Jay Publishing question

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by AustinMike

I recently picked up a Jay's Publishing Yankees photo set that I believe was issued in 1962 based on the players in the set. The reason I got it was because of the Kubek photo which wasn't in the 1962 set I had. When I got them, I noticed they are different from photos in the other 1962 set I have and from the other Yankees Jay sets I have. I have attached copies of the Mantle and Arroyo for comparison. The photos on the right are from the set I already had, the new photos are on the left.

Besides the slight cropping difference, I also noticed the difference in the fonts.

Cropping differences are par for the course for different year sets, so maybe I'm wrong thinking these are both 1962. But the different font has me baffled. Has anyone seen other Jay Publishing sets with a similar, small font with the team name appearing to be in italics?

The fonts changed in 1962. The Arroyo and Mantle on the left are from 1961, the Arroyo and Mantle on the right are from the 1962 set. It was common for Jay's Publishing to reuse photos but with different cropping.

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

The fonts changed in 1962. The Arroyo and Mantle on the left are from 1961, the Arroyo and Mantle on the right are from the 1962 set. It was common for Jay's Publishing to reuse photos but with different cropping.

I love this board. My response by email to Mike previously was, "Uhh, I think they are real." It's amazing how much people know and awesome how much they freely share on here.

[AustinMike]

Thanks for the responses, but I still don't think we've got an answer.

Originally Posted by D.P.Johnson

I was under the impression the Jay Publishing Photos were issued between 1958 and 1962, so that could be why there are different fonts on some of the cards.

According to SCD, the photo packs were issued from 1958 to 1965. However, I think they started earlier. I have a 1957 photo pack that uses the same Mantle photo, with yearly cropping differences, from 1957 to 1960 (see 2nd picture below). I also have a 1956 photo set with a different picture and only "Yankees" and not "New York Yankees" but in the same style (see first picture below). In addition, there are sets with the same style (slightly different dimensions though), but again with only "Yankees" and not "New York Yankees" from 1961 to 1967 (see last picture below).

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

The fonts changed in 1962. The Arroyo and Mantle on the left are from 1961, the Arroyo and Mantle on the right are from the 1962 set. It was common for Jay's Publishing to reuse photos but with different cropping.

Yes, the font did change in 1962. But, the font on the 1961 photo is depicted in the third attached picture. It is the same font as in the earlier years. The font in the later years is depicted in the pictures on the right in the original post and in the attached 4th and 5th pictures which are from 1963 and 1964.

The font in the pictures on the left in the original post are decidedly different from the other fonts. Is this a third font? Was this used after the first font, maybe got complaints, and changed again to the other more common font? If this is the case, it should appear in other team sets other than the Yankees, but only in the 1962 sets.

So I was just curious if any other Jay set collectors, whether they be Yankees or another team, have photos with that font. I'm also curious as to the year of the set if it does have the different font.

[Harford20]

AustinMike,
I have Red Sox team photos from 1957-1962. I believe the 1957-1959 sets I have (mainly for Ted Williams) are likely Team Issue sets as these photos have ONLY the name of the player. They are still 5"x7" and the photo seems to match some later Jay Publishing cards, but I cannot confirm these should be called Jay Publishing Photos. These all have a block format (as noted in the first photo attached).

In late 1959, (at least for the Red Sox), I can confirm Jay Publishing photos as the team name was added. With this, the font also changed. This was consistent from 1959-1961, and then as you noted, the font again changed again in 1962.

I have studied the Pirates and Yankees Jay photos as well (Mantle and Clemente). The "true" Jay Publishing photos have fonts consistent with the Red Sox fonts that I have.

I have to say, I have never seen the font on the photos that you have posted.

Dave

As a quick side note, the Mantle cropping on the 1957-1960 photos is ridiculous. The cropping of these can be easily missed if you are not looking carefully.

[AustinMike]

Dave, thanks for the input! It's interesting to see the difference in how other team sets were issued. I have Yankee photo sets without a team name, but they are team issued sets that are larger than the Jay photos. Is 1957 the first year that the Red Sox issued photo sets? I have a set of Yankees photos that I believe was issued in 1956 but I've also seen sets with the same photos listed on eBay with an issue date of 1955.

[hcv123]

Don't have a scan(s) handy - I have had many Pirate team sets from 1956-1968. Painstakingly researched their year's. Can't contribute right now to op question, but can say the team photos existed from at least 1956. I believe also some of the real early ones - 1956, 57? May have only had the player name on them.

[Harford20]

AustinMike,
The Red Sox started Team issue photos in 1940. These can be found for nearly every year since that time (1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954). These are "Red Sox Photo Packs" and look much different that the "Jay-type" photos. These were usually about 7" x9" in size and sepia tone. Again many of the photos were re-used from year to year. As far as I can find, the Red Sox did not do the Jay-type until 1957 (although it actually may have been late 1956 or pre-season 1957). I have not found much variation within the 1957 set (as for example, there are 4 different combinations of players in the actual 1960 Red Sox Jay Publishing photo packs, as players and even the manager changed in 1960). Below I have posted a 1941 and 1946 Ted from the Photo packs.

Dave

[AustinMike]

Harford20, gotcha. The Yankees also had team sets going back to at least the '40s. I only collect the Yankee team sets from 1951 and after, although the earliest I've found in this time period is a 1953 team issued set.