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In honor of National Bike Month, occurring every May here in the U.S., here are two studio photographs of cyclists posing with their machines. The penny-farthing, or high-wheeler, bicycle was popular from around 1870 through the early 1890s. The name penny-farthing comes from the British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other, so that the side view of the bicycle resembles a penny leading a farthing. Since they were directly driven with pedals attached to the axle, the large front wheel allowed faster speeds. With solid tires, the larger wheel also gave a smoother ride on rough roads and cobblestones, but hitting a rock or a rut or hard braking could pitch the rider forward over the handlebars. High-wheelers were ridden almost exclusively by daring young men.

The safety bicycle, introduced in the 1880s, was made possible by innovations in technology, such as chain drive, gearing, and pneumatic tires. The seats and frames of safety bicycles often had spring suspension to smooth the ride over unpaved roads. With its lower center of gravity and relative ease of operation, the safety bicycle supplanted the high-wheeler and made cycling a popular activity for women and children as well as men and started the bicycle craze of the 1890s.

L. R. Phillips (active 1888-1897), George Norris, 1888, Albumen silver print

Johnson of Salt Lake City, [Portrait of young M.W. Trester with bicycle], ca. 1880-1900, Albumen silver print

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Artist Maxfield Parrish was known for his illustration work in advertising, magazines, and posters, often depicting female figures in idyllic landscapes with distant mountains, classical stone architecture, and a vibrant color palette. Here we see a simplified, yet bold, poster design with areas of flat, subdued color.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts held a poster show in April 1896 and used Parrish’s image both as the cover of the exhibition catalogue and to advertise the show throughout Philadelphia. In response to the growing interest in collecting posters, the Academy marketed a limited number of posters, such as this one, which included Parrish’s signature in pencil beneath the image.

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Poster, 1896, Lithograph

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Photographer Doris Ulmann came from an affluent white New York City family. She took teacher training with photographer Lewis Hine at the Ethical Culture School and subsequently studied psychology and law at Columbia University. She also studied photography with Clarence H. White, a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement known for teaching the Pictorialist style.

Ulmann collaborated with novelist Julia Peterkin on a book project titled Roll, Jordan, Roll (New York: R.O. Ballou, 1933). The book focuses on the lives of former slaves and their descendants on a plantation in the Gullah coastal region of South Carolina. Peterkin, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Scarlet Sister Mary (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1928), was born in South Carolina and raised by a black nursemaid who taught her the Gullah dialect. She married the heir to Lang Syne, a 2,000-acre cotton plantation, which became the setting for Roll, Jordan, Roll. Ulmann began photographing there in 1929.

Roll, Jordan, Roll is titled after the spiritual written by English Methodist leader Charles Wesley in the 18th century which became well-known among slaves in the United States during the 19th century. Appropriated as a coded message for escape, by the end of the American Civil War it had become known through much of the eastern United States. In the 20th century it helped inspire the blues, and it remains a staple in gospel music.

Roll, Jordan, Roll was illustrated with 90 photogravure plates made from Ulmann’s large-format negatives. Although they comprise an amazing ethnographic study, today Ulmann’s Pictorialist aesthetic seems a strange choice for making documentary images. The hazy, soft-focus photographs lend a sentimental, nostalgic impression that belies the underlying exploitative history of her subjects.

All images from Roll, Jordan, Roll (New York: R.O. Ballou, 1933):
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [People seated at church service], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Baptism], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Girl standing in doorway], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Two boys riding a mule], 1933, Photogravure

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Photographer Doris Ulmann came from an affluent white New York City family. She took teacher training with photographer Lewis Hine at the Ethical Culture School and subsequently studied psychology and law at Columbia University. She also studied photography with Clarence H. White, a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement known for teaching the Pictorialist style.

Ulmann collaborated with novelist Julia Peterkin on a book project titled Roll, Jordan, Roll (New York: R.O. Ballou, 1933). The book focuses on the lives of former slaves and their descendants on a plantation in the Gullah coastal region of South Carolina. Peterkin, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Scarlet Sister Mary (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1928), was born in South Carolina and raised by a black nursemaid who taught her the Gullah dialect. She married the heir to Lang Syne, a 2,000-acre cotton plantation, which became the setting for Roll, Jordan, Roll. Ulmann began photographing there in 1929.

Roll, Jordan, Roll is titled after the spiritual written by English Methodist leader Charles Wesley in the 18th century which became well-known among slaves in the United States during the 19th century. Appropriated as a coded message for escape, by the end of the American Civil War it had become known through much of the eastern United States. In the 20th century it helped inspire the blues, and it remains a staple in gospel music.

