Exhibition of Columbia Bicycle Art Poster Designs

Published by Pope Manufacturing Co.189618 chapters12 images

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Contents

• Cover: Exhibit of Columbia Bicycle Art-Poster Designs (opens in a new tab)

  The front cover of the catalogue for the 1896 Columbia Bicycle Art-Poster exhibition, held at the Columbia Bicycle Academy in Washington, D.C. and managed by J. Hart Brittain under the Pope Manufacturing Company.
• First Prize, No. 389, Maxfield Parrish, Philadelphia, PA (opens in a new tab)

  The first-prize winning poster design by Maxfield Parrish of Philadelphia, who would go on to become one of America's most celebrated illustrators. The design was awarded the top prize out of over six hundred submitted entries.
• Title Page: Exhibition of Columbia Bicycle Art Poster Designs (opens in a new tab)

  The formal title page of the exhibition catalogue, identifying the sponsor as Pope Manufacturing Co. of Hartford, Connecticut, and dating the publication to 1896 (MDCCCXCVI).
• Prize Competition for Art Posters to Advertise Columbia Bicycles (opens in a new tab)

  The December 1895 announcement under which every exhibited design was entered, reprinted in full across three pages: Pope Manufacturing's aim of holding Columbia advertising “in the foremost position”, the four prizes (a Columbia bicycle plus cash for each), and the promise to exhibit the submitted drawings at branch houses from Boston and Philadelphia to Denver and San Francisco. Entries had to reach Hartford by 15 February 1896.
• Judges of Awards (opens in a new tab)

  Lists the five judges of the competition, W. F. Halsall, Edmund S. Garratt, Louis Prang, J. T. Wetherald, and E. W. Pope, together with the four prize winners and the six designs awarded honorable mention (Nos. 188, 262, 354, 394, 477 and 501).
• Exhibition Notes: Selection from the Submitted Designs (opens in a new tab)

  Editorial note explaining that over six hundred designs were submitted by four hundred artists and that the exhibition presents a selection of the most noteworthy, as it was impossible to display the whole collection due to its bulk.
• Comments from the Boston Press (opens in a new tab)

  Press excerpts from the Boston Transcript, Boston Journal, Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Boston Post praising the exhibition as the finest display of posters ever exhibited and highlighting its value for the study of cycling costumes for women.
• Partial List of Competitors (opens in a new tab)

  The catalogue's numbered roll of entrants, Nos. 4 to 599, printed under a single heading here and continuing on the odd-numbered pages through p.31, interleaved with the full-page plates. Competitors include Dawson Watson, Guy Rose, Dora Wheeler Keith, Mary W. Bonsall, Margaret Redmond and firms such as Matthews & Mollison and Ames & Rollinson, with entries sent from as far afield as San Diego, Sioux County (Iowa) and San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
• Second Prize, No. 113, O. Rohn, Montclair, N.J. (opens in a new tab)

  The second-prize winning poster design by O. Rohn of Montclair, New Jersey, one of four designs selected for prizes from the more than six hundred entries submitted to the 1896 Columbia Bicycle art poster competition.
• Third Prize, No. 490, A. Romes, New York (opens in a new tab)

  The third-prize winning poster design by A. Romes of New York, reproduced in the exhibition catalogue as one of the four award-winning entries from the Columbia Bicycle art poster competition.
• Fourth Prize, No. 119, H. S. Haines, Boston, Mass. (opens in a new tab)

  The fourth-prize winning poster design by H. S. Haines of Boston, Massachusetts, the final prize-winning entry in the 1896 Columbia Bicycle art poster competition.
• Honorable Mention, No. 188, Miss Caroline C. Lovell, Birmingham, Alabama (opens in a new tab)

  The poster design by Miss Caroline C. Lovell of Birmingham, Alabama, one of six entries to receive honorable mention in the 1896 Columbia Bicycle art poster competition.
• Honorable Mention, No. 262, Charles D. Farrand, New York City (opens in a new tab)

  The poster design by Charles D. Farrand of New York City, receiving honorable mention in the competition and reproduced in the exhibition catalogue alongside the prize-winning designs.
• No. 354, J. A. Imhof, New York (opens in a new tab)

  The honorable-mention poster design by J. A. Imhof of New York City, one of six entries singled out by the judges after the four prize winners and reproduced here as a full-page plate.
• No. 394, Fred Lates, Hartford, Conn. (opens in a new tab)

  The honorable-mention poster design by Fred Lates of Hartford, Connecticut, reproduced in the catalogue as one of the distinguished entries from the home city of the Pope Manufacturing Company.
• No. 477, S. R. Burleigh, Providence, R.I. (opens in a new tab)

  The honorable-mention poster design by S. R. Burleigh of Providence, Rhode Island, reproduced as a full-page plate among the designs the judges deemed most noteworthy.
• No. 501, F. W. Dreher, Mamaroneck, N.Y. (opens in a new tab)

  The honorable-mention poster design by F. W. Dreher of Mamaroneck, New York, reproduced in the catalogue and featuring the Columbia Bicycle branding prominently.
• Columbia Bicycles, Pope Manufacturing Co. Branch Houses (opens in a new tab)

  A closing advertisement listing the Columbia Bicycles brand and the full directory of Pope Manufacturing Company branch houses and stock companies across the United States, from Boston and New York to San Francisco, New Orleans, Detroit and Denver.