The Darktown Bicycle Race -- The Start: "Now for de fastest record ever known."

The late nineteenth-century Darktown prints by Currier & Ives depict racist stereotypes that are offensive and disturbing. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art preserves such works to shed light on their historical context and to enable the study and evaluation of racism.

This print shows four caricatured Black (African American) bicycle racers, each leaning over in exaggerated postures and pedaling from the left middleground. The leading cyclist wears a pink/dark red striped shirt, blue pants, and a red cap with upturned brim; he rides a bike with pneumatic tires. At right, a rider, wearing a blue striped shirt, red pants and a cap, pedals his bike along the edge of the road defined by a gray-white board fence, behind which several Black adults and children watch (their clothing mainly in shades of pink or red). A dark cat (lower right) runs ahead of the bike racers. At left (trailing the lead racer), is a woman cyclist dressed in a red vest over her billowing yellow/red striped sleeves and skirt. She is followed by a woman in a pink dress and blue vest. In the right background, wooden houses line the street; Black spectators appear in all the windows. Standing on the road in front of the buildings (central middle ground) is a Black man waving encouragement to the racers; a red flag flies from the flagpole sited behind him. Title and caption are imprinted in the bottom margin.

When this print was made, bicycle manufactures had begun to replace the solid, hard rubber tires attached to the wheel rims with removable pneumatic tires inflated with air. These newer tires resulted in smoother, easier-to-pedal, faster rides -- hence the boast from the lead racer in the printed title/caption of this print.

Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. In 1857, Currier made James Merritt Ives (1824–1895) a business partner. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, rural and city views, marines, railroads, portraits, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. The firm operated until 1907.