Bob Bailey Studio At 931 Yale St.

[Subdude]

More Bailey photographs have been added to the online finding aid. Check out http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00451/cah-00451.html

Enjoy!

Amy Bowman

Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

Pretty darn impressive! There are hundreds of photos posted there now.

[Dream]

Check out the Texas City fire photos under the events section. They are amazing. Look for the cow, talk about wrong place at the wrong time.

Dream

[mainvoice]

Can anyone tell me what's happened to the Bob Bailey Studio that I think used to be at 931 Yale in the Heights? I'm getting an out of service message on the phone number I had for them and information can't find a new one. Information on how to find some of their photos on-line would be wonderful, too. Thanks so much!

I believe that the studio is Sloan Gallery located at Fondren/Westheimer, that purchased a lot of this work of Bob Bailey's from the Houston Public Library with with the remainder going to UT's library because they didn't have the funds to inventory all of the pix. I spoke to these guys maybe 2 months ago...go to www.sloanegallery.com. I think this might get you going in the right direction. Are you looking for photos of a certain area or block downtown?

[candle]

If you are interested in purchasing a Bob Bailey photo, a friend of mine is reluctantly willing to sell his. It is a photo of Main Steet. In the photo are the Metetropolitan, Loews Station, Levys and the Kirby Theater featuring "Scarlet Empress and starring Marlene Dietrich and John Long. Feel free to contact my at bvela622@yahoo.com. Also it is in it's original frame and has the original signature gold sticker.

[Vertigo58]

If you are interested in purchasing a Bob Bailey photo, a friend of mine is reluctantly willing to sell his. It is a photo of Main Steet. In the photo are the Metropolitan, Loew's Station, Levys and the Kirby Theater featuring "Scarlet Empress and starring Marlene Dietrich and John Long. Feel free to contact my at bvela622@yahoo.com. Also it is in it's original frame and has the original signature gold sticker.

I wonder if it's ok to make copies and sell them? I mean from a legal standpoint. I personally would hate to sell an "original" I mean making copies is also a safe thing to do. I have been scanning historical family photos not just for a keepsake but in the event of loss, fire, etc.

The film above and stars should date the photo quite accurately unless it was a rerun of course. I believe these theaters were always 1st rate and seldom showed reruns.

Ok, just did a search and Deitrich's film was 1934.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025746/

Thanks for the tip above too!

[Rweil]

I have the same photo as the one mentioned above, along with about 10 others I purchased from their studio in the Heights in the late 1990's. I do know that when I wanted to use the photo I purchased for a marketing piece I was working on, I got in touch with the Trust who held the photos prior to the UT acquiring, and not only did I have to pay a small fee ($250 I think), I had to also give a credit on the piece. And his was on the photo i owned.

I doubt that they are available for usage now, but it's certainly worth a try.

[Ross]

This is what happens when someone out of town tries to archive Houston photos. Check out hte description on this photo http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/image_lg....iable=e_bb_4530 whixh is, I believe, Jeff Davis Hospital, not a "commercial building". I'm glad they have this stuff online, but they could use some help in labelling.

[SunKing]

I am also very glad that these have been made available on-line. However, I wish that you could 'right click' and 'save picture as'. ...as opposed to having to 'print screen' (although it is nice to include the associated text somtimes).

[sevfiv]

It is so sad that Bailey's Houston photos couldn't be held in a repository in Houston. Bleh.

[Vertigo58]

It is so sad that Bailey's Houston photos couldn't be held in a repository in Houston. Bleh.

May sound a bit outlandish but that man should have a statue or commemoration in his name. He truly was a genius and trailblazor for early photography of Houston, just like Arnold Genthe whom documented the early years of San Francisco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Genthe

Had it not been for Bailey's determination and persistance, we today would not have his excellent works. We need to call Ken Burns so he can do an American Experience documentary on this man.

Here's to you Mr Bailey!

[Texsport]

I visited Mr. Bailey's Studio many times and purchased several photos from him.

Some I purchased are not listed in the UT archive as yet.

