22.00 USD
A hush falls over the audience. Even the calliope is silent now. The ringmaster, with an almost sinister air of mystery, doffs his black silk hat and bows deeply. The air is heavy with the smells of freshly roasted peanuts and apples, popcorn, sawdust, the manure of animals, the sweat of a closely packed crowd. All eyes are glued to the center ring in delighted anticipation of the unknown. What thrilling spectacle is about to unfold? We can expect tightrope-walkers, acrobats, dancers from strange and forbidden kingdoms, that daring young man, or woman, on the flying trapeze, jugglers and clowns. We are under the big top, the largest tent on the circus grounds, its central pole as big around as the trunk of a great tree, reaching from the eye-dazzling lights and sequined sparkles of the central ring, up, up into the heights of impenetrable darkness and gloom.
In this section, "Under the Big Top," we hope to entice you with the romantic images of circus performers, and of variety artists whose acts appeared on the bills not only of circuses, but of those variety shows that played on a stage, at a time when the movie industry was still in its earliest infancy, when, before the advent of television, or even radio, entertainment was always live.
The "Corbeille de la Mort," literally the "Basket of Death," was a sideshow act in which the two daredevils were inside the basket, and began riding around its interior walls, building up speed and climbing higher. We have actually seen this feat performed in an old movie (sorry, cannot remember much more than that or we'd try to find a Youtube clip for you). It was the kind of 50's teen romance film in which a "nice" girl (townie) falls in love with a "bad" boy (biker, carny, you get the idea) who has to prove himself to her father, clear his name, save the Queen of England from an alien menace, etc., etc. :)
In any case, as the daredevils begin climbing higher and higher, the basket walls, which, as you might imagine from the image are somewhat flexible, begin to wobble in and out in a most disconcerting way, eliciting shrieks of delight from the audience, and the passenger leans wayy in to fight against the centrifugal force pulling the bike toward the basket's edge :)
We're dating this image to the 1910s, since the style of motorcycle they're mounted on looks a lot like a pre-WWI motorcycle of the sort produced by Indian, but we are just guessing.
Great image in nice, unposted condition, that would make a fine addition to any collection of early circus, carnival, or motorcycle, images.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!