Roll, Jordan, Roll was illustrated with 90 photogravure plates made from Ulmann’s large-format negatives. Although they comprise an amazing ethnographic study, today Ulmann’s Pictorialist aesthetic seems a strange choice for making documentary images. The hazy, soft-focus photographs lend a sentimental, nostalgic impression that belies the underlying exploitative history of her subjects.

All images from Roll, Jordan, Roll (New York: R.O. Ballou, 1933):
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [People seated at church service], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Baptism], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Girl standing in doorway], 1933, Photogravure
Doris Ulmann (1884-1934), [Two boys riding a mule], 1933, Photogravure

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Citicorp Center, now known as 601 Lexington Avenue, is a 59-floor skyscraper in New York City. Built in 1977, Eliot Porter photographed the building at street-level in 1979.

The office tower has a unique design, supported by massive columns in the center of each side. The corners of the building are cantilevered 115 feet above the street. Because of a design oversight and changes made during construction, the building was potentially vulnerable to structural failure in hurricane-force winds. The engineering flaw, the plan to fix it, and the execution of that plan were kept secret until 1995.

The story of how an undergraduate engineering student discovered the flaw and called it to the attention of the building’s structural engineer was told in an episode of Roman Mars’ brilliant podcast 99% Invisible, available here. @99percentinvisible

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The automotive Brass Era lasted from about 1896 to 1915, and is named for the brass fittings, such as lights and radiators, used on early cars. “Brass Era automobiles” is a retronym; they were called “horseless carriages” in their time.

These two novelty postcards from Colorado show studio prop automobiles with big brass headlamps and painted backdrops. Both are remarkably similar but different, showing a “Half Way House” on a road some miles away from Denver. Maybe someone from Denver can enlighten me about what or where this scene references.

The prop cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car, which was accurate. The 1908 Ford Model T was the first American car to have the steering wheel on the left side of the car, and some American manufacturers did not switch to left-hand drive until the early 1920s.

Image: United Photo Stores, [Driving to Denver], ca. 1910s, Photographic postcard (left)

Unknown photographer, [Felipe Lopez and man behind a prop car], 1909, Photographic postcard with attached calendar (right)

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Within the narrative details in this watercolor entitled Christmas Dinner for Men on the Trail, artist Charles M. Russell tells a story. The two raking-light details show Russell’s skill with the brush. The museum just published the definitive book on the subject, Charles M. Russell: Watercolors 1887-1926 by Dr. Rick Stewart, with an essay on the artist’s techniques and materials by Jodie Utter, available from the museum store.

In this excerpt, Stewart discusses Christmas Dinner for Men on the Trail:

“The work depicts two cowpunchers traveling with three packhorses through a snow-covered plains landscape. It is blustery and bitterly cold; the horses hump and tuck their tails as gusts of wind-driven snow swirl around them. The leader has halted his horse in a shallow ravine; turning in his saddle, he raises his rifle in triumph to the other man bringing up the rear. In front of him, in the foreground, lies the crumpled body of a freshly killed bull elk with a magnificent set of antlers. But the antlers are not what they are after. They are hunting meat, as evinced by the empty pack saddle on the lead packhorse, and they have hit the jackpot.”

Images: Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Christmas Dinner for the Men on the Trail, 1905, Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite, Amon G. Carter Collection (above)

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), Christmas Dinner for the Men on the Trail [raking-light details], 1905, Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite, Amon G. Carter Collection (below)

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Dr. R. V. Pierce (1840-1914) of Buffalo, New York, operated a successful mail-order business selling patent medicines and nostrum cures in the late-nineteenth century. This color lithograph advertising poster shows the packaging and labels of some of the best-selling concoctions: Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription for the Cure of Chronic Weaknesses and Complaints Peculiar to Females; Dr. Pierce’s Compound Extract of Smart Weed or Water Pepper; Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets, or Sugar-Coated Concentrated Root & Herbal Juice Anti-Bilious Granules; Dr. Pierce’s Alternative Extract or Golden Medical Discovery; and Dr. Sage’s Catarrh Remedy. Judging by their heavy-lidded stares, it appears the adults of the family have been sampling Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription, which included opium and alcohol in its ingredients.

Dr. Pierce went on to a political career, serving in the New York State Senate in 1877-78, and the U.S. House of Representatives from 1879 to 1880, when he resigned due to ill health. Citing his support for free enterprise, Dr. Pierce lobbied against the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Images: Unknown artist, Dr. Pierce’s Family Medicines. 1871-1872, Chromolithograph (top)

Unknown artist, Dr. Pierce’s Family Medicines. [details], 1871-1872, Chromolithograph (bottom)

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.