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A 5.5x3.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard from the estate of a vintage automobile postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.
Photo Overview
Two well-dressed gentlemen in caps and overcoats sit aboard an early REO runabout automobile, parked on a tree-lined dirt road near Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The distinctive REO monogram badge is clearly visible on the radiator front, along with the brass acetylene headlamps and cowl lamps typical of the early motoring era. The elm-canopied country lane, wooden telegraph poles, rail fencing, and modest farm buildings in the distance capture rural Wisconsin at the dawn of the automobile age.
This is a genuine real photo postcard produced by G. F. Gratiot, photographer of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The REO badge, the open runabout body style, and the brass-era lamps place this vehicle right around 1908 to 1910, when Ransom E. Olds\' new company was rapidly becoming one of America\'s best-selling automobile makers. A charming and highly collectible brass-era motoring image with strong regional and antique automobile appeal.
Historical Notes
The REO Motor Car Company was founded in Lansing, Michigan in 1904 by Ransom E. Olds after he left the Oldsmobile company that bore his name. By 1907 REO was among the top-selling automakers in the United States, and models like this small runabout helped put rural Americans behind the wheel. The company continued building automobiles until 1936, then shifted entirely to trucks; the REO Speedwagon truck line carried the name forward for decades and later inspired the name of the famous rock band. For Eau Claire, this image documents the very earliest automobile ownership in a Wisconsin lumber and farming community where dirt roads like this one would soon be graded and paved to accommodate the coming flood of motor traffic.
Browse our complete RPPC Photo Postcard photograph collection.
Text Present
Front: REO monogram badge on the radiator of the automobile.
Back: POST CARD / CORRESPONDENCE / NAME AND ADDRESS / PLACE POSTAGE STAMP HERE
Print analysis
This is a genuine real photo postcard (RPPC) printed on photographic paper from an original negative by the local photographer. The continuous tonal range, absence of any halftone dot pattern, and the undivided/divided AZO-style postcard back are all consistent with a true silver gelatin photographic print made at the time the photo was taken, circa 1908 to 1910. This is an original period RPPC, not a later reproduction.
Condition
All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present. Note small smudge in image.
