We Give Our Old-Time Baseball Photos Reader Some Help With a Photo Identification!

Huntington Avenue Grounds  Photo Gallery
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We Give Our Old-Time Baseball Photos Reader Some Help With a Photo Identification!

One of our readers, Elmer Garita, sent us this neat photo asking if we could date it. Elmer’s a diehard Red Sox fan and this is one of his favorite photos.

Elmer thought it was from Fenway Park, and figured it was fans waiting to get into a game. Our crack baseball researcher Don Stokes and I put our heads together. At first glance we didn’t see anything definitive, but there were some clues. Be sure to click on the photo to see it in much greater detail.

We realized it was not Fenway, which has a brick façade, so has to be Huntington Avenue Grounds. Next we looked at the trolleys. A Google search revealed one from 1909 almost identical to the ones in the photo. We then checked out the cop. We could see a greyish helmet and a badge. A search yielded cops from 1910-11 wearing the exact uniform. The helmet was described as “the grey summer bobby helmet.” The badge was called a “radiator patch.”

We had narrowed it to approximately 1909-1911. Looking at the apparel, we realized this was probably a mild spring day, as it wasn’t summer apparel. The fans were in lines, apparently arriving early to get in.This looked like Opening Day, from either 1909, 1910 or 1911.

Don discovered that Opening Day, 1911 was a cold, overcoat day, so it was eliminated. He found that April 19, 1910, the Red Sox home opener, was the same day as the Boston Marathon. Don found a photo (see below) from the 1910 Boston Marathon; and, sure enough, it appears to be a mild day.

So, putting all the clues together, we’re not certain, but there’s a possibility the photo was taken on Opening Day, April 19, 1910 at Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston.

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credit: Sent by Elmer Garita

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