I have been looking over Ebay listings to see what different cards look like. I've been most interested in seeing the Wrigley Field Celebrates 100 Years cards. I had high hopes.
The hopes have been dashed. I didn't think that Topps would get it right, and on this card they really blew it.
The card is for the installation of the marquee, which took place in the mid-thirties. The picture looks to show a scene in front of the park before World Series game. It could be from 1935, 1938, or 1945.
This is the original black and white picture.
The colorized card looks great except for one glaring error. On a card celebrating the marquee, Topps has the marquee in the wrong color.
When it was installed, the marquee was fern green. Over the years the color faded to a bluish shade.
It wasn't painted red until the 1960s.
Revisionist history, compliments of Topps.
Lazy history, compliments of Topps.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Topps would argue the modern-day fan wouldn't recognize the marquee without its notable red color. But they have been Photoshopping/airbrushing cards since the 50s, so this isn't surprising.
ReplyDeleteCome on -- Wrigley is in Chicago and to Topps people in New York, that's flyover country not worthy of proper historical investigation.
ReplyDeleteYou can bet your a$$ that if this was about Yankee Stadium, they would have every freaking detail 100% correct.
It would be nice if Topps had someone you could e-mail with issues like this and get some kind of response, if only to say, sorry we goofed up. Thanks for posting the old pictures today and yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI still think Topps needs to employ a fan, on a part time basis, for each team to fact-check all the cards that go out for each team. WW, you would have my vote for the Cubs.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue on the back of the card states "Wrigley Field Home of THE Chicago Cubs"... Pretty bad since the reference wording is on the front.
ReplyDeleteThe Babe Ruth Wrigley card has him swinging at old Comiskey Park. Couldn't Topps get the rights to "The Called Shot" painting or photo?? Old Comiskey lives on.......
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