President Truman shaking hands at the Senators–Browns game, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., September 8, 1945 — Lynn Skeels

The man identified on the reverse as the President wears a light suit, patterned tie and pale hat, smiling as he reaches across a bunting-draped barrier. His handshake partner faces away from the camera, while additional hands grip the extended forearm. A seated naval officer appears immediately behind their clasped hands; children and a closely packed audience fill the covered grandstand.

The printed reverse label supplies a humorous caption: “When the President shakes hands, it takes two men to keep the other fellow’s arm from falling off.” Beneath it, a handwritten identification reads “ADMIRAL WILLIAM LEAHY, CHIEF OF STAFF, BEHIND CLASPED / HANDS,” locating Leahy within the group. Neither the president nor his handshake partner is named in the card’s text.

The paired, arched-top photographs are mounted on a gray card, with “© 1945 BY LYNN SKEELS” printed vertically at both outer margins. This establishes the credited maker and copyright year. The reverse also bears the pencilled numbers “19” at upper left and “6” at upper right; the 19 is the view number: the Library of Congress copy of this view, “Pres. Truman's real smile,” is marked “#19” and was copyrighted by Skeels on October 2, 1945. The game is the Senators–St. Louis Browns game of September 8, 1945, Truman's first as President, at Griffith Stadium.

The card belongs to Lowell Mason's Stereographic Library, “Annual Baseball Outing,” Vols. I and II — Lynn Skeels's privately distributed stereographs of the Baseball, Clam and Chowder Club of the United States Senate, whose members (Harry Truman among them) lunched at the Capitol and then went to the Washington Senators game at Griffith Stadium. The pencil numeral on the reverse is the view's number within that set; the Library of Congress records the same practice (its copy of view #19 has “#19” written before the title). Matching views are held by the Truman Library (accessions 70-4245 to 70-4256) and the Library of Congress.