Breguet's Pre-1914 ID Challenge #437

[aerohydro]

For this Challenge, it'll be sufficient just to specify the location of the scene. As far as I know, little matters such as exactly when this photo was taken, and who the aeronaut was, have yet to be uncovered. The balloon, however, is distinctive enough that perhaps one day a name can be associated with it.

It was while searching for answers to a 1919-39 ID Challenge posted by Ron Bailey elsewhere on the Forum that this little endeavour was stumbled upon. There's also a small cache of photos - taken at the same event - that are well worth sharing ... and once this Challenge has been answered, they will be!

Cheers,
Paul

Scoreboard at the start of Challenge #437:

86.40 Rbailey
82.60 aerohydro
52.95 Varese2002
40.20 Aquilius
30.50 Rod_Filan
29.45 richard B
**************
(those above this section must wait 24 hours before answering)
**************
22.30 Tork1945
9.40 Airarticles
9.00 Doc
8.50 Lodzermensch
7.70 ermeio
7.30 matte_kudasai
7.30 YavorD
6.30 AnYun
6.00 Cruze
6.00 Flamingo
5.00 sobrien
5.35 Froggy
**************
(those immediately above this section must wait 12 hours before answering.)
**************
4.20 Wind In The Wires
3.30 berman
3.00 joegertler
3.00 sodium
1.60 Mattyboy
1.00 matthewk
1.00 Catfish
1.00 dhc2pilot
1.00 paolomiana
1.00 Tripehound Flyboy
0.20 EricGoedkoop

Previous challenges are here: Breguet's Pre-1914 Aircraft Challenge.

The rules are:

1. The thread title must be "Breguet's Pre-1914 ID Challenge #......".
2. The score board, link and rules must be copied to the beginning of each thread, so that we know where we are. The score board and the correct answer to the challenge must also be placed at end of each thread.
3. The flying object must have been dreamt up before 1914 (no limit backwards in time ....).
4. There are no limits to the flying object for the pre-1914 series. There is no ruling that it must be flown, or completely built.
5. Machines which exist only as 'paper', that is absolutely no material has been cut to construct it, are excluded from this ID Challenge.
6. The picture / drawing must show as much of the flying object as possible, but views showing the machine 'incomplete' are possible (with discretion).
7. Challenges which depict a machine already earlier presented are disqualified.
8. If there is any doubt as to the eligibility of a flying object for the challenge details should be PM'd to Breguet BEFORE the object is submitted.
9. Once someone has received 5 (five) points, they belong to ROYALTY, and must wait 12hrs after the posting of the new challenge before they can post an answer. Once someone has achieved 25 (twentyfive) points, they must wait 24hrs after the original post before being able to post an answer.
10. In order to correctly identify the flying object, an answer must mention a characteristic of the design which has helped with its identification, or include a reference to a publication or website, which will confirm the attribution.
11. The first person to ID the challenge correctly gets to post the next challenge. If this can not be done for any reason Breguet himself will post the next challenge.
12. If a ROYALTY gives the correct answer too early, the challenge is over, he gets no point but has to post the next one. In lieu of the fact that the "novices" have in effect been "cheated" of their "exclusive" time that next post should be a relatively easy one. Anyone repeating the correct answer at the right time gets neither a point nor the right to post the next challenge.
13. The final arbitrator in relation to questions about the rules will be Breguet.

[Rod_Filan]

.. a small cache of photos - taken at the same event ..

Fargo, North Dakota. In an empty lot on the 300 block of Broadway next to the Fargo Lime & Fuel Co.

Right around the turn of the century, spanning the years between the late 1890s and circa 1904. No later--see attached. I would have said maybe even earlier if it wasn't for the safety bicycle in one of the photos.

*edit* ...identified by its distinctive upper and lower two-tone colouring and overall shape.



Cheers

[Rod_Filan]

Taken from the roof of the Fargo Post Office during the Red River flood of 1897.

Notice the walls of a ruined building in the foreground of the Fargo Lime & Fuel Co. sign. This is a remnant of the destruction caused by the Great Fire of 1893. The depression from where the balloon was launched is under water as you'd expect it to be. Seemingly, the surrounding area beyond in this photo has been rebuilt moreso than it appears in the balloon photographs - however the balloon shots (except the challenge photo) are taken from below street level, so it's hard to make a clear determination looking in this direction.

A quick look into available searchable newspaper records for Fargo at the NDSU University Archives reveals a balloon in town a year earlier. The Fargo Forum of July 3, 1896 reported that, "Fargo's birthday, the great celebration of the silver anniversary of the settlement of Fargo will occur tomorrow .." and included a mention of a balloon ascension by T. I. Cash and Edward Lowe**. ** "balloon ascension by..." I take to be an archivist's summary note, not a quote from the article.

