Among the most popular and sought-after of all baseball postcards are those produced by Chicago-based photographer J.D. McCarthy. Like his predecessors George Burke and George Brace, McCarthy had the advantage of a nearby stadium from both the American League (Comiskey Park) and the National League (Wrigley Field). He could take portraits of every player in Major League Baseball, and not only did he supply the pictures to Topps for baseball card sets and to franchises for team-issued press photos, but the players themselves (and fans) could also order postcard versions for autograph requests. Signed examples of McCarthy postcards remain their most valuable collecting sector, and we're pleased to present a McCarthy archive of original negatives, photos, and unsigned/signed postcards in this auction.
Perhaps most interesting in this particular lot are 13 original negatives from the J.D. McCarthy postcard series, in the approximate dimensions of the postcards themselves (3x6), with the distinctive name captioning as part of the negative images. Includes: Ralph Garr (2), Eric Soderholm, Tim Nordbrook, Larry Monroe, Lamar Johnson, Alan Bannister, Mike Colbern, Don Kessinger, Chet Lemon, Glen Rosenbaum, Jorge Orta, Minnie Minoso (2). All are in a handwritten envelope with the names and "White Sox / 1975."
There are also eight 1965 Pirates-Cubs color photos (3-1/2"-square, paper residue on left sides) with matching negatives, as well as fourteen 1957 New York Giants b/w photo pairs (4"-square, two poses per player) with matching negatives and handwritten caption sleeves.
Finally we have a handful of additional unidentified loose negatives.
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