Team Photo Questions

aelefson · #1 04-16-2013, 07:00 AM

Thanks Lance! I will try to post a larger scan this evening. I really appreciate the list as well, as it gives me some opportunities to google.

Alan

thecatspajamas · #2 04-16-2013, 06:41 PM

If you can make out any letter(s) on any of their caps, that can be very helpful as well.

Butch7999 · #3 04-18-2013, 10:40 AM

We're finding this one inexplicably intriguing and we were hoping for faster progress in solving it. Seems like there's an abundance of clues in that photo...

Lance's list of minor-league Cubs is of great assistance.

The unis definitely look late 1940s to mid/late 1950s, as does what appears to be a short-sleeved shirt with a two-tone collar worn by the guy in the middle --
so perhaps, at least to start, the pre-war and post-'50s Cubs can be eliminated as candidates, reducing the list from 67 to 25:

Carthage, MO: 1949-51
Centralia, IL: 1947-49
Clinton, IA: 1947-48
Davenport, IA: 1946-47
Drummondville, Que: 1950-52
Elizabethton, TN: 1945, 1948
Erwin, TN: 1943-44
Fayetteville, NC: 1946-48
Franklin, VA: 1948
Hutchinson, KN: 1946-48
Iola, KN: 1946-47
Janesville, WI: 1941-42, 1946-53
Lumberton, NC: 1947-48
Marion, OH: 1944, 1947-48
Morristown, TN: 1959-61
Moultrie, GA: 1950
Ponca City, OK: 1955-57
Portsmouth, VA: 1936-52
Pulaski, TN: 1957-58
Selma, AL: 1948
Shelby, NC: 1946
Springfield, MA: 1948-53
Springfield, MO: 1948, 1950
Statesville, NC: 1945-46
Visalia, CA: 1946-52, 1954-56.

A birdhouse hangs prominently in the foreground. It looks to be built for purple martins, and we hoped that might be a clue. Unfortunately for the purposes of
this investigation, martins range over almost the entire continental US except for the northern stretches of the Rockies, so that doesn't narrow the list down any further.

The building behind the team is certainly distinctive. What is it -- a factory? A school? Corporate offices? There's something at the far left alongside
or attached to the building -- free-form sculpture? Some kind of Rube Goldberg air-conditioning unit?

Given the manicured lawn, the arbor, the birdhouse, and possibly a sculpture, the pic may have been snapped at a college, and the building should
still be recognizable. Unfortunately again, we'd bet there's a college in all but one or two of those towns, and it also opens up the possibility
of a college team called Cubs...

Looking forward to blow-ups of the photo...

mybestbretts · #4 04-18-2013, 02:31 PM

If those are bars on the windows could it be a penitentiary?

aelefson · #5 04-18-2013, 09:05 PM

Hi-
Thank you very much for everyone's help so far! I rescanned it at 400dpi and am using imgur to host it. Unfortunately, the hats were colred in red at some point, so details there are minimal. Please let me know if you need better scans. I really appreciate all of the help so far!
Alan

Butch7999 · #6 04-19-2013, 12:22 PM

Thanks, Alan -- well, we can see now that those are pretty surely not college boys, so that rules that thought out...

bretts, good thought, the closer look does make it appear those are bars and not just architectural decoration, so quite possibly you're right
and it is indeed a prison building... although that seems like rather a lot of windows for a prison, and that lawn with the trees and birdhouse and all
seems a little pastoral for a prison setting... We still think identifying the building will be key to any possible identification of the team...

The "free-form sculpture" can now be clearly seen to be some sort of boiler/ventilation apparatus. The figure seated at its base might be wearing
prison garb. Or military garb. Or just workman's clothes.

The more we can see, the further away we seem to be getting from a positive ID of anything. Also of note, already apparent in the small pic:
there are only 16 players, which seems a few guys short of a minor pro team, and they're wearing two different styles of uniform. Based just on that,
Alan's original surmise that this was a semi-pro club (or even amateur) seems more likely correct, which means it'll be even harder to pin down...

thecatspajamas · #7 04-19-2013, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Butch7999

bretts, good thought, the closer look does make it appear those are bars and not just architectural decoration, so quite possibly you're right
and it is indeed a prison building... although that seems like rather a lot of windows for a prison, and that lawn with the trees and birdhouse and all
seems a little pastoral for a prison setting... We still think identifying the building will be key to any possible identification of the team...

Perhaps a sanatorium? That would fit better with the many windows (lots of "healing" light), manicured and peaceful grounds, but still a need for bars on the windows.

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