Archival Jockeys

 

Earl Porter- Jockey at Rockingham N.H.

  

Shooting pool at Suffolk Downs

 

Jockey R. Workman on Time Supply

Jockeys C. and Ira Hanford

  

Jockey Meade

 
Jockey R. Workman after winning the 5th Race, Suffolks Downs

Photos courtesy Boston Public Library's Flickr Commons photostream. 

Archival Jockey Silks

I have a deep fondness for jockey silks. Unlike most sporting garb, the basic jockey's uniform of jodphurs, cap and tunic has remained unchanged over time. Designed for legibility from a distance, the visual code of stripes, dots, hoops, sashes, crosses, chevrons and bold colors has a functional beauty that appeals to me in any media - from cigarette cards to a high definition broadcast of a triple crown race. If you squint, a snapshot of horses in the homestretch today doesn't look that different than an image from the past. What has changed, of course, is the addition of advertising on the trousers and the use of more closely fitting, synthetic fabrics. In honor of the upcoming Belmont Stakes I'm reprinting these cigarette cards featuring ad free British horse racing colors from the 1930s.