Very early vintage sepia matte-finish 8 x 10 photo of Reagan in a three-piece suit with his hands in his pants pockets, signed and inscribed in black ink “To Mom & Pop, with Love, Dutch.” In very good condition, with some scattered light silvering and foxing to image and background, a light scratch across Reagan’s nose, and a small hole to top left border (easily matted out).
“Mom & Pop” were Lydia and Pete MacArthur, long-time friends whom Reagan met while he was looking for work as a radio sports announcer. It was Pete MacArthur, an Iowa radio station program director, who gave the future chief executive his first job as a broadcaster. This photograph was probably taken around the time of Reagan’s 1932 yearbook photo while enrolled at Eureka College in Illinois and may be unpublished. Reagan’s college yearbook photograph reveals him to have a physical appearance similar to the one revealed here, with his hair appearing blonde, parted in the middle, and combed off his face. Perhaps the earliest Reagan signed photo in existence! Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
