Vintage Photograph of an Early Motorboat with Two Boats in Tow Emerging from Fog Bank

Photographer Unknown

$24.99

  • Description

  • City: Unknown
  • State: Unknown
  • Country: United States
  • Source: Bodin Collection
  • Approx. Date: Unknown
  • Photographer: Unknown

A thick layer of fog surrounds a motorboat towing two boats through the water in an unspecified region of the United States. The sail of the second boat is fully open, and a man dressed in a white tank top stands on the boat with his back facing the camera. Two men sit in the motorboat towards the front, and a variation of the 13 colonies flag is mounted towards the back of the boat.

Motorboats were first used in the latter half of the 19th century when European scientists experimented with electric and internal-combustion engines. Their use expanded to North America at the turn of the century, with many boats using motors that were adapted from automobile engines. Due to their speed, motorboating grew to be seen as a fun activity during the early 1900s, leading to the first race, the "Harmsworth Cup", being held in 1903. The United States won the Harmsworth Cup in 1907 with their boat, the "Kitty Hawk": it the fastest boat of its time and could travel as many as 50 miles per hour, allowing the US to remain undefeated from 1920 to 1933.

 From the collection of Fred Bodin of Gloucester, MA. Fred was a long time resident and well-known photographer of Gloucester and had one of the best private collections of New England nautical photographs in private hands. Fred was a photojournalist having graduated with this degree from Syracuse University and worked for Yankee Magazine. Fred passed away in 2016 and HIP purchased his collection from his estate.

  • Description

  • City: Unknown
  • State: Unknown
  • Country: United States
  • Source: Bodin Collection
  • Approx. Date: Unknown
  • Photographer: Unknown

A thick layer of fog surrounds a motorboat towing two boats through the water in an unspecified region of the United States. The sail of the second boat is fully open, and a man dressed in a white tank top stands on the boat with his back facing the camera. Two men sit in the motorboat towards the front, and a variation of the 13 colonies flag is mounted towards the back of the boat.

Motorboats were first used in the latter half of the 19th century when European scientists experimented with electric and internal-combustion engines. Their use expanded to North America at the turn of the century, with many boats using motors that were adapted from automobile engines. Due to their speed, motorboating grew to be seen as a fun activity during the early 1900s, leading to the first race, the "Harmsworth Cup", being held in 1903. The United States won the Harmsworth Cup in 1907 with their boat, the "Kitty Hawk": it the fastest boat of its time and could travel as many as 50 miles per hour, allowing the US to remain undefeated from 1920 to 1933.

 From the collection of Fred Bodin of Gloucester, MA. Fred was a long time resident and well-known photographer of Gloucester and had one of the best private collections of New England nautical photographs in private hands. Fred was a photojournalist having graduated with this degree from Syracuse University and worked for Yankee Magazine. Fred passed away in 2016 and HIP purchased his collection from his estate.