Aeronaut, 1887
2020-10-06 01:30:48.550488+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
A few weeks ago, Charlene and I watched "The Aeronauts", a fictionalized account of James Glaisher and Henry Tracey Coxwell's balloon ascent on Sept. 5, 1862 to somewhere above 31,000' and possibly almost to 36,000'. The film was a thriller with, we learned on reading things later because it grabbed us pretty well, some parts that probably weren't as fictional and some bits that definitely were.
Among the fictionalizations, Coxwell was replaced with a fictional character who was allegedly based on, among others, one Sophie Blanchard, a French aeronaut with a reputation for the shows she gave around her balloon ascents, fireworks and parachuting dogs and whatnot.
In the "how much was fiction and how much wasn't", I was intrigued to run across this picture. The caption, from Twitter user @WikiVictorian says "“Aeronaut” from the Occupations of Women trading card series by the Old Judge and Dog’s Head Cigarette Company, 1887." https://twitter.com/wikivictorian/status/1313137380304584706
The origin is probably https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/400785