Keating Cycles Poster, 1890s

There is no particular reason to blog about this but why not.


From the Library of Congress

Title Keating cycles. 365 days ahead of them all / Keating Wheel Co., Holyoke, Mass.
Date Created/Published Phila. : Ketterlinus, [189-?]
Medium 1 print (poster) : color.
Summary Man on bicycle, and winged woman with wreath alongside him.
Reproduction Number LC-USZC4-3028 (color film copy transparency)
Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/94508248/

As is often the case (if not always) with digitized posters at LC, this is not digitized directly from the poster but rather is digitized from a color transparency (slide) that was produced at some point. So the quality is not as good as it would be if digitized directly from the original with the right device. I have cropped down to the poster, leaving out the color bar that is in the image as provided by LC. Also, the online presentation at LC only provides the thumbnail offsite but since the item is clearly in the public domain I have created a derivative image from the TIFF that is better than a thumbnail (and also better than the two JPEGs available if you were at LC) available if you click on the image above.

I am not that knowledgable about art, but I think this poster is mostly noteworthy for the somewhat risque approach used to sell bicycles with the "winged goddess" in a state of semi-undress. There seems to be something not quite right with the perspective so that it appears her nose is buried in the fellow's armpit. Also, the bike is rendered somewhat oddly, for example the headtube appears to be exceptionally long while the chainring is too small - presumably in error.