If anyone has noticed eBay sellers listing photos that allegedly feature the "father of American billiards," Michael Phelan, then buyer beware.
I own two original 1800's photos of Phelan. One photo is part of a group of ten player photos which were matted and framed together by Byron Gillette. Gillette had been the oldest contestant for the 3-Cushion title in the early 1900's. He lived in Buffalo, N.Y. Four nearly sequential issues of Billiards Magazine documented the provenance of my photo set. The first issue featured an article stating that Hippodrome Billiards in Buffalo had the largest collection of player photos in America, and their challenge to readers to find a larger collection went unanswered. Another issue mentions Gillette's set of 10 as being one-of-a-kind. The next relevant issue mentioned Byron Gillete's retirement and planned move to a more Southern retirement state. At this time, Gillette gave his framed photos to the Hippodrome Academy. The last relevant issue mentioned Gillette's regrettable passing, soon after his move. The matboard in Gillette's framed set looks like a factory-produced and labeled item. Closer inspection reveals a high quality, hand-captioned and one-of-a-kind relic. A few of the photos have duplicates that can be seen in the online archives of the New York Public Library and appear to be identical to the Gillette photos. Dick Vallone, who had owned the old (now closed/moved) location of The Hippodrome, sold me their entire collection of player photos. He told me that the only photos missing were one of Greenleaf and one of a Japanese player - which had been stolen.
In addition, I own Michael Phelan's family photo album, all being CDV photos. One of these shows Phelan, seated with his cue. I also own an excellent photo of Phelan's "Billiards Without A Master," which contains an excellent Phelan image, as do images in my original 1800's periodicals. If anyone knows what Phelan looked like, from different perspectives at different ages, it is yours truly. I may only be an amateur billiard historian, but I was a field researcher for Charles Ursitti's work, and I humbly take it seriously. I also worked with Eddie Robin, who educated me on elements of identifying people in photos, especially unchanging features such as ear shape, for example.
None of the last four photos sold on eBay as featuring Michael Phelan are actually Phelan. Trust your instincts, do not buy junk. I informed one ebay seller of his error, and he retaliated by selling every Amish-looking 1800's man as Phelan. I will counter with this; the image of Phelan in his books and in other publications such as Harper's and Leslie's all unmistakably depict the same man, the man in my photos. And when I say "my" photos, I have to say that these things belong to history and history's students. When I am gone, they belong in the Smithsonian. If you need an original, period image of Phelan, they are easily found for under $50 on eBay in early periodicals and those images are larger than any known real photo. Thanks for your time.
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