FRED JOHNSON 1939 Toledo Mud Hens Original 8x10 GEORGE BURKE/NORM PAULSON Photo

SUBJECT: Fred Johnson

COMMENTS / CONDITION: Offered is an approximately 8"x10" vintage original photo of Fred Johnson, pictured in his Toledo Mud Hens uniform circa 1939. The photo was produced by famed baseball photographer George Burke and bears an unusual stamping on the verso. Typically, on photos that were taken by other photographers and then reproduced by George Burke, his stamping would read "Reproduced by George Burke" with his usual 847 Belmont Ave. address below. In this instance, not only does Burke credit the original photographer Norman Paulson (a contemporary of Burke's, which is another unusual aspect as Burke would normally only reproduce the work of earlier photographers to fill gaps in his player photo catalog), but by all appearances also had a stamp made up specifically for this circumstance. This is one of only a handful of instances (all of which I purchased) that I have seen of this particular stamping, though the fact that a stamp was made would imply that more Burke/Paulson reproductions were made. Along with the stamping, the usual typed player's name and filing number used by Burke to keep track of the thousands of baseball player images he captured appear on the verso as well. This photo also bears the stamping of The Sporting News along with an affixed sticker identifying this photo as proceding from the archives of that long-running publication. Original 8''x10'' prints of George Burke's photos are harder to come by than his standard postcard-size prints, with minor league images such as this being particularly rare. This is an original photograph that was developed by Burke in the late 1930's, not a modern-day reprint. See scans for further details including condition.

BIO: Frederick Edward Johnson (Deacon, Cactus) was born in 1894 in Tolar, TX and died in 1973 in Kerrville, TX. He played major league baseball from 1922 to 1939 as pitcher for the New York Giants and the St. Louis Browns.

SKU: L09405

Item: L09405