My History

Hello,

My eBay ID is erjman.  I've been fortunate enough to have found an intersting niche selling here on eBay.  Over the years as a sports enthusiast and my interest in architecture, I've come across original blueprints of various professional sports stadiums.  I have many framed and displayed in my home. 

I currently have blueprints(limited) to 10 different stadiums from across the country.  Some are as old as 1923(Kansas City Municipal) and some as new as 2000(Soldier Field renovation).  I felt compelled to write this guide for educating potential buyers.  Perhaps helping them distinguish between an original contractor used blueprint from the many recently reproduced versions I see here. 

What is a blueprint?

Blueprints are by nature essentially reproductions of an engineering drawing.  The term blueprint is now generically used as a reference to an engineering drawing.  The older style(blue background with white lines) are typically done using the blueprinting proccess which involves a chemical reaction between  a solution of ammonium ferric citrate and potassium ferricyanide with paper.  It's not a photo copy.   The center photo below is a traditional style blueprint of Kansas City Municipal Stadium which opened in 1925.   The more modern style blueprints(post 1940's) are produced using Diazo prints or whiteprints(blue lines on white background).   These type of blueprints have come to be known as bluelines or even blacklines.  

  The left photo below is a blueprint(Diazo) from Cleveland Browns Stadium which opened in 1999.  The newest technology for reproducing engineering drawings is known as a xerographic print proccess.  It's more of  what you would think of as a copy machine.  In either case there may be 100's of unique blueprints for a particular project.  In most cases with the older form, no two blueprints are alike and there would have been one set of blueprints for the entire project.  With technology today and the ease of reproduction, the newer form may have duplicate sets of blueprints for the various contractors to use on site.   You also may find original markings either in ink, pencil or chalk which were done by the contractor for corrections, changes or notes.  The photo on the right is an example of a "received" stamp with ink initialing.

Buyer Beware (caveat emptor)

Ok, so let's get to the nuts and bolts.  When you see a blueprint for sale on eBay the first thing to look for is the sellers description as photos don't always match what the seller is describing nor can a photo be easily distinguished if it's original to a particular project.  Most sellers will state in either the title or description that it is indeed a copy.  Most likely a photo copy but sometimes an actual blueprint.  The blueprinting process described above is still in use today and some sellers reproduce blueprints from the original vellum.  Although the blueprint may have particular eye appeal, it does not accurately reflect historical significance of the item as it has been recently reproduced and not actually used during construction.   The most glaring red flag that the blueprint is being recently reproduced is to view the seller's other items or feedback items.  When you see the seller selling multiple items of the exact same blueprint with exact same photo/description, it's a dead giveaway that the blueprint has been recently reproduced.  Again,  most sellers freely state that it's a copy but some don't.  That's fine if that's what you like. 

Original construction drawings(vellum) are obvious to see even via photos on eBay.  They are white(sometimes yellowed with age) with pencil drawings of any given part of a stadium.  They'll usually have a ball stamp(embossed) of the engineering company in charge of the project.  See photo below with the ball stamp on the left of this key/legend of Milwaukee County Stadium.  I've found it difficult to photo the pencil drawings as the drawing is usually lightly done and sometimes gets washed out with camera flash.  In the photo to the right you can see what I mean.  It's much more detailed than displayed.  I find these most interesting because the hands of the engineer(draftsman) actually produced it. 

Where did I get them?

This is by far the most asked question I get.  Well, I live 12 miles East of Cleveland, Ohio.  The Osborn Engineering Company headquarters is located in Cleveland.  Osborn is the foremost company involved in stadium projects.  They've been in business since 1892 and still are today.  You'll see their name on practically every blueprint produced of practically every stadium built from League Park in Cleveland(1897), the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, Crosley Field to today's modern stadiums like Heinz Field, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Jacobs Field and many more. 

I've found most of these in the "grey" market otherwise known as live auctions, swap meets and estate sales.  Some were found right here on eBay.  The original older style blueprints were eventually stored on microfische.  You know, those little film-like sheets you can still find in today's libraries?  The paper blueprints were of no use once converted to microfische.  The newer blueprints are stored on computer hard drives.  Once a project is complete the paper version is no longer necessary.  And if it were necessary to retrieve them, they are always readily accessible on computer.  This is only my less than educated guess as to how these reach the "grey" market.  In short and the most likely scenario is current or former employees of either Osborn or their contractors snatched them up knowing the possible historical significance and potential value.  Of course many were destroyed before reaching the "grey" market.  That's what makes these intruiging to me.  Please trust me when I tell you that most blueprints of sports stadiums you see on eBay are recently made copies.  You will not see any copies made by me.  They are absolutely original to the period stated and were actually used on-site during construction.