| DATE: 1950s SUBJECTS: George Halas, Wife Mini PHOTOGRAPHER: George Brace APPROXIMATE SIZE: 4"x5" Ansco Supreme Photographic Negative COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is an original negative from the camera of noted baseball photographer George Brace which can still be used to produce prints of unparalleled quality. See scans for further details. Note that the ''positive'' images shown were produced by inverting a digital scan of the negative. Prints developed through a traditional darkroom "wet print" process should yield superior images to those shown here. Upon request, a high-resolution scan of the negative can be provided TO THE WINNER ONLY. This is a service provided for those who wish to enjoy their purchase digitally but do not have a scanner capable of scanning negatives, with no transfer of rights for the image implied. George Stanley Halas was born in 1895 in Chicago, IL and died in 1983 in Chicago, IL. He went to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He played major league baseball for a single season in 12 games in 1919 as outfielder for the New York Yankees. George Halas, better known as a legendary football coach and owner, played one season in the major leagues. He had been a three-sport athlete at the University of Illinois, and after playing minor league ball, came to the majors as an outfielder in 1919. It was the year before Babe Ruth came to the New York Yankees, and the outfield consisted of Ping Bodie, Sammy Vick, and Duffy Lewis. In 22 at-bats, Halas' career batting average was .091. He spent World War I at Great Lakes Naval Training Station; he earned a military discharge by leading the football team to championship. Halas didn't waste any time moving to football. In 1920 he coached the Decatur Staleys, for whom future major leaguer Chuck Dressen played quarterback. The following year the team became the Chicago Bears. He was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and won 324 games as an NFL coach. George Brace was born in 1913 in Chicago, IL and died in June 15, 2002 in Chicago, IL. The longest-running operation of all the great early photographers, George Burke and George Brace covered baseball in one form or another for the better part of the 20th Century. A case of mistaken identity made by the Chicago Cubs resulted in Burke becoming the official photographer for the Chicago Cubs. In 1929, Cubs manager Joe McCarthy and Gabby Hartnett sought out the ballclub's previous photographer. They could only remember his last name, Burke, so they looked him up in the phone book. A listing leapt out at them: studio photographer George C. Burke, whose office was near Wrigley Field. Thus began the baseball photography career of George Burke, who had no prior sports experience whatsoever, and thus ended the career of photographer Francis Burke - the Cubs' time-honored official cameraman and an unwitting victim of mistaken identity. To undertake his new "big league" endeavor, Burke hired the young (age 16) baseball-knowledgeable George Brace as his assistant, and the two soon became a Chicago institution. Ever-present at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park, Burke and Brace shot not only for the Cubs, but also for the White Sox and football's Chicago Bears. They also endeavored to amass a complete portfolio of player portraits - a daunting task made possible by the fact that Chicago was the only city with both an American League and a National League franchise from 1929 all the way until Brace's retirement in 1994. When Burke suffered a heart attack in 1948, Brace carried on the business for several years to offset his partner's medical expenses. Then, upon Burke's death in 1951, Brace reduced his commitment from a job to an all-encompassing hobby. Though no longer their official photographer, he was still allowed full access by the Cubs and Sox organizations, a privelege he would maintain until his death a half-century later. With the exception of time spent in the South Pacific during WWII, Brace attended at least on egame of every home series at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park throughout his entire 65-year career. In 1994, his age finally caught up with him, and worsening eyesight forced his retirement from his long-time labor of love. SKU: GBNHY0209
Item: GBNHY0209
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