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Most sports photography in the early 20th century was done with Graflex and similar cameras with a cloth focal plane shutter. To get shutter speeds high enough to stop fast motion they had to use a narrow slit, which exposed different parts of the film at different times.

The Graflex was an SLR that was viewed through a tall leather hood from above--not through a pentaprism. They came in sizes from 2 1/4" X 3 1/4" (6x9 cm) up to 8" x 10".

To set the shutter speed, you wound up the shutter to one of a series of tensions with a key. Then you selected the slit with another control. A table on the side of the box gave the shutter speed for each combination.

The Graflexes I have seen went up to 1/1500 s. I remember seeing a Plaubel-Makina that went faster than that.

Speed Graphic folding cameras (made by Graflex) had a similar shutter, although they are often used with a between-the-lens shutter in front.

So, many photographers made pictures with the wheels of cars leaning forward, because a top-to-bottom shutter motion exposed the bottom first. This feature became a conventional indication of speed. Cartoonists drew wheels the same way to indicate fast motion.