1914 Indianapolis 500 Favorites

"Fake News" is a current day topic of conversation just as sensationalist "yellow" journalism led by businessman, politician, and news publisher William Randolph Hearst was controversial in early decades of the 20th century. Here we see an image artifact from a photo and illustration montage that ran with a report on the 1914 Indianapolis 500. Among the big name drivers shown is a sketch of the grim reaper and a car carrying the number 13. Clearly, this sensationalized the danger and risk of the sport and while there had been fatal accidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there were none in 1914.
 
This image may have appeared in one of the Hearst Syndicate newspapers, but since it was discovered in microfilm copy of Barney Oldfield's personal scrapbook, it's impossible to be certain. Oldfield's father maintained his press clippings and created a disorganized mixed bag. Articles from 1904 overlap with others from as much as 10 years later. While I still consider the opportunity to extract content from the scrapbook important, its usefulness is mitigated by the sloppiness of the collection.
 

• Barney Oldfield
• Georges Boillot
• Jean Chassange
• Albert Guyot
• Teddy Tetzlaff
• Josef Christiaens
• Ralph DePalma
• Jules Goux