"MEET ME IN MINEOLA"
Starring
MISS CLAIRE ANTOINETTE KNAPP
September 1911
__________________________________
I first learned about Claire Knapp and her horses from one of her grandaughters back in September of 2001. She told me that she might have a photo of her grandmother on horseback from way back .... well that photo never came my way, but others of Claire at an advanced age did. That said I have always wanted to find any and all photos of Claire and her brother Joseph F. Knapp aka "Dodi" from the era 1916-1930's that they had their Knapp Estate in Mastic Beach along with pics of the inside of their home that used to be in my backyard there. Well last week I got another step closer thanks to the digitizing of periodicals and search capabilities of the internet. Without it the picture below would probably have never seen the light of day on this web sight. Ironically these turned up in my back yard here in Nashville on a microfilm reel at the Vanderbilt University Library. Now just like pic of her brother sitting in his Sea Sled boat in this one Claire's hat is shadowing half her face (Kind of a Zorro effect) But I go happily with whatever I can find...and to me this photo is a real find ...It's from the pages of Town & Country Magazine October 28, 1911......Hope you enjoy it.
 |
Claire was about a month shy of turning 22 here and was the sole female driver entered in the harness race.
She was living in Bellport then.
NY Times Sept 29, 1911
UNFORTUNATELY SHADOWS SEEMED TO BE IN VOGUE IN THIS ISSUE OF TOWN & COUNTRY
Big Hats & Big Autos At The Mineola Fairgrounds 1910