The Government House and the tram. Circa 1905.

Buenos Aires. Circa 1905.

Single albumen print. Measure: 17.4 x 22.7 cm / 6.85 x 8.93 in. Work in good condition. It is displayed framed.

Lost in the mists of time the famous phrase: "A picture is worth a thousand words", some researchers attribute this proverb to Chinese culture, but coined... thousands of years before the invention of photography.

Never then more opportune than to apply this famous adage to the Buenos Aires image that we present today; it is an urban record made during the early years of the 20th century and shows us the strength and dynamism of a capital city that definitely left behind its colonial characteristic of "great village" to join the concert of the great cities of the world.

Our unknown photographer has planted his heavy tripod and large outdoor camera to get a view of the very heart of the city; has resolved to capture and in a single screen the imposing building of the Government House, the world of work through remodeling works on the Buenos Aires center, the transport of goods in heavy horse carriages and, finally, the rampant modernity when focusing one of the amazing new electric double-decker trams.

Today we want to refer to the tram as a vital means of passenger transport of its time -unfortunately they stopped working in 1963- which began towards the first years of the 1860s as a solution or complement for users who arrived at the terminals north and west railways. But the first independent urban services started simultaneously on Sunday, January 27, 1870 with the "Tranway Central" and "Tranway 11 de September" lines.

The initial blood traction was replaced by electric power, first in the modern city of La Plata and shortly after in Buenos Aires; in this capital the phenomenon of a large wagon driven solely by an electric motor -to the amazement of the porteños- was inaugurated in 1897. There were also two companies that applied electricity to their double-decker cars; "La Capital" and "Buenos Aires & Belgrano". These double formations were called "imperial" and, to the lower car, an upper wagon or "planter" was added to which passengers accessed by front and rear spiral staircases.

If this image is the delight of tramway researchers and collectors, its enormous legend is coveted by lovers of old national advertising. The striking “Deward's - Perth - Whiskey” sign above unit # 38 indicates the marked British influence on our tastes. This Scottish company was founded around 1846 in the town of Perth and, its double aging, very soon gave it just world fame that continues to the present. The huge billboards used on both sides of the trams inaugurated the new dynamic of traveling advertising across kilometers of travel; definitely a more effective resource than traditional static ads.

Progress of the overwhelming twentieth century! S.O.VI-DIM