An Ebay photo archive?

[paulcalloway]

It strikes me that there is a lot of history being displayed on Ebay on any given day and a lot of it will disappear not to be seen again. It's a shame to watch all that history go to never-never land.

I'm curious what you all think of an informal ebay photo archive here? See a nice item on ebay, copy the photo to your HD and then upload it in a folder here. Would we get in trouble doing that sort of thing? Would there be value in it?

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

I like the idea. I have been saving all the interesting ebay picts that I see or that are posted here for my own personal use. I dont see how we could really get into trouble for this, there is no copyright on these photos and we are not selling the images.

[ThehosGendar]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

To quote everyone's favorite fedora wearing obtainer of rare antiquities, "It belongs in a museum."

It bothers me that these images are tossed up on e-bay mostly by people who don't know what they have, wanting to make a quick buck. I go through e-bay every few days and do searches for tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes. I've got quite a collection from there, and I think it's important to save as many images as I can before these things end up in a box in someone else's attic. It's sad that their short stay on e-bay is probably the only time that these images will ever be seen by more than a handful of people. Erk. They all belong in a museum.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

I think the images fall into that grey ''public domain'' area.
As long as they are not being reproduced for financial gain I feel we should be able to copy, file and share them.

[NY Pvt]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

I say this is a great idea. While some pictures are better then others shouldn't we attempt to save all of them in uniform? How many might this be a week on ebay? 25? 30? While the picture may be nothing out of the ordinary now, it may answer an important question down the road. Perhaps we could add personal collections on there? If there gets enough of a library you can add a search function and search by sate or unit if know. I think that would be neat. Hey, AC could then rival the LOC. That would be an invaluable source, not only to us but for people search their family histories and sorts.

[MarkTK36thIL]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

One heck of an idea. Keep the images open to all those who love seeing the past instead of losing it in a collection and most likely never seeing it again.

[paulcalloway]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

Seems to be strong support. I'll innaugerate the folder - if it turns out to be bad, bad, bad for some ethical or legal reason, we can always pull it and delete the photos.

Here's the link to the new folder.

[markj]

Re: An Ebay photo archive?

Greetings,

I also think this is a good idea BUT I would strongly urge anyone posting these to:

1. Include as many details as possible about the image (names, dates, places, inscriptions, etc.). When downloading these, I usually also get the image showing the "gallery stamp" on the back since this could provide additional leads for potential ID's.

2. Provide details about the eBay lot itself (e.g., lot number/URL, name or "handle" of dealer, etc.). That way, if anyone wants to reference these for an article they can cite it or, better yet, track down the dealer/purchaser to obtain permission to do so.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger