Rockville Auto Races, August 25, 1923
Interestingly, horses made the first automobile speed races possible. Harness racing was one of the main attractions at the Rockville Fair race track before the introduction of the automobile and the subsequent popularity of racing cars. The race track was a half-mile dirt racing oval with wide, sweeping curves and a grandstand for spectators, and was easily adapted for bicycles, harness racing, and the sport of car racing.
The use of horse tracks for racing brought another change – the switch from amateur drivers to professionals. Cars were getting bigger and faster, and racing was becoming too dangerous for “gentlemen.” What had begun as entertainment for wealthy car owners had become a professional sport.
From The Evening Star (Washington, DC) 24 August 1923
ROCKVILLE AUTO RACES LISTED FOR TOMORROW
Speed records will be placed in jeopardy at Rockville Fair tomorrow afternoon when a half score of professional drivers will compete in a seven-event program.
Featuring the program is the record trials in which Frank Ripple, Canadian speed star and dirt track champion will drive his 140 horsepower aeroplane motor in an effort to hang up some new marks. Every driver on the track will be eligible to enter the time events, but speed fans look to Ripple.
Two foreign machine and six American-built cars are listed to start.
Early action shots like the ones below are rare, however, Lewis Reed was there to capture six epic moments of race history through the lens of his camera that day.
THE FIRST RACE
From The Baltimore Sun, August 27, 1923:
This is the first year that a Rockville Fair has continued through Saturday. The extra day was added this time as an experiment, the management believing that by substituting new features the additional day could be made a success. Automobile races, the first ever held at Rockville, were the day’s principal attraction and they attracted a good-sized crowd.
Rockville drew huge crowds for auto races. Rockville Fair, August 25, 1923. Photo by Lewis Reed
Dusty Action – 1923 photo of the exciting auto races at Rockville Fair. Five racers are just coming around the bend on this dirt track with their tires spinning up dust in their wake. Photo by Lewis Reed
Race car drivers deep in dust round a turn at the Rockville Fair auto races. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative.
High-powered race cars rounding a wide, sweeping curve at the Rockville Fair auto races, August 25, 1923. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative
Two-man race car. Some early race cars included both a driver and a ‘riding mechanic’. One of the key jobs of the second man in a race car was to look backward and alert the driver to what was going on behind him. Photo by Lewis Reed
Early race car drivers were required to have a riding mechanic, otherwise it was voluntary. Riding mechanics, who in addition to being lookouts, kept an eye on tire wear and would even hop out of the car and run back through the infield to get fuel.
This photograph was featured as a part of the ‘London Array’ Series of Impossible Engineering that was broadcast on January 24, 2019 on Discovery’s Science Channel. The photograph was used on the program that featured a segment on the development of the race car.
More dirt track action. Skinny tires make for slippery turns. Photo by Lewis Reed.
ALONG WITH AUTO RACES, AUTO POLO DEBUTED AT THE ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Washington Post, August 25, 1923
Note in the program above, that in addition to racing, there were two auto polo events.
WHAT ON EARTH IS AUTO POLO?
Given that early automobiles were marketed as replacement horses, it was inevitable that the game of auto-polo would be invented. The idea of playing polo with cars had been tossed around starting in about 1900. It took 10 years, and the Ford Model T, to make it practical.
In 1912, some people thought it would be a good idea to strip the bodies off Model Ts, and put together some two-car teams to whack a ball around with mallets. On July 12, they did just that, playing with oversized croquet mallets and a two-pound, basketball-sized ball. Two cars took the field, and two more tended their respective goals.
From The Daily News, Frederick, Maryland, August 24, 1923:
Thousands of people attended the Fair on Thursday, which was the biggest day of the week, at least from the attendance standpoint. By two-o’clock the grandstand was so crowded that even standing room was at a premium. The racing events of the afternoon were unusually good. As special grandstand features there were auto polo and stunt riding.
Any form of safety was completely absent, unless you count the occasional presence of a hat. The cars were protected with roll bars in back and around the radiator, but the drivers, not so much. The game consisted of five 10-minute periods. It was hard on drivers, cars, and the field. There was no limit on car substitutions, and as many as a half-a-dozen per team might be demolished during the game, along with the stands, goalposts, referees (on foot on the field) and anything else that got in their way.
