Indianapolis balloon race, 1909 – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Indianapolis balloon race, 1909 comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Indianapolis balloon race, 1909
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The record places this picture in Indianapolis in 1909, when balloon contests drew large crowds to open fields where gas-filled bags were inflated and launched before a watching public. It comes from the George Grantham Bain Collection, the New York news-photo archive whose pictures were sold to newspapers and magazines, so it was likely taken as a news image of a recent event rather than a studio portrait. Early balloon races of this kind were still a novelty, shortly before airplanes began to overshadow them, and photographs like this one preserve the crowds, equipment and ground-level bustle of that brief era.
| Created / published | 1909 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Subjects | Title and other information transcribed from caption card and item. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). Caption card tracings: Ind.--Indianapolis--1909; Balloon racing; Geogr.; Balloons; Racing; Shelf. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 2,149 × 1,500 px · prints to 7 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-151113 |
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