Scarce and nifty vintage 8x10-inch black and white portrait at his artist's desk, boldly signed and inscribed in-person for Army photographer and inveterate autograph hound Joe Walsh in New York City on May 8, 1934. In fine condition for its age, with a minor pinhole to the upper left-hand area; a very small tear to the left border, repaired on the verso with tape; and a few gentle dings and creases. Uncommon in signed portraits of this size. Fascinating cartoonist, entrepreneur, globetrotting explorer, and amateur anthropologist Robert L. Ripley is remembered as the creator of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! newspaper series, which gave rise to radio and television programs, and the opening of a number of odditorium museums in the 1930s and 1940s.  Ripley showcased odd facts and artifacts collected from around the world, as well as items submitted by readers, who supplied photographs to provide proof of a wide variety of small town American trivia, ranging from unusually shaped vegetables, curiously marked animals and persons capable of superhuman feats.

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