1922 auto polo match in Los Angeles. The referees job is very dangerous as the cars careen about the field and smash into each other. Google stock image.
All we hope is that this lunatic game will not spread.Automobile Topics, Nov. 16, 1912
AUTO RACES MARK END OF 5-DAY ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Sunday Star, Washington, DC, August 26, 1923:
Thrilling automobile races brought the annual Rockville Fair to a close this afternoon. The sport was as innovation so far as Rockville was concerned.
Seven high-powered cars, operated by some of the crack drivers of the country, participated. The events ranged from one to ten miles in distance, and some fast time was made. Excepting that of Thursday, the largest crowd of the five days was on hand.
Auto Polo Credit: May 2010 issue of Hemmings Motor News
Lewis Reed Glass Plate Negatives Collection
Lewis Reed’s love of photography began at a very young age, at a time when most families did not own a camera. The oldest photo in his collection (Fearon’s Pharmacy, pictured below) is dated 1898, which would have made him around 11-12 years old when he started using a camera.
Vinson’s Drug Store Fearon’s Pharmacy (as named in the window). (also Owen’s and Vinson’s at other times). L to R Tom Talbott, Wardlow Mason, Otho Talbott, unknown, Dr. Fearon. Photo by Lewis Reed, ca. 1898.
The print below was originally made from Lewis Reed’s glass negatives collection. His full collection dates from about 1898 to 1960, and includes 280 glass negatives and 2500+ photographic prints, the majority of them more than 100 years old. The early 1900s were considered by many to be the golden era of early photography, because of its new availability to the public and somewhat simplified production methods. Many of Lewis Reed’s early photographs are now part of Montgomery History’s photo archives.
The following is an excerpt taken from the Summer 2011 edition of the Montgomery County Historical Society Newsletter.
The Sween Library was recently given a collection of 280 glass plate negatives, showing Montgomery County in the early 20th century. Lewis Reed was a well-known photographer in the county as well as owner (along with his brother Edgar) of Reed Brothers, the Rockville automobile dealership. The collection was donated to the Society by Mr. Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane Reed Gartner.
There are scenes of different areas of the county, buildings, events such as the county fair, and local people. These are a welcomed addition to our growing graphics collection.
Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative, showing the Reed Brothers dealership in 1922. On the top left, you can see a crack in the glass.
The photograph below shows Lewis Reed and his family posing in front of a camera set up on a tripod. Lewis Reed is holding a dry glass plate encased inside a holder in his left hand to protect it from the light. Because Lewis used dry plates, he could carry them to locations and expose them, then carry them back to his darkroom to process them. He developed all of his own photographs in a darkroom in his house — in the kitchen, to be exact — and worked at night to develop the negatives. He likely needed considerable chemical and technical knowledge to develop the plates and print photographs.
On location, once he had identified the subject of the potential photograph, the dry glass plate holder would be inserted into the camera, the cover would be removed from the holder to reveal the negative, the lens cover quickly removed to take the photograph and re-covered, and finally the plate holder cover replaced before it was taken out of the camera. Lewis Reed wrote in pencil on the back of the holder a brief subject description. The image on the negative would then be stored to develop at a later point in a darkroom.
Nel Thomas Hollis, Ethelene Reed, daughter Mary Jane, and Lewis Reed at West Virginia Coal Mine, ca. 1926.
Photography became a lifelong passion for Lewis Reed that expanded in later years to include movies that he made not only of his family, but on his several trips to various parts of the world. The majority of photo prints from his albums were taken during the early part of the 20th century (ca. 1900-1930). His entire collection spans more than six decades and showcases his love for people, automobiles, events, landmarks, and travel throughout the first half of the 20th century.
