1947 Mabley & Carew Boys Shops- Photo Cards

[fkw]

Hi, back is similar....
but I believe the ca.1939 Weber was a bit smaller, I believe 2.5" by 3.5" (modern card size).

PS. I think Leon has it now too

[paul]

Several of these were on ebay a couple of months ago. The seller listed them as being from various years -- some from 1947, some 1948, and some 1949. For some years, he had the original folder that they came in, which included a schedule or some other indication of date. If I remember correctly, he didn't have that kind of confirmation for the 1949s, but for some reason seemed confident of the date.

[glenv]

Supposedly I have Mableys from '47, '48, '49, and '51. Not sure how to date them, unless they come with the folder. Below are scans of the '47, '48, & '51 folders, which confirms that Mabley issued cards in those years. It would only seem logical that they gave out cards in '49 & '50 (and maybe other years too), but I haven't seen folders for any other years. There are lots of Reds photos in different sizes. Does anyone have more information on which were Mableys, team issues, or something else? Or how to determine the year of issue?

47Mabley_sm.jpg 48Mabley_sm.jpg 51Mabley_sm.jpg

[Chris-Counts]

A surprising number of these photos ended up on other baseball cards. Here are two from the '49 set that ended up in the 1950 Bowman set ...

[Chris-Counts]

And here's another ...

[Bob Lemke]

We'll be adding several more of the Mabley & Carew sets to the 2011 Standard Catalog.

[Chris-Counts]

I've recently picked up a few more '30s and '40s Reds photos, so I decided to put them side by side and compare them. All but the Kiki Cuyler have the same words on the back as the previously displayed Mabley and Carew photos. The Cuyler is definitely from 1935; the Hank Gowdy is likely 1939 (see the patch on his shoulder); the photo of Eric Tipton was likely issued in 1944 or 1945; and the last image is a Mabley and Carew of Kent Peterson that was sold as a 1949 issue. While the size varies from year to year, it is my belief these photos likely came from the same source and that Mabley and Carew simply inserted them into its folders. In another thread, Frank Wakefield said he believes the photos came from Quality Photo Shop, which was located on Vine Street in Cincinnati and issued photos like these during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Until I hear or see anything more compelling, I'm going to go with Frank's explanation. As for their value, I find it hard to believe that any of these should be worth significantly more or less than any of the others, although I see the Mabley and Carew cards on occasion with some pretty big price tags on them ...