Stanley 5.5x3 inches Photograph

Description

View Stanley 5.5x3 inches Photograph with current marketplace pricing, condition, product images and item details. Aunt Vic stands at the side of the car in a long belted dress and rests one hand on the fender. Uncle Henry, wearing a cap and bow tie, stands behind the front wheel. It appears to be a Stanley Model 60 or 62 series runabout from about 1910 to 1914. An original 5.5x3" antique photo (NOT a modern reprint) from the estate of a vintage automobile photo and postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique photos. Photo OverviewThis vintage snapshot shows Aunt Vic and Uncle Henry Weaver of Denver, Colorado, posing with their Stanley Steamer steam car. Aunt Vic stands at the side of the car in a long belted dress and rests one hand on the fender. Uncle Henry, wearing a cap and bow tie, stands behind the front wheel. The car is an open runabout with a folding canopy top, wooden-spoke artillery wheels, side-mounted lamps, and the rounded coffin-nose hood that marks the earlier Stanley models. It appears to be a Stanley Model 60 or 62 series runabout from about 1910 to 1914.The couple and their car are parked on a dirt drive beside a dry-stacked stone wall and leafy shrubs. Behind them stands a large multi-story frame building with deep wraparound verandas, set against a steep hillside. It looks like a Colorado mountain resort hotel or boarding house, the kind of place Front Range motorists drove to in the early automobile era. This is a well-documented early motoring photo with appeal for Stanley Steamer enthusiasts, steam car collectors, and Colorado history buffs.Historical NotesThe Stanley Steamer has deep Colorado ties. Freelan O. Stanley, co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company with his twin brother Francis, moved to Colorado in 1903 for his health. He famously drove a Stanley up the rough mountain road to Estes Park and later built the Stanley Hotel there, ferrying guests up from the rail depots in Stanley Mountain Wagons. Steam cars like the Weavers' were well suited to Colorado's grades because of their high torque and quiet power. The early coffin-nose design seen here gave way around 1915 to models with a front condenser that looked like a conventional radiator. Francis Stanley was killed in a road accident in 1918, and the company passed to new owners. Gasoline cars with electric starters soon made steam obsolete, and Stanley production ended in the mid-1920s. The note on the back calls it the 'only steam car ever made.' In fact, rivals such as White and Doble also built steam cars, but Stanley became so famous that its name grew synonymous with steam power. Surviving Stanleys are prized today and are still driven at vintage car events, including gatherings at the Stanley Hotel.Text PresentBack, blue ink, upper portion:Aunt VicUncle Henry WeaverDenver, Colo&their Stanley SteamerBack, black ink, middle:No Relation just friends of Tom & Kate ReaganThat's a Stanley Steamer - only steam car ever madeBack, faint pencil, bottom:Mary CullenPrint analysisThis is an original sepia-toned gelatin silver snapshot print. The tonality, the paper's aging and surface wear, and the period handwritten family annotations all point to a print made at the time the photo was taken, in the late 1910s. The clothing styles and the car's age support that date. This is a Type 1 original photograph.ConditionAll photos and postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Category: Collectibles › Photographic Images › Photographs.

Type

Photograph

Subject

steam automobile, Stanley Motor Carriage Company, runabout, coffi

Theme

automobilia,transportation,social history,cities & towns

Featured Person/Artist

Henry Weaver, Aunt Vic Weaver

Production Technique

Gelatin-Silver Print

Year of Production

1918

Original/Licensed Reprint

Original

Size

5.5x3 inches

Time Period Manufactured

1900-1924

Number of Photographs

1

Antique

Yes

Unit of Sale

Single Piece

Vintage

Yes

Image Color

Sepia

Framing

Unframed