He had a great eye for composition and seemed to be drawn to historical events and landmark locations, including the Smithsonian, Capitol, Union Station, Old Post Office, Library of Congress, Raleigh Hotel, grading of Massachusetts Ave in DC, and Key Bridge. There are also photographs of many non-Maryland locations including the historic landmark “Lucy the Elephant”, Gettysburg Battlefield/Monuments, Mount Vernon, Pennsylvania Monument and United States Regulars Monuments while under construction, and Quebec Bridge (the 8th Wonder of the World).
Wright Brothers Military Flyer in its hangar at Fort Myer, Virginia. Photo by Lewis Reed, 1908
Other highlights include Montgomery County Grist Mills, Rockville’s first pipe stem water tower, 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair, and rare photos of the Wright Brothers Flyer in a demonstration at Fort Myer, VA. Especially stunning are images of the aftermath of the 1936 Gainesville Georgia tornado, one of the deadliest tornadoes in American history. He also took aftermath photos of the 1929 Montgomery County F3 Tornado that devastated northeastern Montgomery County.
If there’s an historical wayside marker on the side of the road in Montgomery County, chances are, one of Lewis Reed’s images is on it. Some of the markers that display his photographs include the Andrew Small Academy Marker in Darnestown, The Origins of Darnestown Marker, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station Marker in Gaithersburg, From Trolley to Trail Marker in Bethesda, Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church Marker in Rockville and the 19th Century Crossroads Marker in Darnestown.
B&O Railroad Station Historical Marker located on South Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg, MD.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station in Gaithersburg. Original photograph displayed on the marker taken by Lewis Reed in 1911.
Of particular interest is Lewis Reed’s collection of manipulated photographs. He was 100 years ahead of his time by creating special effects to images long before the convenience and efficiency of digital photography and Photoshop were ever imaginable. Lewis Reed used a wide variety of effects, including hand-tinting, double exposure, applied handwork, and creating images that made it look as if there were ghosts in the picture. It’s pretty amazing how his early photography shows such versatility and creativity considering the limited tools that were available at the time.
A double exposure image of Lewis Reed’s brother, Edgar, seated on both sides of a table. Photo by Lewis Reed
In the double exposure photo above, Lewis Reed’s brother, Edgar, is playing cards with himself. The thing to look out for is to see that nothing inanimate in the scene is moved during the time of making the two pictures — in this case, you can tell the angle of the camera changed slightly when Edgar moved to the other side of the table for the second shot.
His photographs comprise a remarkable historic record of Montgomery County life in the early 20th century.
First Rockville Auto Races, August 25, 1923
From The Evening Star (Washington, DC) 24 August 1923
ROCKVILLE AUTO RACES LISTED FOR TOMORROW
Speed records will be placed in jeopardy at Rockville Fair tomorrow afternoon when a half score of professional drivers will compete in a seven-event program.
Featuring the program is the record trials in which Frank Ripple, Canadian speed star and dirt track champion will drive his 140 horsepower aeroplane motor in an effort to hang up some new marks. Every driver on the track will be eligible to enter the time events, but speed fans look to Ripple.
Two foreign machine and six American-built cars are listed to start.
Early action shots like the ones in this post are rare, however, the following photographs were taken by Lewis Reed at the Rockville Fairgrounds in 1923. The photographs were from the first incarnation of the Fair, held by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society (1846-1932) in Rockville, and often known simply as the “Rockville Fair.”
THE FIRST RACE
From The Baltimore Sun, August 27, 1923:
This is the first year that a Rockville Fair has continued through Saturday. The extra day was added this time as an experiment, the management believing that by substituting new features the additional day could be made a success. Automobile races, the first ever held at Rockville, were the day’s principal attraction and they attracted a good-sized crowd.
Rockville drew huge crowds for auto races. Rockville Fair, August 25, 1923. Photo by Lewis Reed
Dusty Action – 1923 photo of the exciting auto races at Rockville Fair. Five racers are just coming around the bend on this dirt track with their tires spinning up dust in their wake. Photo by Lewis Reed
Race car drivers deep in dust round a turn at the Rockville Fair auto races. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative.
