Getting a good picture of the auto speed trials

Alice Austen is one of the first female photographers, and she lived in Staten Island, NY, at a home built by a Dutch sea captain who settled there in the early 1700s. In this photo Alice sits on a wooden fence post; she holds a camera up to her face and looks toward the left side of the photo.

Less concerned with decorum than with getting a good picture of the auto speed trials, Alice perches on a fencepost while Gertrude Tate quizzically watches the second photographer.*
Auto races brought out Alice's fiercest photographing instincts as she climbed a fence to get a good shot of early speed trials on Staten Island. In 1902, Alice in action was almost as great a shock to Staten Island society as an automobile race, for women were expected to keep their feet on the ground and their hobbies in the parlor.**

Of course, this race did not take place in 1902. 1910 is probably more correct.

Can PreWarCar afficionados identify the car?

Question, information and photo by: Don Bosco, USA

* Pictured in Novotny, p. 163
** Ppublished in the 1951 Life Magazine article "The Newly Discovered Picture World of Alice Austen,"
Extra information: typed inscription on the photo owned by the Staten island Historical Society: "Neg. No. B-39-c Old No. B-XXXVI (4x5) / Alice Austen on / Fence Post / [handwritten] Photographing Auto Racing on / Southfield Blvd. / c.1910 / copy negative made / from old faded print / enclosed in this / container / ..."

Gepubliceerd:

donderdag januari 26th, 2017

Onbekend

28 Januari 2017, 00:07

Ariejan, do you have any further information on the National siren?

The people with Alice were known to be wealthy, so I am surprised that they never put a windshield on the car, especially since they are all wearing heavy coats.

I have a Model 30 Cadillac so I can see many differences, so I don't think it is a Cadillac.

Thanks for everyone's response, since the curators at Richmond Town and I would like to correct the information we have about the photo, which is marked circa 1910.

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Onbekend

27 Januari 2017, 20:58

Thanks Craig for your input. What is strange to me is that a horn appears to be mounted on the passenger side, when horns are usually mounted on the driver's side.

Also the curvature of the front fender, demi-tonneau type cowl and hood louvers are key identifiers.

Still researching!
Don

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27 Januari 2017, 19:36

I think its a model 30 cadillac

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27 Januari 2017, 19:24

it looks like its a cadillac model thirty

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27 Januari 2017, 15:26

There was another article about her recently on another (New York City-oriented) Web site, noting that she was wiped out by the Great Depression She lost her home and spent her later years in a commune on Staten Island.

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Onbekend

27 Januari 2017, 07:49

Indeed closer to 1910, this 1908 Pope-Hartford model M. The car is equipped with speedometer as well as nice example of a 'National' siren, which costed $25,- in those days.

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Onbekend

26 Januari 2017, 23:28

It's a Pope-Hartford, I think from 1908.

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Getting a good picture of the auto speed trials

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