Mystery Photo: Boxers! Jockeys! Gangsters!
 

This photo has me stumped. The timeframe seems to be something like 1915 to early 1920's. Bowler hats, a fedora, and then there's the guy wearing the robe who looks to be a boxer...or a jockey...or? Everything accounted for, this has to be a sporting event.

The setting is possibly a racetrack. Grandstand visible.

And then...the guy in the fedora has a vibe. He also has a few facial features that are a fairly close match for Lucky Luciano. Perhaps his visible ear isn't a dead match...but it's close enough to make me not completely throw out the possibility. Angle could account for some slight difference.

So, who are these guys? Anyone recognize faces or have any ideas?

The photo has no markings on the reverse.

https://i.ibb.co/BcH0jY0/U-track-cr.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/8cL7Tmj/U-track-det.jpg

To be honest, it just appears to be a generic photo. I could be wrong.
The guy in the robe makes it a little more interesting though.
.... Luciano was a teenager in 1915.

I'd guess wrestling. Guy in the robe looks a lot like one of the Zbyszko brothers.

Since pictures like this in this type of situation ALWAYS has to have someone famous in it then here is my guess---

Picture gives off heavy Italian vibe and from the 1920's or early 1930's. Guy in robe is actually a race car driver in his racing uniform so it is Enzo Ferrari when he was a driver for Alfa Romeo's factory team.

David

As far as I know horse racing had inside rails really early. So I don't think it's a horse track.

I do think it's a board track for bicycles or early motorcycles. Those tracks often had a low curb at the bottom just like you can see at the right, and on the left side past the people, you can see the beginning of the banked curve and a pretty typical railing/fence they had at the top of the banked curves.

https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.c...-racing-1920s/


The bathrobe guy may be a rider.

But the gangster idea wouldn't be a stretch, Capone was apparently a huge cycling fan. And Cycling was a big sport pretty much everywhere including Italy.

I would concur that is cycling sport. Cycling is and was a major sport in pre -war Italy.

The cap the robed man is wearing is very similar to riders worn during the period. In addition, if you look in the background, you see what appears to be a bicycle.

Cycling hadn't even crossed my mind. Nice one.

Thx again.

Thanks to the hot tip that this photo could be related to cycling, I'm fairly certain that the guy in the robe is Frank Kramer, champion bicycle sprinter. Sixteen consecutive national championships 1901-1916, and he's in the US Bicycling Hall of Fame. Location could be the Newark Velodrome.

https://i.ibb.co/0JNf2Q2/kramer-beauvais-s.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/rmnxmqs/Kramer-Potin-s.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/yNLpyJM/Kramer-153-s.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/9rY5ZVM/Kramer-09-NJV-s.jpg

frank kramer cyclist
 

Man, that guy was a star. 16 consecutive championships 1901-1916.

Kramer was encouraged to turn pro by Major Taylor, who beat him in 1900.

Taylor avoided some US championships because the organizers held many in the south where he was rarely allowed to race. If he'd been involved those championships could have been a bit more interesting.

Both Kramer and Taylor raced a lot in Europe, and had excellent results.

gangsters
 

How about that famous one of HOFer Gabby Hartnett and Chicago's Al Capone at Wrigley field