JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

The difference between first and third class in an elevated train seems to be (1) a chair with arms, (2) a taller hat, and (3) a big moustache.  Undoubtedly, there were actual creature comforts, though I suspect first class was meant to accommodate first-class people who would prefer not to be with not-first-class people, and enjoy the extension of that privilege in a comfortable seat.

What attracts me to this image is the way it rubs up against the accoutrements of modernity, looking like a piece of surrealist art.  Since the image was printed in 1876 this would be “found-Surrealist art” as the existence of non-representational art was still 35 years away and the man who basically created the Surreal movement in NYC in 1924–Andre Breton–wouldn’t be born for another 20 years. In any event, this is what this looks like to me, a piece of unintentional, out-of-context art with no contemporary name.

 [Source, above and below: Scientific American, February 8, 1876.  The image above is a cross section of the image below.]