Original or Repro? Lajoie Red Devil Tobacco Poster

[Bumpus Jones]

Can anyone tell me if this is real or not? Measures 10" x 15". Thanks.

[MGHPro]

doesn't look good to me.
Matt

[JMEnglish27]

Originally Posted by MGHPro

doesn't look good to me.
Matt

Not at all disputing, but how can you tell? What stands out to you?

[William Farrell]

This type of piece really has to be examined in-hand. The thickness, the number of sandwiched layers, or plys, of the poster, magnification of the printing, etc.

A scan from one perspective alone, such as this, should not serve as definitive evidence for or against authenticity.

The majority of mono-chromatic inked, paper collectibles have this in common. Some, like the Homogenized Bond cards and TCMA minor league cards have been knocked off so many times that a knowledge of and in hand examination of the paper is essential for a determination.

[sporteq]

Looks like a fake. Overall condition looks to good to be true, mainly the surface. I personally don't like the sheen that comes off the text. IMO its a fantacy piece.

Albert

[William Farrell]

Originally Posted by sporteq

Looks like a fake. Overall condition looks to good to be true, mainly the surface. I personally don't like the sheen that comes off this poster. IMO its a fantacy piece.

Albert

Could very well be, Albert, and that's my first inclination too, but I see enough there to not completely eliminate it from possibly being genuine pending confirmation by physical examination, for which there's no substitute on a piece like this to really dial in on an opinion.

[William Farrell]

Originally Posted by Bumpus Jones

Can anyone tell me if this is real or not? Measures 10" x 15". Thanks.

Bumpus, is there any background story to this piece?

[murphusa]

Common poster which first popped up on ebay and the flea markets in 2006. Can be punched in bundles of 100 for $259.00 at northeast repo wholesalers

[William Farrell]

Originally Posted by murphusa

Common poster which first popped up on ebay and the flea markets in 2006. Can be punched in bundles of 100 for $259.00 at northeast repo wholesalers

Not surprising. Every valuable black and white or sepia and white paper sports collectible from cards to posters, post cards to exhibit cards, etc, seems to have been knocked off en masse at one time or another.

What's different about this is that they used a multi-ply material instead of the usual one to two plys.

[drcy]

On these types of things, take a 20x+ loupe or magnifying glass and examine the text. If the edge of the text has a thin dark rim around the edge, that is consistent with vintage letterpress printing. Without going into the print technicals, vintage letterpress involving pressing the ink so that there would be a dark rim at the edge where the ink was pressed to. The rim is not seen with the naked eye, but is usually clear under good magnification. Modern lithography and computer prints won't have the rim.

Simpler things to look for are that antique prints (and photos) tend to be bone dry and often pass the musty smell test.

[murphusa]

Great segment last week on 60 minutes on art forgeries. It shows what someone will do to deceive

[murphusa]

Originally Posted by murphusa

Common poster which first popped up on ebay and the flea markets in 2006. Can be punched in bundles of 100 for $259.00 at northeast repo wholesalers

The source for this and other Lajoie posters, tins etc were the Lajoie Baseball Guides. They were published 1906, 1907 and 1908.

All of the advertisements in the guides where endorsements by Lajoie.

You can find out more and see the original examples of the ad pages here

http://baseballhistorydaily.com/2014...heptol-splits/

http://baseballhistorydaily.com/2013...aseball-guide/

So when you see there type items, most if not all are just enlargements from some other source with a picture or other stuff added.

The problem we as collectors have is that we want these things just like the farm tool handle bats, to be real especially after we buy them

[steve B]

Great advice from drcy. Handling old things that are similar gives a feel for what's old and what's not. Add a bit of simple technology like a good magnifier and a cheap blacklight and you can figure out a lot of things.

Learning what different sorts of printing look like up close is very useful. In another hobby it can show the difference between fake, real but cheap, and rather expensive. (Or real but altered.)

Steve B