This is a great, vintage, 8x10, original photo, of Tex Rickard outside the Trenton, NJ courthouse after disposition of his 1925 case on transporting fight films over state lines. The government had been trying to get him for years for numerous things, and finally got hom.convicted for this, but it didn't really slow the Great Promoter down much. Photo is attached on back to piece of stationary from Newark law firm of Parker, Emory and Van Riper. Some surface wear. Please see my many photos for best condition report.

Tex Rickard

George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City. During the 1920s, Tex Rickard was the leading promoter of the day, and he has been compared to P. T. Barnum and Don King. Sports journalist Frank Deford has written that Rickard "first recognized the potential of the star system." Rickard also operated several saloons, hotels, and casinos, all named Northern and located in Alaska, Nevada, and Canada.

Tex Rickard

Born

George Lewis Rickard

January 2, 1870

Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.

DiedJanuary 6, 1929 (aged 59)

Miami, Florida, U.S.

OccupationGambler, bartender, boxing promoterYears active1896–1929Known forRebuilt Madison Square Garden
First to promote boxing to large audiencesSpouse(s)Leona Bittick (1894–1895; her death)
Edith Mae Haig (1902–1925; her death)
Maxine Hodges (1926–1929; his death)Children3

Tex Rickard in 1916

Early years

Rickard was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His youth was spent in Sherman, Texas, where his parents had moved when he was four. His father died and his mother then moved to Henrietta, Texas while he was still a young boy. Rickard became a cowboy at the age of 11, after the death of his father. At the age of 23, he was elected marshal of Henrietta, Texas. He acquired the nickname "Tex" at this time. On July 2, 1894, Rickard married Leona Bittick, the daughter of a Henrietta physician. On February 3, 1895, their son, Curtis L. Rickard, was born. Leona Rickard died on March 11, 1895 and Curtis Rickard died on May 4, 1895.

Nevada

By 1906, Rickard was running the Northern saloon and casino in Goldfield, Nevada. In Goldfield, he promoted professional boxing match between Joe Gans and Battling Nelson. The gate receipt of $69,715 set a record. A year later, Rickard opened the Northern Hotel in Ely, Nevada. Rickard also organized the Ely Athletic club and was the owner of several mining properties in the Ely area.

In December 1909, Rickard and John Gleason won the right to stage the world heavyweight championship fight between James J. Jeffries and Jack Johnson. Rickard planned to hold the fight on July 4, 1910 in San Francisco, however opposition from Governor James Gillett and Attorney General Ulysses S. Webb caused Rickard to move it to Reno, Nevada. Rickard and Gleason made a profit of about $120,000 on the fight, which was won by Johnson.

Return to boxing

Madison Square Garden

On May 31, 1923, Rickard filed incorporation papers for the New Madison Square Garden Corporation, a company formed for the purpose of building and operating a new sports arena in New York City. In 1924 he purchased a car barn block on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. He acquired the rights to the name Madison Square Garden, as the building's owners planned on tearing it down and replacing it with an office building. Thomas W. Lamb was selected to design the new building. Destruction of the car barns began on January 9, 1925. The new Garden opened on November 28, 1925. The first event was the preliminaries for the annual six-day bicycle race. It hosted its first major event on December 11, 1925, when a record indoor crowd of 20,000 attended the Paul Berlenbach-Jack Delaney fight. The $148,155 gate broke the record for an indoor boxing event.

In January 1926, Rickard purchased WWGL radio, which he moved to the Garden and renamed WMSG.

Following the success of the New York Americans in the Garden's first year, the Madison Square Garden Corporation decided to establish a second team, this one controlled by the Corporation itself. The new team was nicknamed "Tex's Rangers" and later became known as the New York Rangers.

Personal life

Rickard met Maxine Hodges, a former actress 33 years his junior at the Dempsey–Firpo fight. The couple married on October 7, 1926 in Lewisburg, West Virginia. On June 7, 1927, the couple's daughter, Maxine Texas Rickard, was born.

Other ventures

Rickard sought to repeat the success of the Madison Square Garden by building seven "Madison Square Gardens" around the country. In 1927, a group led by Rickard signed a 25-year lease for a sports arena at the new North Station facility in Boston. The Boston Garden opened on November 17, 1928.

In 1929, Rickard and George R. K. Carter opened the Miami Beach Kennel Club greyhound track. They also planned a number of other ventures, including a jai-lai grounds adjacent to the Kennel Club and a horse track on an island in Biscayne Bay. Rickard also hoped to someday to build a hotel and casino that would rival those in Monte Carlo.

Illness and death

On December 26, 1928, Rickard left New York for Miami Beach, Florida, where he was completing arrangements for a fight between Jack Sharkey and Young Stribling and attending the opening of the Miami Beach Kennel Club. On New Year's Eve, Rickard was stricken with appendicitis and was operated on. Rickard died on January 6, 1929 due to complications from his appendectomy. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY.