Tandem Cycling - Tandem air brakes?

I found this tandem picture in the April/May issue of Reminise Magazine.



There is a bulb on the captains handlebar that appears to go to a box mounted just above the rear tire. Is this an air (bulb) actuated rear brake?



According to the caption, the photo is of Joseph Wardman Kenworthy and his wife Sarah Caroline Kenworthy taken in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park in May of 1897.

I don't quite know why, but why do all bikes from that era look WAY too big for their riders?
I may very well be a brake-like device. If so it's a basic spoon brake, probably more for slowing the bike down a tad rather than actually stopping it. And I imagine it would have to be pumped to really have any affect.
-Gene-

The bottom bracket is higher than the wheel centre, which will make the seats higher than usual.
How do they get on with the stoker steering and the limited visibility back there?

Rear captain. Very interesting and I imagine pretty scarey for the front stoker.

Stoker may or may not steer. If you look closely, there's a tie-rod connecting the captains handlebars (at the bottom of his steertube) to the top of the fork crown. I've heard some didn't allow the stoker to turn the handlebars at all, while some did.
And good point on the ridiculously high bottom brackets, didn't notice that.
-Gene-

Stoker may or may not steer. If you look closely, there's a tie-rod connecting the captains handlebars (at the bottom of his steertube) to the top of the fork crown. I've heard some didn't allow the stoker to turn the handlebars at all, while some did.

This was undoubtedly a courting tandem, similar to chichi's 1898 Barnes (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?593484-1898-tandem-on-Craigslist&highlight=courting).