The Game That Was - The George Brace Baseball Photo Collection

[gregr2]

As an amateur photographer I have fallen in love with the older baseball pictures. I've found some incredible George Burke and George Brace photos on Ebay. After doing some research I came across this book. I picked it up used on Amazon for $1.27 plus $3.00 shipping, hardcover and 246 pages!! What an incredible deal!! I received the book yesterday and have been perusing it ever since. The pictures are truly amazing!

So that being said I've decided to narrow my focus to collecting George Burke and George Brace HOF autographed pictures. Just wanted to share...

My scanner is not big enough to scan the entire cover.

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[johnmh71]

I picked up an autographed copy from a board member. Excellent book if you enjoy photography from that era.

[thecatspajamas]

Agreed! Excellent book, and an excellent choice for collecting focus. I've done a fair bit of research and study on George Burke, coming at it from the photography angle moreso than autographs, and have found this book to be the most helpful in terms of background on both Burke and Brace of any out there. And it's sure got some purty pictures in it too! Highly recommended, especially at that price!

[gregr2]

Great book, I agree. And the price was fantastic.

So I've been told that Jim Rowe produced a bunch of postcards in the 60s and 70s that were done from Burke/Brace negatives. I was really hoping to keep my focus on Burke/Brace autographed originals. Is there any way of knowing which photographs would be originals as opposed to reprints?

[thecatspajamas]

Telling Burke from Rowe is easy: just look for Burke's stamp on the back. Telling a George Brace PC from a Jim Rowe PC can be a little trickier, as both primarily used the same RPPC stock with the Kodak pre-printed divided back. Often Rowe's prints will look light or faded and generally don't have the sharp contrast that Brace's restrikes do, but many are virtually indistinguishable until you've seen enough of them to recognize Brace's handwriting on the back vs. Rowe's. Generally-speaking though, whether the postcard was produced by Brace (after Burke's death) or Rowe doesn't have much effect on the value or desirability (speaking of Brace vs. Rowe), as both were producing restrikes from Burke's original negatives. Unlike Rowe, Brace did continue to take his own photos, so for shots from the 1950's or later, Brace's would be more desirable as Rowe does not appear to have been a photographer himself and was limited by what source material he could find (he REALLY lucked out getting his hands on so many of Burke's original negatives to work from).

Burke vs. Brace or Burke vs. Rowe is altogether different though, and signed original Burke photos (with Burke's stamp on the back) are much more expensive and tough to come by, especially if you're limiting your focus to HOFers.

[gregr2]

Great information, thank you!!

So I may limited myself unnecessarily going with Burke HOFers. I think I will still try to find as many Burke signed HOFers as possible but I'll have to be open to Brace/Rowe HOFers as well.

[bluejay4eva34]

Originally Posted by gregr2

As an amateur photographer I have fallen in love with the older baseball pictures. I've found some incredible George Burke and George Brace photos on Ebay. After doing some research I came across this book. I picked it up used on Amazon for $1.27 plus $3.00 shipping, hardcover and 246 pages!! What an incredible deal!! I received the book yesterday and have been perusing it ever since. The pictures are truly amazing!

So that being said I've decided to narrow my focus to collecting George Burke and George Brace HOF autographed pictures. Just wanted to share...

My scanner is not big enough to scan the entire cover.

Attachment 128719

Hello,
My name is Ian Jefferson and I'm the son of former Major League pitched the late Mr. Jesse Jefferson....would there be any photos of my father in this book? I believe mr brace may have taken some photos of my father when he was with the White Sox from '75-'76..Thanks

[whitehse]

Originally Posted by bluejay4eva34

Hello,
My name is Ian Jefferson and I'm the son of former Major League pitched the late Mr. Jesse Jefferson....would there be any photos of my father in this book? I believe mr brace may have taken some photos of my father when he was with the White Sox from '75-'76..Thanks

I dont think there is any doubt Mr. Brace took photos of your father but not sure they would be in this book. I used to work at Wrigley Field and had a chance to not only talk to Mr. Brace a large number of times but also watched him work. Mr. Brace would arrive early and wait for the players to emerge from the clubhouse. He always seemed to know who was new to the team (usually a minor league call up) or who had changed uniforms with a new team and sought those players out for photos. I dont believe he ever missed a player when it came to getting autos. I asked him once why he felt the need to have a shot of each player in their new uniform and he said he would sell photos to the players and families and they always wanted current photos on their new uniforms. Mr. Brace said he made a decent living selling photos to players and their families alone.

I knew that Brace's daughter had continued selling photos from his photo collection but I am not sure if she is still doing that. There used to be a web site for his work but I see that it does not seem to be active any more. Maybe some of the photo experts here have an idea as to what happened with the Brace collection. I would also suggest contacting the Hall of Fame for photos of your father. They have a extensive collection.

[thecatspajamas]

The book focuses on the 1930's-40's, the years that Brace was working with photographer George Burke, with perhaps a few shots from the 1950's. There are no color photos in the book, and Brace shot almost exclusively in color from about 1960 on, so I'm pretty sure your father is not pictured in it (after typing that, I double-checked the index to be absolutely sure, and he is definitely not in there).

Mary Brace did indeed continue to operate the business as George's health waned and after his death in 2002, but sold the entire archive and any rights to the photos that she retained to John Rogers in 2012. If Brace took photos of your father (and I'm sure he did), that is where they reside now. Rogers' group has since sold off a lot of the Burke negatives, but I don't think they've dipped into Brace's "color years" (1960+) yet.

Attached are a handful of images I have of your father in his White Sox uniform (first 2 are 1975, last 2 are 1976) for your viewing pleasure. I don't think any are of sufficient resolution to produce a good print, but if you would like the jpg files, pm me your e-mail and I'll be glad to send them over.

[gregr2]

Very nice gesture Lance!

[bluejay4eva34]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

The book focuses on the 1930's-40's, the years that Brace was working with photographer George Burke, with perhaps a few shots from the 1950's. There are no color photos in the book, and Brace shot almost exclusively in color from about 1960 on, so I'm pretty sure your father is not pictured in it (after typing that, I double-checked the index to be absolutely sure, and he is definitely not in there).

Mary Brace did indeed continue to operate the business as George's health waned and after his death in 2002, but sold the entire archive and any rights to the photos that she retained to John Rogers in 2012. If Brace took photos of your father (and I'm sure he did), that is where they reside now. Rogers' group has since sold off a lot of the Burke negatives, but I don't think they've dipped into Brace's "color years" (1960+) yet.

Attached are a handful of images I have of your father in his White Sox uniform (first 2 are 1975, last 2 are 1976) for your viewing pleasure. I don't think any are of sufficient resolution to produce a good print, but if you would like the jpg files, pm me your e-mail and I'll be glad to send them over.

These are great thank you..I'm always looking for images I've never seen before...I really appreciate this.