Some others are incorrectly labeled--for instance, Stan Musial photos. Several are posted but none are Stan Musial, only Cardinal team mates from a late 1940's visit by the Cardinals to old Buff Stadium.

Mr. Bailey's collection does/did contain Musial photos however, as I got Mr. Musial to sign a 16 X 20 photo I purchased from Mr. Bailey. Neither Mr. Musial nor his agent had ever seen the photo before---a spectaular pic of Stan The Man at the instant of impact with a pitch.

Maybe Mr. Musial's agent has purchased the rights to that particular photo----or else it hasn't been scanned yet.

I shuffled through many of the pictures which are posted already at one time or another. There are many more to come--I hope!

Some of Mr. Bailey's photos used to be on display on the walls of the Luby's Cafeteria in the Heights.

[CampLogan1917]

Does anyone know if the Baily Collection is available to anyone and everyone on-line through the University of Texas website?

[CampLogan1917]

I answered my own question. The Bob Bailey Studios Photographic Archives are located on line and the digital images can be accessed at : http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00451/cah-00451.html

I didn't think the University of Texas would keep them private without any access. After all it is a state institution and the topic, "Houston" is just too BIG and important to keep it out of the public eye.

[Vertigo58]

I answered my own question. The Bob Bailey Studios Photographic Archives are located on line and the digital images can be accessed at : http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00451/cah-00451.html

I didn't think the University of Texas would keep them private without any access. After all it is a state institution and the topic, "Houston" is just too BIG and important to keep it out of the public eye.

See the calendar section everyone!

They used to sell those at all local bookstores then suddenly stopped?

I bet sales/interest dropped so they stopped printing....grrrrrrrr

[CampLogan1917]

On closer observation of the University of Texas, Bob Bailey Studios Photographic Archives I have found that just about all you can do is view them. It's not a very Houston friendly access system. On the other hand I am familiar with a similar Photographic Archive for the State of Michigan and more specifically the City of Detroit. Anybody whose anyone that has a considerable large file of photographics related to these two subjects i.e. Michigan and Detroit donates there images to Wayne State University which is an urban university within the city limits of Detroit. Organizations like the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, private donors with significant collections and many others have contributed to this massive collection. And the nice part about it is you can download the images and use them as long as you credit the university. Here's a link to this very impressive collection:

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/imag...=vmc;page=index

[pineda]

I work at the Center for American History at UT, and we're currently digitizing 5,000 images from the Bob Bailey archive. About a third of these images are currently online at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00451/cah-00451.html. The form of the finding aid may be a little unfamiliar if you've never done research in a historical archive before, but scroll down the page and you'll find links to images by subject (e.g. aerial views, cultural facilities, sports) as well as links to images from individual folders.

The public may order reproductions of images. See http://www.cah.utexas.edu/divisions/Austin...hotoprices.html for more information about ordering.

We're so excited to be able to get these out to the public! I hope you enjoy them and I'd appreciate any suggestions that you have.

Amy Bowman

Center for American History

Thank you so much for posting this, Amy! I went through just now and looked at some of these gorgeous photos and so far, my hands-down favorites have to be the Trans Texas Airlines stewardesses in their cowboy boots!

[Vertigo58]

Thank you so much for posting this, Amy! I went through just now and looked at some of these gorgeous photos and so far, my hands-down favorites have to be the Trans Texas Airlines stewardesses in their cowboy boots!

My all time fav's is the ones when celebs/movie stars are seen in publicity stills at old historical landmarks or theaters promoting a recent new film, etc. Major cool!

and of course the Prince's Carhops stills.

[CampLogan1917]

Thank you so much for posting this, Amy! I went through just now and looked at some of these gorgeous photos and so far, my hands-down favorites have to be the Trans Texas Airlines stewardesses in their cowboy boots!

