1915 Washington DC Motorcycle Club Vintage Scene Panoramic Print

1915 Washington DC Motorcycle Club Vintage Scene Panoramic Print

Archival Photographic Paper 60” long x 10” high

Image size is 59 5/8” long x 9 3/8” high

Click for larger view of the Print

This amazing 1915 panoramic photograph was taken in front of the white house on October 31, 1915 by the most well-known panoramic photographer in this region Fred Schutz during the heyday of this style of photographic imagery. His images date from as early as 1910 up to around 1961. This photograph was intended to document the Washington Motorcycle Clubs’ Annual Sociability Run to Baltimore, Maryland.

Fred and his staff took over 10,000 images. He was hired by countless civilian groups, fire departments, baseball teams, Police Departments and the US government who sent him to Europe during and after the WWII. He also took wide or yard long images with his Cirkut Camera equipment of at least four Presidential Inaugurations.

This high quality, digitally improved and enhanced image was printed on archival photographic paper by the current owner of the Fred Schutz collection; someone Bob has known over 40 years. They met back around 1985 when Bob’s BMW was still a dream and the business operated under the name of Bob’s Used Parts, Inc.

Having acquired an original copy by chance (which started Bob’s collection of such images) before starting BUP, Inc. Bob eventually met the owner of this collection (Ed Segal) and had him print 300 copies (6 orders of 50 each) from the original 8” high negative to sell to his customers but when the time came to order another 50 prints several years later the negative was found to be missing, apparently misfiled in that 10,000 negative collection. It has never been found and many others have deteriorated over time due to age and storage.

Thankfully, the current collection owner and son of the original photographer is also a photographer, with a panoramic specialty and had stayed in touch with Bob over the last 30 plus years. Mark was able to recently digitize this amazing historical image and offer it up to Bob with exclusive representation again.  However, this time it is presented in a slighter larger size, increasing the clarity and sharpness far beyond the original print Bob still has hanging on his wall offers to viewers. While nearly all the people are unknown to Bob or others (please let us know if you recognize a family member), it was discovered some 30 years ago that his wife’s best friend’s grandfather is in this image along with his motorcycle.

Today, the roughly 45-mile ride would take 90 to 120 minutes depending on your route and traffic and avoiding any highways or direct, fast routes. Back in 1915 it likely would have taken all day to get there and back and it would have been commonplace for a noticeable percentage of the 36 riders (solo bikes and sidecar rigs) to have needed to stop and repair a flat tire by patching the inner rubber tube. Look closely, you’ll see a general lack of tread and even bald tires on several Harley, Indian, Excelsior or one of a possible 106 brands of US motorcycles available before 1915.

This was due to the general road conditions of the time as well as the quality of the tires and tubes and a testament to how long riders might have used each before finally replacing a worn- out tire. Tubes were often patched multiple times before being replaced. The Vintage BMW Motorcycle Museum has a red rubber tube which has 5 repair patches on it and was removed from a very original, unrestored 1929 BMW R57.