Elephant Parade in Detroit, from Cogan & Burgess’s Office Window

A procession of elephants with uniformed riders passes beneath an elevated camera position. Spectators crowd both sidewalks, with streetcars and horse-drawn vehicles farther along the street. A high-wheel cyclist rides beside the tracks, while projecting shop signs and awnings frame the near side of the view.

The yellow mount bears the series heading “PICTURESQUE GEMS.” and the credit “Photographed by COGAN & BURGESS, 103 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, Mich.” A handwritten caption on the otherwise unprinted reverse reads “Detroit - Mich. / From window of / Cogan & Burgess' office.” This identifies both the city and the vantage point; the studio address alone does not establish the street shown.

Above the caption is the handwritten notation “- 1903 -”. Its function is uncertain, and it is not treated here as an established date. A separate, faint pencil note reads “From our window.” The procession is consistent with a circus parade, but neither the circus company nor the occasion is identified on the card.

Two side-by-side photographic images on a rounded-corner yellow card, measuring 7.01 × 3.49 inches (178.2 × 88.6 mm). A small pale surface blemish is visible near the lower left of the left-hand image; otherwise clean and sound, with clear detail throughout the crowded street scene.