse is from the president of the Boston Base Ball Association. As the National League was founded in 1876, this image shows South End Grounds, the home of the Boston Red Caps, in its first year as a professional stadium. The detail is interesting. People peeking over the fence. Fans buying tickets. Men, women, kids, all at the ballgame. American flags adorning the grandstands. View of Boston in the distance. |
AWESOME piece - been collecting baseball trade cards for 30+ years and THIS ONE has always eluded me...very nice card.