The scene, a beautiful sunny day - the many umbrellas testifying to the heat - could very well be the Fourth of July.

At this point I haven't found Cash or Lowe. Although, I usually do find my cash is low.

Cheers

[aerohydro]

Hello Rod,

Thanks for the replies. You're spot on with the ID, such as that that can be attributed to the image.

The photo used for the Challenge comes from the Digital Horizons archive run by the North Dakota State University. At that archive, the photo is tagged as being associated with the "Fargo Fire Festival" which had been an annual event run from the late 1890s through to WWI, celebrating Fargo's rebuilding after a devastating fire that took place in June 1893.

Here is the aforementioned cache of photos, also taken at that balloon launch:

The balloon being inflated. Note the period dress, obviously of the pre-WWI vintage.



A close-up of the earlier photo. On the left of the image, you will see the parachutist disrobing, in preparation for the flight.



The balloon soon after launch. The parachutist can be seen dangling under the parachute, with the telegraph pole in the background. The sway that's evident in the balloon is indicative of the forces at play.



Again, a close-up view, this time showing the parachutist as he's being launched into the air. For me, this is quite a rivetting scene. Despite it being out of focus and blurred, the acceleration and sheer energy of that pilot being 'thrown' up into the sky is clearly evident. It must've been thrilling for the nearby spectators to have witnessed that.



Our pilot, at altitude.



In this close-up, we can see the parachutist sitting on a trapeze bar, but it's not clear if he made any acrobatic use of that during the flight.

These images come from the following two links:

Fargo History - Balloon Ride 1

Fargo History - Balloon Ride 2

Unfortunately, the text that accompanied the photos does not give much useful information. There is a suggestion that the photos date from the 1930s, though that is plainly wrong, and also that the parachutist was a woman, which seems very unlikely.

Like Rod, I'd found the reference to Cash and Lowe, but simply am unclear if this balloon launch could be connected to them. The normally quite useful Who's Who of Ballooning fails to mention either of them.

Cheers,
Paul

[aerohydro]

Answer: Unidentified hot air balloon (circa early 1900s), used by an unidentified parachutist. Photographed at Fargo, North Dakota.

Scoreboard at the end of Challenge #437:
86.40 Rbailey
82.60 aerohydro
52.95 Varese2002
40.20 Aquilius
31.50 Rod_Filan
29.45 richard B
**************
(those above this section must wait 24 hours before answering)
**************
22.30 Tork1945
9.40 Airarticles
9.00 Doc
8.50 Lodzermensch
7.70 ermeio
7.30 matte_kudasai
7.30 YavorD
6.30 AnYun
6.00 Cruze
6.00 Flamingo
5.00 sobrien
5.35 Froggy
**************
(those immediately above this section must wait 12 hours before answering.)
**************
4.20 Wind In The Wires
3.30 berman
3.00 joegertler
3.00 sodium
1.60 Mattyboy
1.00 matthewk
1.00 Catfish
1.00 dhc2pilot
1.00 paolomiana
1.00 Tripehound Flyboy
0.20 EricGoedkoop

[Rod_Filan]

NDSU establishes the photo to have been taken in 1899+question mark.

Suprisingly, a 1899 Fire Festival souvenir program is available online but not viewable to myself. Can anyone see its contents?

Fargo Fire Festival Souvenir: June the 7th, 8th, and 9th, 1899 - Google Books

A showbill of events and attractions at the 1900 Fire Festival is presented elsewhere without any mention of a balloon, so imo we can eliminate that particular year.


Cheers

[aerohydro]

Originally Posted by Rod_Filan

Can anyone see its contents?

Sadly no, at least not from this corner of the world.

In an earlier post, Rod gave a quote about "the great celebration" that was to take place in Fargo on July 4th 1896, which was both the Independence Day holiday and the silver anniversary of Fargo's founding. The scale of that day's activities may have been more the exception than the norm. I found this snippet on page 128 of the following book:

"Gateway to the Northern Plains: Railroads and the Birth of Fargo and Moorhead"
by Carroll L. Engelhardt
ISBN 0816649561

"By 1899, the elaborately staged Fargo Fire Festival had assumed such commercial importance and consumed so much municipal energy that the city fathers refused to sponsor a July Fourth community commemoration. Most businesses still closed, however."

Cheers,
Paul

[aerohydro]

Found this whilst browsing the 'net:

Postcardgallery.com - Balloons, blimps, others

I wonder if this is the same balloon that was flown at Fargo?

The envelope does look very similar. Seeing some additional images of Rihka's balloon should allow us to confirm whether it's a match or not.

Paul