A photograph and its story
The Car
Enters the Picture.
From the dream of motoring to the pride of ownership
Read the story ↓A group acts out an accident scene around a small open car. Location unknown. Glass-plate negative, probably 1920s.
What looks like a carefree outing has taken a turn for the worse. A group of young people in a smart open car appear to have had an accident, leaving one man injured. A uniformed man is already at the scene, taking down the details.
A staged accident, with a part for everyone
The gestures are theatrical, everyone has a part to play, and a single photograph is made to tell a whole story.
No record survives of where or why these photographs were taken. What we see, however, is a carefully staged performance, with the car in the leading role. The same people appear in both photographs, taking up different positions at the same location. Their exaggerated gestures could have come straight from a silent comedy.
The same group acts out another accident scene with the small open car. Glass-plate negative, probably 1920s.
The people remain unidentified. Neither their names nor the location or occasion of these two glass-plate photographs is recorded. Their clothing suggests a date in the 1920s.
The rise of the motor car and the spread of photography were closely entwined with the social changes of their time. Photographs trace the car’s journey from a marvel reserved for the wealthy to a familiar presence in everyday life. The ways people posed with it reveal something of what it meant to them.
A grand outing, just for the camera
Two photographs from around 1910 show groups posing with painted car props against scenic backdrops. Dressed in their finest clothes, the women and men seem ready to set off together. Their outing, though, takes place entirely for the camera.
In the early years of motoring, car ownership in Germany was a privilege of the wealthy, far beyond most people’s means. Photographers saw an opportunity. At fairs and festivals, they offered customers the chance to picture themselves at the wheel. A painted car prop made the scene quick and inexpensive to stage. The result was an affordable souvenir, but the attraction went beyond the photograph: for a moment, customers could enjoy the fantasy of taking the wheel.
Soldiers also posed in these make-believe cars. Photographs from the vicinity of military training grounds show groups in uniform seated in painted or wooden car props. Inscriptions such as “Flucht aus Jüterbog” (“Escape from Jüterbog”) and “Nach der Heimat” (“Homeward bound”) give the scenes a particular resonance for men in military service. The photographs became mementos of their time together, perhaps even souvenirs to mark its end.
Soldiers pose in a car prop. Munsterlager, c. 1910. Photograph by Schubert.
Soldiers pose in a car prop. Altes und Neues Lager, Jüterbog district, c. 1910. Photograph by A. Gutenberg.
The illusion is transparent, and so is the enjoyment. Whether the sitters are civilians or soldiers, the humour of these photographs still comes across today.
Travelling together, posing together
The car gives these group portraits a common focus, bringing people together as travelling companions and parties of day-trippers. A shared outing calls for a shared photograph. Once again, professional photographers recognised a business opportunity.
Sightseeing by open bus
Before a sightseeing tour set off, photographers would take a group portrait of the passengers aboard the open bus. Drivers, attendants and travellers posed together for a quick photograph. The negatives were often developed and prints made while the tour was still under way, ready for passengers to buy as souvenirs on their return.
Pride of ownership, caught on camera
A man in a cap, his motoring goggles pushed up, at the wheel of an open Panhard & Levassor. Probably from the 1900s.
A man in a cap, his motoring goggles pushed up, sits at the wheel of an open Panhard & Levassor. The “PL” monogram on the radiator identifies the make. Around 1900, a car of one’s own was a luxury few could afford. Sitting high above the road with no windscreen, the driver was exposed to the wind and every jolt of the journey. The picture evokes the allure of early motoring: speed and the distinction of owning something exceptional.
Three men and a woman pose with a Mercedes-Benz saloon. A swastika flag is attached to the car. 1930s–1940s.
Three smartly dressed men pose beside a Mercedes-Benz saloon, while a woman smiles from the open rear door. The men lean casually against the car, which carries a swastika flag. The vehicle is the centrepiece of the composition. Pride of ownership is combined here with an overt expression of political allegiance.
A man poses beside his Trabant P50 estate. c. 1960.
A woman poses beside a Ford Taunus 17 M P2 (“Barocktaunus”). c. 1960.
Two private photographs from around 1960 offer views of car ownership on either side of divided Germany. In West Germany, a woman poses beside a Ford Taunus 17 M P2, nicknamed the “Barocktaunus” and produced from 1957 to 1960. In East Germany, a man poses with his Trabant P50 estate, a model introduced in 1960. In the West, the car signalled growing prosperity; in the East, it was a much-desired possession that often involved a long wait. Both subjects stand proudly beside their vehicles. The photographs also survive in different forms: the West German image as a colour slide, the East German one as a black-and-white print from “Drogerie-Photo Arno Maute, Jeßnitz”.
As amateur photography became more widespread, people increasingly photographed their own cars. Those who could afford a car often owned a camera too, or knew someone who did. Personal snapshots gave them a way to present themselves alongside a possession that could stand for prosperity, achievement and newfound independence. An outing became a lasting record, whether the photograph was skilfully composed or technically imperfect. The car was more than transport: it helped shape the image people made of themselves.
The enduring pleasure of playing to the camera
Two young men sit on a wrecked car. 1920s–1930s.
Two young men have made themselves comfortable on a wrecked car. It may no longer be fit for the road, but it still makes a perfectly good stage. As with the painted car props, all they need is the suggestion of a vehicle to strike a pose for the camera.
Partygoers crowd into a painted car prop for a group photograph. Berlin, 1950s.
A party photograph taken in Berlin in the 1950s offers another imaginary outing. A lively group crowds into a painted car prop, playing at being on the road together. Their enjoyment connects them to the two men on the wrecked car, and to the group acting out a silent comedy on a country road.
HistoricBits
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Historical photographs from private albums, collections and estates open a window onto everyday life in the past. HistoricBits discovers, preserves and researches these images, bringing them and their stories to a wider audience.
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