Original glass plate negative of Chicago Cubs infielder Heinie Zimmerman, taken by noted Chicago photographer Francis Burke, used to produce Zimmerman's 1914/1915 Cracker Jack card. Zimmerman is pictured in a batting stance as he poses in the outfield, circa 1911. Cracker Jack cards were produced by the Chicago firm Rueckheim Brothers & Eckstein, so it was only natural that the company turned to hometown photographer Francis Burke when it needed images for its now-iconic card set. Zimmerman was one of many player images supplied by Burke for the set, including such stars as Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Napoleon Lajoie. This is one of several Francis Burke Cracker Jack negatives featured in this auction, all of which, of course, are one of a kind. It should also be noted that an original Type I photograph of this image, made from this very negative, is offered elsewhere in this auction. Zimmerman was one of the game's top hitters during the early teens and in 1912 won the Triple Crown by virtue of his league-leading totals in batting average (.372), home runs (14), and RBI (104). He also led the league that year in hits (207), doubles (47), and slugging percentage (.571). He finished his 13-year career (1907-1919) with a .295 lifetime average. The negative (7x5") displays minor flaws, mainly along the periphery, common to nearly all early 1900s glass negatives, but the central image is largely unaffected. The name "Hiney [sic] Zimmerman" is written in blue ink along the reverse left border. VG. 

Francis P. Burke (1871-1949) was a prominent Chicago newspaper photographer whose work ranged far beyond baseball. He took thousands of images of immigrant life in Chicago and, in 1912, opened a photo studio with Henry A. Atwell (1879-1949), known as Burke & Atwell, that specialized in theatrical, magazine, and newspaper images. Sometime prior to 1929, Burke severed his partnership with Atwell and opened another studio known as Burke & Koretke. Burke had been the Cubs official photographer in the early 1900s but was later replaced by George Burke (in a story that has been told many times, and which may be apocryphal, Burke lost his job as Cubs photographer simply because a Cubs employee couldn't remember his first name and mistakenly confused him with George Burke). Nevertheless, he was still a frequent visitor to the ballpark and between the approximate years 1909 to 1916, Burke earned extra income by selling his baseball images to various Chicago-based businesses, including Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein (Cracker Jack), Max Stein, Novelty Cutlery, Crystal Pure Candy Co., Carl Joseph & Co. (tailors), Royal Tailors, and Irwin Howe's Baseball Correspondence League of America, which published a "Pitching Course." To baseball collectors, Burke’s images are ubiquitous and instantly recognizable. Despite the range and relative scarcity of his work, his baseball images are arguably among the best of the deadball era.