Jimmy Doolittle Wins First Bendix Trophy 1931 Original Wire Press Photo For Sale

Jimmy Doolittle Wins First Bendix Trophy
1931 Original Wire Press Photo
Original Wire Photo, Laird Super Solution No. 400DESCRIPTIONYou are looking at an original wire service photograph of Major James "Jimmy" Doolittle, captured just after he landed at Newark Airport on September 4, 1931, having won the first ever Bendix Trophy Race and set a new transcontinental speed record in the same flight.Doolittle flew his Laird Super Solution biplane, race number 400, from Burbank, California to Cleveland, Ohio in 9 hours, 10 minutes and 21 seconds to win the inaugural Bendix race, then refueled and pushed straight on to Newark, New Jersey to complete a full coast to coast flight in just over eleven hours, breaking Captain Frank Hawks previous transcontinental record of twelve hours, twenty five minutes and three seconds.The photograph shows Doolittle still in his flying helmet and goggles, leaning out of the open cockpit to shake hands with a well wisher on the tarmac, surrounded by a large crowd of spectators, photographers with box cameras, and a uniformed police officer keeping order.The image reads as a genuine candid moment of celebration right off the runway rather than a posed publicity shot.This exact print carries its original wire service caption, clipped from the syndicate release and taped directly to the back of the photograph, reading in part "MAJOR DOOLITTLE WINS AIR DERBY AND BREAKS HAWKS MARK FOR CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT," and confirming the Newark landing and the record broken.The verso also carries the International News Photos stamp, 235 East 45th Street, New York City, a period address independently documented in Library of Congress and New York Public Library photo archive records, and a period photo reference number in red ink.Doolittle would go on to national fame the following year as a closed course pylon racer, and a decade later would lead the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, one of the most celebrated missions of the Second World War. This photograph predates that fame by more than ten years, capturing him purely as a record setting civilian air racer.The photograph measures approximately 6.5 x 8.5 inches. Every effort is made for fact checking and provenance including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you are unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I will make it right.Orders placed before Noon CDT will ship same day Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONGood to very good for age. The image is clean, sharp, and high contrast with strong detail throughout the crowd and cockpit. A faint diagonal crease is visible in the upper sky area at the top edge, not affecting the main subject. Corners show light handling wear typical of a wire photo that circulated through a newsroom. The original wire caption clipping remains taped to the back of the print, which is part of the photo's documented history rather than a defect. Mount and paper show even, period toning with no major tears, heavy creasing, or staining visible in the scan.