Mystery Foto #3 Solved: Vincenzo Lancia at the end of a 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race in Mineola
Did you solve this weekend's Mystery Foto?
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
Identify the following:
- The location and orientation of the photographer
From the officials' stand on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola. The photographer was looking southwest towards the Start/Finish line.
- The Vanderbilt Cup Race and date of the photo
The 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race held on October 14,1905.
- The racer, driver and mechanician in the Foto
Italian driver Vincenzo Lancia and mechanician Battista Alissa driving the #4 FIAT.
- What was happening with the crowd?
This photograph was taken after Lancia completed the ten laps of the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race. After Joe Tracy finished the race, Lancia's racer was mobbed by spectators.
What observations can you make about society of the era based on the Foto?
Every spectator in the Foto was wearing a hat or cap. Here is a description of the importance of hats in the 1900s:
Fashion-Era.com: Why we wear hats
Etiquette and formality have played their part in hat wearing. At the turn of the 20th century in 1900, both men and women changed their hats dependent on their activity, but for many ladies of some social standing it would be several times a day.
Etiquette articles suggest that it would be A disgraceful act to venture out of the house without a hat or even gloves. One record tells of a young lady venturing out to post a letter without her hat and gloves and being severely reprimanded for not being appropriately dressed. The post box was situated a few yards from her front garden gate.
In the Edwardian age it did not matter if you were poor or rich, old or a child, whatever the status a person wore a hat, only beggars went bareheaded. Even militant suffragettes did not campaign without a hat. The hat would be fairly functional in style and form, but a hat was still worn.
Comments (4)
Congrats to Greg O. and Steve Luca for identifying Lancia in the #4 FIAT during the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Kudos to Greg O., Steve Lucas, Allen Hayward and Al Prete for noting the importance of the hat during this era.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Close-Ups
After the Mystery Foto
As described in this Mystery Foto, Peter Prunty and his megaphone was called upon to clear the course in order for Lancia to go to the official weigh-in station in Albertson.
Comments
-The location and orientation of the photographer
Jericho Tpke in Mineola looking southwest from the press box at the finish line.
-The Vanderbilt Cup Race and date of the photo
1905 Cup Race on Saturday, October 14, 1905
-The racer, driver and mechanician in the Foto
#4 FIAT driven by Italian Vincenzo Lancia. Mechanician Alissa
-What was happening with the crowd?
The crowd was mobbing 4th place finisher, Lancia.
-What observations can you make about society of the era based on the Foto?
There is not a single person ANYWHERE in the crowd not wearing a hat!
Back in the day the Foto was taken, no well-respected person would be caught in public without a hat. That’s all I can say, because I have no clue.
Every person in that crowd is wearing some type of head covering. Not one person is hatless. That’s pretty remarkable to me!
The photographer was facing south (or maybe slightly southwest) on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola near the start-finish line for the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race on October 14, 1905. That’s Vincenzo Lancia in the #4 FIAT. The mechanician is Battista Alissa, Batista Ajassa, or Ajassa Batissa, or something like that. The winner of the race had already been decided so the crowd swarmed around Lancia who was one of the more popular drivers and was actually still in the running for third place. Observations: it must have been illegal to leave your home without a hat; only one woman for every 200 men was allowed to attend a sporting event.
Interesting historical foot note; a mere 60 years later in 1960, with the incoming much-beloved president JFK, who was known to not wear a hat, wearing a hat suddenly became a thing of the past.
Steve, It’s Ajassa Battesta