Steampunk Saturday - Airships over Trains

"Gee, Bill! What desperate chances a feller must have took to beat them railroad  trains they used to have."

Life Magazine, July 28, 1904

A new turn on hitching a ride in a boxcar, this time steampunk style! Makes me wonder what the life of a steampunk hobo would be like!

2013 Indy 500 - Baloons Away

Just about now, not far from where I sit, hundreds of balloons have just been released. The Balloon Spectacle has been a part of the 500 opening festivities since 1943 when Mrs. Hulman suggested adding it as the punctuation of the singing of Back Home Again in Indiana. As a boy I'd stand in the front yard of my suburban home, shading my eyes and watching for the colorful cloud of balloons. I always hoped one would come close enough that I could capture it. I'm not really sure why, there wasn't a prize, no golden ticket, or cash reward, just a slowly deflating bag of helium of the sort that are handed out by the thousands every day.

Maybe I just wanted to touch something associated with the big event. Back then, the Indy 500 was the only event that put Indianapolis on the sports map. The ABA had closed down, shuttering the Indiana Pacers era of hoops dominance, and it'd be nearly a decade before the Colts came to town, so when you thought of Indianapolis you thought of AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Mario Andretti, and Indy cars.

Then again, maybe it didn't have anything to do with motor sports. It probably was the longing for freedom. I frequently dreamed of escaping my lot. My grade school held an annual Spring Fair and as part of the festivities the students would scrawl their names and addresses onto cards. These cards were attached to balloons and we all gathered on the asphalt parking lot behind the school to release them to the wind to kick the fair off. The idea was someone would find one of the cards, mail it back to the school with their location filled in, and we'd all see just how small the world was. My cards never came back, but as I watched another year's balloon float off into oblivion I always imagined myself riding along with it. I'd drift up from the parking lot, over the school, clear the telephone wires and tree branches, and just like that I'd be free of my earthly troubles.

Sorry, I guess I'm having a Richard Bach moment. Nostalgia has a way of creeping up on a fellow when he least expects it.

Here's a video of the Indy 500 balloon release from 2007 (I hope it works, the link seemed a little iffy, but it's an interesting view). The Balloon Spectacle is a far grander affair than what my little public school held, but the magic is still there. In the meantime I think I'll go out on the deck to watch for balloons drifting across the clear Indiana skies.

Up, Up, and Away...

A Panoramic View of the 1909 National Balloon Race held at the Speedway

You might think of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as home to Indy car racing, a place where cars set speed records in a race that's steeped in tradition and history. You'd be right to think of the track this way, but it is and always has been a business venture. In fact, before the track's construction had finished its President, Carl Fisher, was thinking of ways to get a return on the money his investors had put into the track.

The National Balloon Race held on June 5th 1909 was organized as an attempt to recover some of this money. Construction of the track began in early April of 1909 and and, as you can see from the image above, it would be some time before the facility would be ready to host an automobile race. Carl Fisher always had been fascinated with aviation and he became the 21^st person in the United States to earn a balloonist’s license. According to the Indiana Historical Society site most of the spectators show in this image didn’t pay admission, instead they gathered outside the Speedway grounds to watch the show from afar.

A Photo Postcard of the 1909 National Balloon Race held at the Speedway

The amazing panoramic view of the pre-race preparations comes from the digital archives of the Indiana Historical Society and I highly recommend making a trip over to their site where you can zoom in to look at individuals in the crowd. I’m not sure about the positioning of this photo, but I believe it’s what will be the north end of the track.

There also are some great Indianapolis Star articles at the First Super Speedway site, take a look!