High-powered race cars rounding a wide, sweeping curve at the Rockville Fair auto races, August 25, 1923. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative
Two-man race car. Some early race cars included both a driver and a ‘riding mechanic’. One of the key jobs of the second man in a race car was to look backward and alert the driver to what was going on behind him. Photo by Lewis Reed
Early race car drivers were required to have a riding mechanic, otherwise it was voluntary. Riding mechanics, who in addition to being lookouts, kept an eye on tire wear and would even hop out of the car and run back through the infield to get fuel.
This photograph was featured as a part of the ‘London Array’ Series of Impossible Engineering that was broadcast on January 24, 2019 on Discovery’s Science Channel. The photograph was used on the program that featured a segment on the development of the race car.
More dirt track action. Skinny tires make for slippery turns. Photo by Lewis Reed.
ALONG WITH AUTO RACES, AUTO POLO DEBUTED AT THE ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Washington Post, August 25, 1923
Note in the program above, that in addition to racing, there were two auto polo events.
WHAT ON EARTH IS AUTO POLO?
Given that early automobiles were marketed as replacement horses, it was inevitable that the game of auto-polo would be invented. The idea of playing polo with cars had been tossed around starting in about 1900. It took 10 years, and the Ford Model T, to make it practical.
In 1912, some people thought it would be a good idea to strip the bodies off Model Ts, and put together some two-car teams to whack a ball around with mallets. On July 12, they did just that, playing with oversized croquet mallets and a two-pound, basketball-sized ball. Two cars took the field, and two more tended their respective goals.
From The Daily News, Frederick, Maryland, August 24, 1923:
Thousands of people attended the Fair on Thursday, which was the biggest day of the week, at least from the attendance standpoint. By two-o’clock the grandstand was so crowded that even standing room was at a premium. The racing events of the afternoon were unusually good. As special grandstand features there were auto polo and stunt riding.
Any form of safety was completely absent, unless you count the occasional presence of a hat. The cars were protected with roll bars in back and around the radiator, but the drivers, not so much. The game consisted of five 10-minute periods. It was hard on drivers, cars, and the field. There was no limit on car substitutions, and as many as a half-a-dozen per team might be demolished during the game, along with the stands, goalposts, referees (on foot on the field) and anything else that got in their way.
1922 auto polo match in Los Angeles. The referees job is very dangerous as the cars careen about the field and smash into each other. Google stock image.
All we hope is that this lunatic game will not spread.Automobile Topics, Nov. 16, 1912
AUTO RACES MARK END OF 5-DAY ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Sunday Star, Washington, DC, August 26, 1923:
Thrilling automobile races brought the annual Rockville Fair to a close this afternoon. The sport was as innovation so far as Rockville was concerned.
Seven high-powered cars, operated by some of the crack drivers of the country, participated. The events ranged from one to ten miles in distance, and some fast time was made. Excepting that of Thursday, the largest crowd of the five days was on hand.
Auto Polo Credit: May 2010 issue of Hemmings Motor News
First Auto Races at Rockville Fair Speedway
If only the grandstands at the Rockville Fairgrounds could talk. The stories it could tell – it would tell stories of great racing – first on horses, bicycles and motorcycles, and then in cars. This grandstand could talk about the rich history of racing that took place on the half mile-long dirt track which attracted high-power cars operated by some of the most noted speed kings of the country.
The most delightful way to reach the Fair from Washington, DC was by trolley. The trolley line passed through one of the most beautiful suburbs of Washington and the fertile farms of Montgomery County. The landscape would have been just beginning to give a little evidence of the autumn harvest time approaching. The immense cornfields, with their large well-developed ears; the many orchards, with bright-colored apples; the deep green of the ripening meadow grasses, the contrasting freshly plowed furrows, in preparation for wheat sowing, make a rural landscape charming to all travelers.
The fairgrounds underwent great change in the early 1900s. The grounds were enlarged by the addition of about five acres. A half-mile race course was constructed, a new and grandstand was erected, and various other improvements were made to the buildings and grounds, all of which made the Rockville fairgrounds up-to-date in every respect. Montgomery County could well boast of the nicest fairgrounds in the State.
Early action shots like the ones in this post are rare, however, the following photographs were taken by Lewis Reed at the Rockville Fairgrounds in 1923. The photographs were from the first incarnation of the Fair, held by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society (1846-1932) in Rockville, and often known simply as the “Rockville Fair.”
