Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Burlingame Fire Department Bicycle Baseball Team at Washington Park, 1949 |
Object Name |
Negative |
Description |
Burlingame Fire Department Bicycle Baseball Team at Washington Park, 1949. Black and white negative of Burlingame Firefighters playing "bicycle baseball," an annual Burlingame Fire Department fundraiser that began in the 1940s at Washington Park in Burlingame, California. The image shows 12 firefighters in costume, either sitting on or standing next to "trick" bicycles. The men wear a large variety of costumes, such as dresses and wigs, oversize jackets and pants, top-hats, and plaid suits. One of the bicycles has an unusually tall seat and handlebars, and some have different sized front and back wheels. The firefighters appear in a line on a dirt infield with some chalked lines visible nearby. There is a chain link fence and the silhouette of a row of trees in the background. |
Date |
1949 |
Photographer |
Pearl, Norton |
Studio |
Norton Pearl Photography |
Processing Method |
Black and White |
Catalog Number |
2015.001.00203 |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Place |
Burlingame, CA |
Notes |
"In the late 1940s, the Burlingame Fire Department partnered with Ricci’s Sport Shop to provide bicycle baseball at Washington Park. The rules were simple: no one could move on the field unless they were on a bicycle. But these were no ordinary bicycles. Henry Ricci built each unique trick bicycle from spare parts out of his shop. Above and to the left are just two examples of some of the crazy bicycles used. Notice the small wheel on the silver-colored bicycle and the fact that the handlebars are beneath the seat. If you think the red Huffy bike looks fairly normal, take a closer look at its front wobbly wheel. Neither the crowd nor the players quite knew what to expect during a game. A fielder might hop on his bike to go after a ball and clumsily realize that it must be pedalled backwards. In one instance, when a firefighter that was heading to first base applied the brakes, a 32-caliber blank fired that caused the slip joints to fail and the bicycle imploded. This hillarious annual fundraiser continued through the 1970s. Some years the trick bicycles were replaced with live donkeys." [Exhibition label copy for "Let's Play Ball", March 21 2015 - September 4, 2016 by Dana Neitzel] |
Search Terms |
Baseball Bicycles Burlingame Burlingame Fire Department Burlingame Washington Park |
Subjects |
Baseball Bicycles & tricycles Burlingame Fire fighters Parks |
Copyright |
Norton Pearl Photography / San Mateo County Historical Association |
Credit line |
Norton Pearl Photography / San Mateo County Historical Association |