Supremes photograph on Ebay

[blue_whippet]

I’ve just found a photo for sale on Ebay for $500. I’m familiar with a clipped copy of the image but this complete shot indicates the name of the photographer – PoPsie. Dated 13 Nov. ’64 in Times Square NYC. I had always assumed it was taken in another city. Also they were scheduled to appear in New Haven on the Dick Clark tour on that date.
A search on Ebay for ‘popsie supremes’ should find it. I’d be interested to hear member’s views.

[DWSheffer]

It's a nice photo, way out of my price range but I'd love to have this image in my collection!
Darin

[blue_whippet]

Thanks for inserting the photo into your reply. Way out of my price range too but some lucky person will get to own it.

[thanxal]

Just be careful. EBay is FULL of frauds. ALOT of these are just prints, not originals.

[captainjames]

Awesome and the seller has sold many authentic pictures from other stars but I have often wondered why ? I remember when Meet The Supremes was being sold for $100 and now the price has been changed to $1000. I have several authentic Supreme pics and recordings and curious as to what buyer would want them.

[thanxal]

Awesome and the seller has sold many authentic pictures from other stars but I have often wondered why ? I remember when Meet The Supremes was being sold for $100 and now the price has been changed to $1000. I have several authentic Supreme pics and recordings and curious as to what buyer would want them.

Yes you are correct... there are also many authentic items. Typically the seller has some sort of documentation to corroborate authenticity. And then you pay a REAL pretty penny on eBay. I collect 78s and the prices from local record dealers are orders of magnitude less than what eBay sellers want. It's not completely logical, but it is what it is, I suppose.

[DWSheffer]

I have several authentic Supreme pics and recordings and curious as to what buyer would want them.

Who would want them?! Motown and Supremes collectors like me of course! I have a decent size collection of original Motown photos, the Supremes in particular. The original publicity photos are very collectible, especially the nice formal photos by James Kriegsmann. On average I would say original Motown photos sell between $40-$100 each, but as with anything collectible earlier or scarce images can sell for much more. These fall under the ephemera collectibles category, things that weren't meant to be saved for the long term. Promo photos exist for some of the early and minor Motown artists and they are very hard to find, such as LaBrenda Ben, Liz Lands, Barbara Randolph and others. The Popsie photo is a very neat image, but not a $500 photo IMHO. I do feel it would bring a decent amount if it were to be sold in an auction format with a low starting bid.

As thanxal noted, there are TONS of reprints on Ebay and sometimes it's difficult to ascertain if an image is an original or reprint from the listing photos. I've gotten some bargains this way, but I also make sure the seller accepts returns in the case that I end up with a reprint. If you're not a collector of or knowledgeable about vintage photography it's very difficult to explain to a seller in an email how to tell an original print, so you have to go with your gut sometimes and also have the option to return the item if it isn't as described.

Adam White did a blog on publicity photos in 2018 when an Ebay seller was listing some very rare images. I ended up acquiring a few from the seller, but as noted in the article prices were high and bidding was pretty fierce.
So if anyone doesn't want their old Motown photos, shoot me a message!
Darin

https://www.adampwhite.com/westgrand...res-and-pierre

[thanxal]

I have several authentic Supreme pics and recordings and curious as to what buyer would want them.

I would humbly accept them.

[DWSheffer]

After months of watching this photo, I was finally able to strike a deal with the seller and add it to my collection. There was just something about this image that really spoke to me. The three young girls from the projects were now on Broadway, their own stars ascending to new heights, and you can see that this is all somewhat new to them still. The seller had a bit of attachment to this photo as his family owned a record shop near the Rivoli theater which is visible in the photo background next to Flo. The seller knew PoPsie's son Mike and acquired a few photos through him that were taken near 49th and Broadway where his store was located.
I'm very happy to add this one to my collection!
Darin

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

After months of watching this photo, I was finally able to strike a deal with the seller and add it to my collection. There was just something about this image that really spoke to me. The three young girls from the projects were now on Broadway, their own stars ascending to new heights, and you can see that this is all somewhat new to them still. The seller had a bit of attachment to this photo as his family owned a record shop near the Rivoli theater which is visible in the photo background next to Flo. The seller knew PoPsie's son Mike and acquired a few photos through him that were taken near 49th and Broadway where his store was located.
I'm very happy to add this one to my collection!
Darin

Good for you Darin! If I'm going to be super happy for someone getting something THIS amazing, it's you- we've talked before about collecting Motown memorabilia and how the well has seemingly run dry for some time. Great to see there are still things out there to discover and have. Very evocative, how you describe the feeling you get from this photo. I often think about how things were just moving so fast, they more than likely didn't really have the time to fully process just how important they were becoming in terms of music history. Like you wrote though, this captures a moment of that.

[blue_whippet]

Many congratulations on obtaining this photo. It is great to hear it is now in the safe hands of a Guardian of Supremes history. I agree with you – it captures a special moment in time during their ascendency to stardom and the seller’s back story provides some additional historical association.

Since originally posting this thread, I undertook some more research and found that the photo was taken at the time when they accepted Billboard’s “number one in the nation” plaque for their recording of “Baby Love”. This is reported in Billboard 28th November 1964 with a photo where they are wearing the same outfits. This was probably taken at Billboard’s NYC offices which were then housed at 165 W 46th St. This all ties in with the Times Square location, with the Rivoli theatre in the background close to W 49th St.

[DWSheffer]

Thank you Waiting and Blue, I appreciate the comments. I also appreciate the extra information that you discovered researching the photo and the details surrounding this visit to the NYC area.
As Waiting mentions it's very infrequent that good Motown memorabilia comes to the market nowadays, so I guess when it does sometimes we have to pay up for it! The thing is what we pay for something becomes irrelevant after we receive the item and you put it on the wall or on the shelf and you can admire it daily.
Darin

[RanRan79]

Glad it found a home with you Darin! I echo you and Waiting and Whippet's feelings when looking at the photo. You have to wonder what were they thinking? And to think, if this is November 1964, the ladies were two number ones down, and Diana and Mary were still living in the projects! I agree that things were probably moving too fast to fully appreciate everything, but I have to believe that sometimes the ladies had a moment where they appreciated where they came from and where they were in a moment like this.

I also wonder what the guys standing to the side on Mary's side are thinking. Did they know who these three women were? Did they have any inkling of the history that was walking past them? Or did they just see three fine ladies and start discussing which one they each wanted to ask out?