THE FIRST RACE
From The Baltimore Sun, August 27, 1923:
This is the first year that a Rockville Fair has continued through Saturday. The extra day was added this time as an experiment, the management believing that by substituting new features the additional day could be made a success. Automobile races, the first ever held at Rockville, were the day’s principal attraction and they attracted a good-sized crowd.
Rockville drew huge crowds for auto races. Rockville Fair, August 25, 1923. Photo by Lewis Reed
Dusty Action – 1923 photo of the exciting auto races at Rockville Fair. Five racers are just coming around the bend on this dirt track with their tires spinning up dust in their wake. Photo by Lewis Reed
Race car drivers deep in dust round a turn at the Rockville Fair auto races. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative.
High-powered race cars rounding a wide, sweeping curve at the Rockville Fair auto races, August 25, 1923. Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative
Two-man race car. Some early race cars included both a driver and a ‘riding mechanic’. One of the key jobs of the second man in a race car was to look backward and alert the driver to what was going on behind him. Photo by Lewis Reed
Early race car drivers were required to have a riding mechanic, otherwise it was voluntary. Riding mechanics, who in addition to being lookouts, kept an eye on tire wear and would even hop out of the car and run back through the infield to get fuel.
This photograph was featured as a part of the ‘London Array’ Series of Impossible Engineering that was broadcast on January 24, 2019 on Discovery’s Science Channel. The photograph was used on the program that featured a segment on the development of the race car.
More dirt track action. Skinny tires make for slippery turns. Photo by Lewis Reed.
ALONG WITH AUTO RACES, AUTO POLO DEBUTED AT THE ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Washington Post, August 25, 1923
Note in the program above, that in addition to racing, there were two auto polo events.
WHAT ON EARTH IS AUTO POLO?
Given that early automobiles were marketed as replacement horses, it was inevitable that the game of auto-polo would be invented. The idea of playing polo with cars had been tossed around starting in about 1900. It took 10 years, and the Ford Model T, to make it practical.
In 1912, some people thought it would be a good idea to strip the bodies off Model Ts, and put together some two-car teams to whack a ball around with mallets. On July 12, they did just that, playing with oversized croquet mallets and a two-pound, basketball-sized ball. Two cars took the field, and two more tended their respective goals.
From The Daily News, Frederick, Maryland, August 24, 1923:
Thousands of people attended the Fair on Thursday, which was the biggest day of the week, at least from the attendance standpoint. By two-o’clock the grandstand was so crowded that even standing room was at a premium. The racing events of the afternoon were unusually good. As special grandstand features there were auto polo and stunt riding.
Any form of safety was completely absent, unless you count the occasional presence of a hat. The cars were protected with roll bars in back and around the radiator, but the drivers, not so much. The game consisted of five 10-minute periods. It was hard on drivers, cars, and the field. There was no limit on car substitutions, and as many as a half-a-dozen per team might be demolished during the game, along with the stands, goalposts, referees (on foot on the field) and anything else that got in their way.
1922 auto polo match in Los Angeles. The referees job is very dangerous as the cars careen about the field and smash into each other. Google stock image.
All we hope is that this lunatic game will not spread.Automobile Topics, Nov. 16, 1912
AUTO RACES MARK END OF 5-DAY ROCKVILLE FAIR
From The Sunday Star, Washington, DC, August 26, 1923:
Thrilling automobile races brought the annual Rockville Fair to a close this afternoon. The sport was as innovation so far as Rockville was concerned.
Seven high-powered cars, operated by some of the crack drivers of the country, participated. The events ranged from one to ten miles in distance, and some fast time was made. Excepting that of Thursday, the largest crowd of the five days was on hand.
Auto Polo Credit: May 2010 issue of Hemmings Motor News
Kindle Updates
Get This Blog Delivered To Your Kindle
Books
Visitor Flags
Related Resources
Copyright Notice
Reed Brothers Dodge History (1915-2012) by Jeanne Gartner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915 – 2012 
Recent Comments