|
A superb and rare photo, made from what we believe is the original negative, of a true classic board track scene, showing the magnificent Curly Fredericks on his Indian 61 ci Altoona Powerplus racer, just before the start of the Rockingham board track race in 1926. During this epic race Fredericks would lap the 1 1/4 mile long track with a new record speed of 120 mph (193 km/h)! It would be the fastest ever recorded lap ever during a board track race!! The Rockingham board track was located near the town of Salem in New Hampshire. Fredericks is seen on an Indian 61 c.i. V-twin Altoona Powerplus factory racer. This strikingly fast machine was designed by famous Indian motorcycle designer Charles B. Franklin. In many occasions this machine was quicker then Indian’s and H-D’s 8-valve racing machines! Board track racing was as popular as it was dangerous in the 1910s and 1920s. Basically racing was done on a wooden, banked oval that was made up of two by fours. The rough wooden surface was often heavily splintered due to the unleash of raw motorcycle power on the soft, easy to deteriorate, wood. Not only that, but the bikes normally had a total-loss oiling system. After its lubrication duty, the oil simply seeped out of the engine on the wooden track, making it besides splintery also very slippery. Combine this with the fact that the riders did not have the protective clothing as they have now and mix in the speeds that easily exceeded 100 mph and you will understand that board track races were greeted with great excitement, fear, and anxiousness by both the public as the riders. Clearly the board tracks were not the most ideal venues for racing, but in an era where spectator orientated bicycle racing domes initially were also considered ideal for motorized bicycle racing, it was hard to change locations. Board track racing was a true American specialty, though as this photo shows also in Europe board track racing was a phenomenon! The men that raced on these early tracks were specialists that rode on the limit of what the motorcycle could possibly offer, despite all the dangers. No wonder that these men grew out to symbols of pure motorcycling heroism! This wonderful photo reflects that golden era of board track racing as no other. How exciting where those times! The negative comes from the collection of one of the worlds oldest Harley Davidson dealers that was in business from the early 1910’s until the end of the 1970’s. We took over the old inventory from the grandson of the owner. There was a lot of literature amongst the inventory, mostly very old, and amongst the Harley literature was also quite a bit of Indian and other American motorcycle literature. There are a lot of old negatives, both on celluloid as glass plates, in the files we took over, we consider this material very historic. This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of Indian ‘s motorcycle history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 9" (ca. 20 x 22.5 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing! Take advantage of our shipping discount, up to 5 photos for only $5.00 shipping Priority Air Mail and for 5 or more photos, shipping is FREE, also Priority Air Mail! Ask any questions before the auctions ends, please. Bidders from the Netherlands, please contact us first before placing a bid. And, to bring the classic era to life in the very best quality that is photographic possible, the photo will be a sepia photograph - In the beginning of the 1880s, sepia was produced by adding a very light brown “sepia†pigment (made from the Sepia cuttlefish) to the positive print of a photograph. The chemical process involved, converts any remaining metallic silver of the photographic emulsion on a black white photo to a sulphide which is much more resistant to breakdown over time. This is why many old photographs are sepia toned— as those are the ones that have survived until today! Since our archives focuses on the preservation of its (photographic) material, we decided to follow the guidelines of the European SEPIA project, and improve quality of our traditionally black & white photographs by processing them in sepia. Since we use the best materials possible, the difference in color-tone will be absolutely minimal.
Place a Bid!
|