The backstory behind these two iconic photographs begins with the Montreal Royals vs. Brooklyn Dodgers exhibition game at Ebbets Field on April 10, 1947. During the fifth inning a press release was handed out to the sportswriters announcing, “The Brooklyn Dodgers today purchased the contract of Jackie Roosevelt Robinson from the Montreal Royals.” With this ground-breaking sentence, Branch Rickey opened the door for African-Americans to play in the Major Leagues. The first image captures Jackie shaking hands with congratulatory fans in the stands upon hearing this tremendous news.
The next afternoon the Dodgers were slated to play another exhibition game, this time against the Yankees. Reporters and photographers flooded the area outside the Dodgers locker room, all vying to get the first glimpse of the man about to break the color barrier. Shortly before game-time he appeared in his Montreal Royals uniform, waved to reporters and disappeared behind the door that read, “DODGERS CLUB HOUSE KEEP OUT” as seen in the second image. When Robinson re-emerged, he was clad in the home white flannels of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Presented here is an incredibly scarce composite photograph uniting these two special moments in history. The AP wire photo, measuring approximately 8¼” by 10½”, is completely intact with straight edges, soft corners and evenly distributed surface wrinkles from age and wear. There are some editorial touch-ups from the many times the image was used by the press and featured in newspapers. None of these attributes take away from the creative and aesthetic appeal of the piece. The back has multiple date stampings from the Sun-Times, most notably April 11, 1947, as well as a nice caption from the Associated Press. The photograph has been encapsulated by PSA/DNA as a Type III off the duplicate negative.
It should be noted that this is the only example of this exact composite photo that we know of. A similar-themed, two-part composite photo (also a Type III wire) sold at auction for $1,500 in Feb. 2020.