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Frederick Logan Speed Skating Champion of Canada
1908

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

9

Portraits can provide useful information about the styles, beliefs, and ideas of the period in which they were taken. This beautiful, colourized image of Ethel Babbitt against a pale, soft background shows her serenely admiring some of the many tennis trophies she won throughout her long career. Compared to the photograph of Frederick William Logan, Babbitt's photo is distinctly feminine, as are many of her awards, some of which could actually be used as flower vases. In contrast, Frederick William Logan's photograph is definitely masculine, the pose emanating a sense of strength and virility set against a smoky, grey background.

The information in a portrait can also help us to approximate the date it was taken. As is the case with many sports awards such as trophies and medals, the particular details of an event, such as the athlete's name, the date won, and the sponsoring organization are not included in a photograph nor or they written on the back. Details are forgotten over time as images are passed down to family members or friends. In the case of Ethel Babbitt's photograph, the noticeable absence of the more ornate trophies she won after 1912 allows us to estimate the date of this portrait as 1911 or 1912.

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Portrait of Ethel Babbitt With Selection of Trophies
1900-1940

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

11

In this photograph, Wallace Watling is shown proudly standing next to a pyramid of awards representing the many sports in which he competed. Like the photograph of Frederick William Logan and Andrew "Zan" Miller, one feels a certain sense of pride - but also curiosity and awe at the accumulation of so many awards by one person. The photo is evidence of the value attached to winning, and of the social standing only the athlete can achieve through success in competition.

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Wallace Watling with Trophies and Medals

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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This portrait of Saint John native Andrew "Beef" Malcolm's formed part of a larger collage of the Saint John Trojans Basketball team, which was famous in the Maritimes during the 1920s and 30s. The Trojans won nine provincial crowns and seven Maritime Championships between 1923 and 1932. In one team portrait taken in 1921-22 they are audaciously described as "WINNERS OF EVERYTHING IN THE MARITIME." (sic).

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Andrew "Beef" Malcolm
1910-1930

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

15

Andrew "Beef" Malcolm in the 1921-1922 Saint John Trojan Champion Basketball Team Photo
1922
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

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Captain Andrew "Beef" Malcolm and the 1932 Torjan Basket Ball Team Eastern Canadian Champions
1932
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

17

As imaging technology and techniques advanced, photographers became more creative and daring. This is a promotional image for the 1923 International Skating Championships which were held in Saint John. Across the top of this image reads "International Skating Championship's St John, N.B. 1923". This particular copy is autographed "Sincerely, Miss Canada W. C. I. B." - for Miss Winnifred C. I. Blair, who happened to be from the port city. To either side of her appear Willie Logan and Charles Gorman. Both the text across the top of the image and the three individuals below were added, in a collage-like fashion, to the background image, a technique which is often seen in this type of sports photographs from the 1920s and 30s.

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Charles Gorman in a Promotional Photo for the 1923 International Skating Championships
1923
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

19

In lieu of any other documentary evidence, portraits can physically connect an athlete or team with a specific award long after the event has faded from living memory. Many professional photographs from the first half of the 20th century printed the name and position of each team member, the date, event and sponsoring organization or club in the center of the image or along the bottom of the mat. The photograph is in itself a "trophy" which has the details of an event etched into its surface. In this photograph, we are able to see that the Moncton Hawks team won the Allan Cup in 1933 and we can even see the trophy.

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Dominion Amateur Champion Moncton Hawks Team Winners of the 1933 Allan Cup
1933

Credits:
New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame

21

Professionally photographed images, such as this one of Andrew "Zan" Miller standing proudly alongside his dozens of trophies and medals, give the viewer a sense of the enormity of an athlete's accomplishments over a lifetime.