Actresses as bicycle riders [7 illustrations of actresses with bicycles: 1. Effie Ellsler; 2. Cissy Fitzgerald; 3. Anna Held; 4. Queenie Vassar; 5. Mrs. James Brown Potter; 6. Miss Georgia Cayvan; 7. Miss Lillian Russell] – Antique Print
![Actresses as bicycle riders [7 illustrations of actresses with bicycles: 1. Effie Ellsler; 2. Cissy Fitzgerald; 3. Anna Held; 4. Queenie Vassar; 5. Mrs. James Brown Potter; 6. Miss Georgia Cayvan; 7. Miss Lillian Russell], 1896 — historic print](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/fb/fb4ffdff1d4f-L.webp)
(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
Actresses as bicycle riders [7 illustrations of actresses with bicycles: 1. Effie Ellsler; 2. Cissy Fitzgerald; 3. Anna Held; 4. Queenie Vassar; 5. Mrs. James Brown Potter; 6. Miss Georgia Cayvan; 7. Miss Lillian Russell] comes to life in this historic print, 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.
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Actresses as bicycle riders [7 illustrations of actresses with bicycles: 1. Effie Ellsler; 2. Cissy Fitzgerald; 3. Anna Held; 4. Queenie Vassar; 5. Mrs. James Brown Potter; 6. Miss Georgia Cayvan; 7. Miss Lillian Russell]
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Seven stage actresses appear in this set, from Effie Ellsler and Anna Held to Lillian Russell, each photographed with a bicycle. The image dates to 1896, when cycling was at the height of its popularity, and performers were often shown on wheels to draw attention and to suggest that the new machine was an acceptable pastime for women. The series ran in *Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper*, a New York weekly that used the halftone process, still fairly new to periodicals, to reproduce photographs in quantity.
| Created / published | 1896 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 7 prints : halftone. |
| Subjects | Halftone repros. of photoprint. Title and other information transcribed from caption card. Illus. in: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 83 (1896 Dec. 3), p. 365. Caption card tracings: Sports--Bicycles; Women--; Actresses; B.I. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 897 × 1,536 px · prints to 3 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-172134 |
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