Early Photo Clues

Two of the rarest photos in my collection are the ones you see here. They're rare not because you don't see them often -- you do. They're rare because they are originals, not reprints. Each one came with info that helps to date them.

The first is the easiest.


A date is written on the back: 4-25-68. That doesn't necessarily mean that that was the date the photo was taken. It just means it wasn't taken any later than that. This is clearly one of the earliest publicity photos of the Jackson 5.

The next one was taken more than a year later.


I was very excited when I won this one in an auction because it looked like an early autograph. But when I got it, I saw that it had been pre-signed, and since then I've seen others with this exact same signature.

Still, there were some nice surprises in store. It was still encased in its original presentation folder, stamped "Teddy Powell Productions, 200 W. 57th St. New York, NY." A bit of googling revealed that Teddy Powell was a well-known Black promoter. I'm not sure what his connection was to the Jackson family -- perhaps he had help book them into the Apollo Theater, or some other East Coast venues.

Even better, a fan had written the boys' names and ages on the inside of the folder:

Michael, 10
Marlon, 12
Jermaine, 14
Toriano, 15
Sigmund or Jackie, 18

This was before Motown had changed their ages, so it's possible to determine that the notation was made between May 4 and August 29, 1969. The only East Coast performance I know of between those dates was their appearance on Miss Black America in New York City on August 22, 1969. I can't find a connection between the two of them, but I'll keep looking for clues.