Fascinating images reveal the incredibly wacky sports played in the US more than 150 years ago.
The vast array of photos display the impact new technologies and inventions had on sports and the evolution of pastimes.
A game known as auto polo involving colliding cars is depicted in the photos from 1910 in New York. While others show two men squaring off in an old-fashioned ‘duel’, except replacing real bullets with rubber ones.
Photos date all the way back to the American Civil War in which Union soldiers in Virginia are gathered to watch a cockfight in 1865.
Another shows airplanes being used as two women take part in a round of aerial golf.
A duelist takes aim during a gun fight replacing real bullets with rubber ones in New York in 1909
The traditional game of polo was revamped in 1910 and instead of riding horses players rode cars for auto polo
A man is pictured cleaning a chicken’s head with lime juice ahead of a popular round of cockfighting
One woman takes aim with her golf club after landing for a round of aerial golf after she dropped the ball from the air
A consistent theme seen throughout the images are technological advances being coupled with traditional games.
It’s evident in auto polo, the craze that swept the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
The short-lived game was essentially the same as traditional polo, except horses were replaced with cars.
The game was very popular at fairs and sports venues, but began to die down toward the end of the 1920s due to the risk and cost involved.
The ‘sport’ of cock-fighting traveled from Britain to the US in the 1700s, where it soon became a favorite in local bars and taverns.
Both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were rumored to be advocates of the sport, but the brutal pastime was officially made illegal across the United States when Louisiana became the final state to outlaw it in 2007.
Union soldiers are seen gathered around a cockfight during the American Civil War between 1862 and 1865.
Jumping on the aerial bandwagon, this woman puts a biplane structure on her shoulders ahead of a dive in 1910
Two opponents face off during a rubber-bullet duel in New York 1909. Players would go home with bruises on their skin as opposed to bullet holes in their bodies
Two cars battle for the ball during a match of auto polo in 1910 as players wear top hats and long coats
Union soldiers gather around to watch a cockfight in Virginia during the American Civil War between 1862 and 1865
The invention of the airplane in 1903 brought new opportunities to combine technology and sport, with the pastime of aerial golf taking off in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The game was in large part played by the upper class who could afford it. It involved flying over a hole and dropping a golf ball from the airplane high above the ground.
The plane would then land on the course near the ball and a normal game of golf would take place.
But once the novelty had word off, the price and impracticality of the game caused it to quickly die out.
Many of the other games were slight variations of sports still played today. Game such as water baseball was essentially the same just played in water.
Another popular sport in the early 1900s was wax bullet dueling. This was a modification on the old-fashioned duel replacing real bullets with rubber ones and leaving players with bruises instead of gun shot wounds.
A game of water baseball takes place in 1914. The game is essentially the same as America’s pastime except in water