He was living a relatively quiet life nearly three full decades after fallout from the Black Sox scandal led to a career-ending banishment. Joe Jackson may have been persona non grata in the big leagues, but he wasn’t forgotten.
In 1948, an Associated Press writer and photographer visited Jackson in South Carolina. He was 61, with even his post-scandal barnstorming days a distant memory.
The RMY Auctions Photo of the Day is a sweet image of Shoeless Joe handing out ice cream cones to three kids.
The 8×10 wirephoto is one of over 1,500 lots in the company’s August Premier Auction.
Jackson was a popular figure in his hometown of Greenville, where the Joe Jackson Museum now tells his life story.
The photo’s caption states friend and relatives had “recently held a party for Jackson” in Greenville.
While he didn’t seek attention or sympathy over his role and often maintained his innocence, Jackson did give a few interviews later in life including a well-known chat with writer Furman Bisher that wound up in a 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine
Sadly, Shoeless Joe would live only three more years after this photo was taken. He died of a heart attack in 1951 at age 64.
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