Notice in an enlargement we can see the details of the clothing of the day and that every person in the photograph has a hat on.
The person on the far left, standing in the street with the odd hat, looks like he may be a traffic cop..
Note the curved glass on the Mechanic's National Bank located in the Cummings Building (built in 1860)
on the Southwest Corner of Purchase and William streets directly behind the mesenger boy.
The boy's bicycle has no fenders leaving him susceptible to getting mud all over himself.
He is about to cross the tracks in the street and hopefully he doesn't catch his front tire in the groove as it
would cause him ot lose control and fall.
He does have a messenger boy hat and uniform and considering that it is August and usually hot outdoors, the style of the day did not
allow for short pants and short sleeve shirts.
Below an image taken from the 1911 New Bedford Directory advertising the Mechanic's bank in the background of this picture. |