Dear Amy,

Check out a truly pedestrian friendly photographic collection donated to a university of a major metropolitan area that allows people to view and download the images as long as credit is given to the collection. This is what I would consider a public service to the citizens of the area without regard to their financial condition. This is one of my pet pieves about the internet. It was a great place for the freedom of information exchange. Now, it's becoming another venue for commerse at the public expense.

http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/imag...=vmc;page=index

Do a random search, bring up the image and you will see that you can download the image for future reference. Oh and by the way this is not a red state, blue state issue it's a freedom of information issue. I hope the University of Texas would adopt this policy concerning their photo collections.

CampLogan1917

[amyb]

Wow! I hadn't looked at this site in ages and was glad to see so many people have checked out the Bailey photos online.

One thing to note. The Center for American History mounted a searchable database a couple of years ago; you may find the images that you're looking for more quickly this way. See http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/. You can choose the "browse by collection" option and look at all of the Bailey images. And maybe you'll find some interesting pictures by other photographers, too!

In regards to misidentified images, please forward these to Hal Richardson at hal@mail.utexas.edu (I left UT almost three years ago). We recorded the information that was provided on the negative sleeves, but unfortunately did not have the time to do extensive research on each image. Your info will be much appreciated, especially if you can point to a reliable image source that verifies your identification.

I won't delve too much into the issue of why users can't download free high-res images from the site--it's a complicated one, and since I don't work there anymore, I can't speak for the institution; contact the CAH if you have any questions. But know that it's always free to go to the CAH and see the "real" thing!

Best,

Amy

[tmariar]

Amy - I promise there are a lot more Houstonians than just those who have posted here who have found the Bailey photos online and very much enjoyed them. In my opiniong, one of the best things that can be done to help preserve public access to historic photos is to get them into the hands of an institution like U.T.

I'm betting that most of those who posted above, like me, do very much appreciate the photos being available and indexed online; are grateful that they were purchased by a Texas university (that the photos were not purchased by a Houston institution is more of a criticism of local institutions than U.T., to the extent it's a criticism at all, and not just a regret); and understand that purchasing the photos and making them available for viewing online cost the university money. Had they been writing to the university rather than on this message board, most likely would have mentioned some or all of that - and I hope that you and any others who were/are involved in the digitization project who may be reading didn't take the above comments as ingratitude. The group of people who post on the Historic Houston section of this board are, I'm sure, among those most grateful for having some degree of online access to the photographs.

And thanks for the contact information for labeling comments - I also have seen a number of what I believe to be errors in labeling, and wish now I'd kept track of them. I may go back and try to find some of them.

----------

Others - At least these photos are available in some form online - unlike the Chron and Post historic archives. And the vast majority of other historic photos of Houston.

Still, I think there are some fair questions to be asked about why the original-size Bailey images aren't available online, and I don't think Houstonians should not ask them just out of politeness - U.T. is a public institution, as someone else pointed out. Seeing the Life Magazine archive of historic Houston photos that Google recently made available made me that much more curious about U.T.'s decision. U.T. is not Google, obviously - but the Bailey photos aren't the Life Magazine archives, either. Plus, some of the differences between U.T. and Google would seem to make it more likely that U.T. would make original-size photos available online. I know the copyright issues can be complicated, but I'm more curious about the apparent decision to maintain any copyright protection, and whether it's permanent or just until certain costs are recouped.

I don't want to divert attention in this thread from the Bailey photographs by getting too deep into more esoteric topics, but I believe that, just as Houstonians have an interest in historic Houston structures that should not necessarily be trumped by the rights of the current owners of those structures, we have an interest in historic news coverage and photographs concerning our town that should not necessarily be trumped by current ownership interests. As much as many Texans hate hearing any suggestion that property rights should be anything other than absolute, it's a view that many cities and states (in the case of historic structures) and many newspapers and libraries (in the case of historic news and photographs and similar information) support to some extent - the hard part is striking the right balance among the interests, and I get that. But it would be nice if we got to at least hear some kind of explanation from the Chronicles and U.T.'s of the world - even if it just comes down to money. In fact, I bet there are those who would donate money to U.T. to help increase online access to historical materials - heck, I'd donate to the Chronicle if I could earmark the money for helping make their historic archives available/searchable online.