Is this Al Demaree?

[Oldtix]

In 1933, Chicago's WGN radio carried a baseball program called "Big Leaguers and Bushers". This picture of the three principals appeared in the souvenir program for the 1933 Chicago Radio Revue, a charity fund-raiser. I'm trying to determine the identity of the three men.

The guy on the left is WGN program manager Quin Ryan, who handled the mike for the very first broadcast of the Cubs and White Sox (an exhibition game in 1924). I'm pretty sure the man on the right is Bob Elson (based on another profile photo).

I'm particularly interested in the man in the center. I have reason to believe it might be Al Demaree. I haven't found an image of Demaree good enough to confirm it. Help would be appreciated...thanks.

[Bob Lemke]

Demaree would have been 49 years old in 1933.

[Oldtix]

Here's why I'm asking. We know that Demaree went on to become a successful sports cartoonist, and that he drew the images on the famous R304 die-cuts and a few other card sets in the 1930s. The diecuts were produced in 1934 by Dietz Gum, a Chicago-based company. So it's possible Demaree was in the Chicago area around that time.

In 1936, Al Demaree drew a syndicated newspaper comic strip called "Rube Appleberry." I haven't yet found an example of the strip, but since Demaree was primarily a sports cartoonist I am assuming the theme was sports.

I have two c. 1933 Chicago radio premium pictures of a radio personality known as "Rube Appleberry". One, a real photo postcard, is autographed and shows him in a Cubs uniform. The second, a larger picture, shows the same person in a Panthers uniform. The man in the second picture is clearly the same guy shown in the center of the picture in my original post, and I think the guy in the Cubs uniform is the same fellow.

Since Demaree used the name for his comic strip, and since he was working with Dietz....is it possible that Demaree himself portrayed this character? Cubs historians, can you provide any more information on Rube?

[Jacklitsch]

Baseball Reference shows Al as a right hander not a lefty as pictured in the Rube photos.


Al Demaree
Albert Wentworth Demaree

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 170 lb.

[nolemmings]

for comparison:

[bmarlowe1]

Rick - Demaree was a tall thin gaunt looking person. He had a rather long face. The guy in your first photo and the guy in the Panthers uniform may be the same person, and they may have some superficial resemblance to Demaree, but they are not Al Demaree.

[Oldtix]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I will continue the quest to discover Rube's true identity, but it's clear that he's not Demaree!

Rick