The flying Merkel ... J.P. Schantin crossing the great American desert on his flying Merkel motorcycle – Vintage Wall Art
(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
This vintage poster of The flying Merkel ... J.P. Schantin crossing the great American desert on his flying Merkel motorcycle brings a moment of history to your wall. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
The flying Merkel ... J.P. Schantin crossing the great American desert on his flying Merkel motorcycle
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The poster shows J.P. Schantin crossing the "great American desert" on a flying Merkel motorcycle, with a sunrise or sunset behind him that gives the scene its glowing color. Copyrighted by the Miamicycle Manufacturing Company and dated around 1913, it belongs to a wave of advertising that used long-distance rides to prove that machines could handle rough country. Many roads west of the Mississippi were then unpaved tracks, so a rider crossing open desert made a vivid case for reliability. The poster's focus on the sky and the solitary rider is worth noticing, since it sells the journey as much as the machine.
| Created / published | c1913. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print (poster) : color. |
| Genre | Advertisements 1910-1920.Posters American 1910-1920.Prints Color 1910-1920. |
| Notes | Copyright by Miamicycle & Mfg. Co. Promotional goal: U.S. C71. 1913. |
| Subjects | Motorcycles--1910-1920. Sunrises & sunsets--1910-1920. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,072 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-172699 |
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