Dodgers Blue Heaven: Vintage Dodger Pics at RMY Auctions - Ebbets Field, A Cuban Ballfield and Uncle Robbie

Monday, March 02, 2015

Vintage Dodger Pics at RMY Auctions - Ebbets Field, A Cuban Ballfield and Uncle Robbie

Vintage photographs are all the rage. They have become widely collected over the past several years; with some examples selling for thousands of dollars. Of course, most photographs do not usually sell for those kind of lofty numbers, so it really has become a perfect avenue for a collector to travel if they are budget conscious. After all, you can pick up an period old-tyme Hall of Famer for a fraction of what a Baseball card would sell for. And when you consider the uniqueness and scarcity of most examples you realize that they are true steals.

On a side note, vintage photo collecting is not just relegated to the sports nut. As evidenced by the recently closed Disneyland auction at Van Eaton Galleries, both professional and visitor taken photographs sold for huge dollars. Like, an unbelievable amount of money. A buddy of mine, who's a huge Disney freak, laid down some serious dough for a group of visitor taken photographs that has me shocked. BTW, my favorite item at this auction was an original Tiki Room "Tiki Bird" that sold for over $150k. Check out a story about that closed sale here. You can also take a look at the original catalog here.

Now back to the Dodgers. RMY Auctions has a current auction up and running that includes several great vintage Dodger photographs. Check out my favorites below. Go the RMY's auction here to see what else is available.

This photo isn't necessarily about Baseball or the Dodgers. Instead, it features a strange ritual being performed on the Ebbets Field diamond in 1927. Per the auction description, the large group being shown are participating in an college "Rush" activity for Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. What I find fascinating about the photo is the placement of the goal post. As you may now, the stadium hosted the Brooklyn Dodger football club.

Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute

(Auction Link)

With Spring Training currently in full swing this next photo was a must to share. Shown below is a 1942 ACME press photo of the Brooklyn Dodgers practicing on an Havana, Cuba ballfield.

(Auction Link)

This next photograph is fantastic. Here is a 1927 ACME press photo of the boys wishing the beloved manager Wilbert "Uncle Robbie" Robinson a happy birthday. Per the caption attached to the reverse:

As luck would have it, the Brooklyn Dodgers had to be out of town when "Uncle Robbie's" birthday came round on the calendar, but that did not prevent them from pulling a fast one, nearly mobbing "Uncle Robbie" in their frantic attempts to give him sixty three wallops on the back in honor of his birthday.