Original glass plate negative of Philadelphia A's outfielder Rube Oldring, taken by noted Chicago photographer Francis Burke, used to produce Oldring's 1914/1915 Cracker Jack card. The image captures Oldring standing akimbo in front of the grandstand at Chicago's West Side Grounds, most likely during the 1910 World Series. 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. Oldring 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. Oldring was one of the mainstays of Connie Mack's outfield during the club's 1910 to 1914 World Championship dynasty. While it is not apparent here, Oldring suffered a sprained knee just prior to the 1910 World Series and was unable to contribute in the Athletics' five-game victory over the Cubs that fall. 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. There is also a small white label affixed in the upper right corner of the reverse. 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.