It is almost certain the photo was taken no later than 1917, because Mendelsohn first issued the m101-6 set that year, using the same photo of Ruth but captioning him with the Red Sox.
Mendelsohn advertised the m101-6 set in 1917 as containing "Exclusive Photographs. Never published before". The set in fact appears to bear that out, although I have not examined each subject.
The Ruth Red Sox version of m101-6 contains a Felix Mendelsohn copyright symbol, and he is known to have either taken the photos or hired someone for that purpose. You see them from time to time on ebay or at auction. By way of example, below is my Howard Ehmke photo and m101-6 --note the embossed Mendelsohn 1917 copyright on the photo (lower right):
Thus, it may be that the original photo came from him.
It is possible that Mendelsohn had the photo before 1917 but did not use it because he had others for his m101 and then e135 sets. If so I would guess it came from 1916 rather than 1915. Per Okkonen's book, which isn't infallible, the Red Sox wore road pinstripes in 1916 and 1917 but not 1915. I no longer have my high-res scan of the Ruth m101-6 card or I can't find it, but I believe there is a hint of pinstripe in what I see with my tired old eyes. I also note that three other Red Sox from m101-6 all show the same faint pinstripe look-- Barry, Hooper and Jones-- and two of those are shown in Comiskey Park.
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Last edited by nolemmings; 09-04-2021 at 10:18 AM.
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09-04-2021, 10:16 AM
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