Vintage 9.75 x 12 photo of Jeffries and Oldfield posing together in front of an automobile, affixed to a 12 x 15 mount, signed and inscribed to famed sportswriter Ring Lardner by both in fountain pen: “To my friend Lardner, You know me, Barry Oldfield” and “To my southern friend, Yours, Jas. J. Jeffries.” In very good condition, with portions of both inscriptions extending onto the mount, a block of uniform overall toning from prior display, scattered light silvering to darker areas (a bit irregular over Jeffries jacket, visible only from an angle), and some scattered light surface marks.
A unique coupling, this image shows the first man to drive a car a mile a minute posing with the boxer who is best remembered as Jack Johnson's victim when becoming the first black Heavyweight champ in 1910. This photo was signed just a few months after that historic Reno match, as a "Feb. 14 - 1911" notation at upper left indicates. It would seem that Oldfield was not a man to choose sides, as he once not only challenged Johnson to a race for a $5,000 prize (Oldfield won easily) but a mere six weeks before signing this photo, was thrown from a car—along with Jeffries—as the pair was “speeding” down a road at 40 miles an hour. The original recipient of this photo, Ring Lardner, maintained friendships with such literary elite as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, as well as such sporting giants as Jeffries and Oldfield. Pre-certified Steve Grad/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
