Over 800 original slides and transparencies used to create sports images in the 1950s and 60s are now on the auction block.
The collection largely dates to a time when the use of color in photography was an expensive endeavor, utilized almost exclusively by professionals working for major magazines or other media outlets. Some of them were from shots captured by Lee Balderman, whose work appeared in both Sports Illustrated and SPORT.
Long-time photo dealer Henry Yee is offering the transparencies and slides as part of a week-long auction on eBay. Enlarged examples of what the developed images look like are shown in the listings.
They include hundreds of Hall of Famers and many of the images are one-of-a-kind. They include numerous shots of Mickey Mantle at various stages of his career, including a candid-style shot from a game during the 1961 season.
Some were taken on black-and-white film but most are in color. A young Billy Martin was posed on the top step of the Yankee dugout in a large format transparency dated to July 15, 1952.
There are multiple images of Yankee Stadium taken at creative angles during the 1950s and 60s; one that shows Ernie Banks interviewing Roberto Clemente before a game at Wrigley Field in the 1960s; another dates to Lou Brock’s rookie season of 1962 when the speedy young outfielder was still a member of the Cubs.
In-game action is also featured including one image of Jim Brown carrying the football for Syracuse University in the 1950s, NFL games from the 1950s and 60s, a posed shot of Brown taken early in his career and 40 photos of Michael Jordan from the 1980s and 90s that originated in the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times. Many were never published.
Another section of the auction includes black and white slide strips of entertainment stars of the 1950s and 60s.
The auctions are schedule to run through this weekend.
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