The Mystery of the Tournament Park Postcards

I enjoyed reading the Hardy Boys series of mysteries as a kid, but I have solved few crimes in my day and only a handful of mysteries until recently. While researching Fields of Friendly Strife, I stumbled across several stories that needed disentangling, and one of my stumbles solved a mystery that had dogged me for a few years.

The Mystery of the Tournament Park Postcards started five or six years ago while searching eBay for items connected to Tournament Park, the playing site of the Rose Bowl games before Rose Bowl Stadium opened for the 1923 Rose Bowl. One of my searches led to the postcard below showing a Pasadena stadium that I recognized as Tournament Park.

The Navys - 220 Piece Band, Pasadena, Calif, 1921

Before going further, I should explain that this postcard is an example of what collectors call a Real Photo Postcard or RPPC. For many RPPCs, families hired the local photographer who, using a large wooden camera sitting atop long-legged tripods, took a few shots and printed the results on postcard stock so the families could send the cards to friends and relatives. Personal RPPCs are akin to Christmas greeting cards, which are common nowadays. Other RPPCs were produced commercially and sold in local shops, allowing everyday folks to buy a postcard and send a message on to others. The examples included here are commercial RPPCs.