PBA Galleries

Seven are printed in blue line with illustrations from sketches; one is real photo; one is a litho-chrome from a photo. Each approx. 8.3x14 cm (3¼x5½"), all but one addressed to Dwight Patterson, NYC, with cancelations.

Rare collection of post cards from the early period of motorcycling and motorcycle clubs. The New York Motorcycle Club and the Yonkers Motorcycle Club are the oldest such clubs in the United States, both founded in 1903. Dwight Patterson, to whom the cards are addressed, was the secretary of the NYMC. The blue line cards are quite rare, as they were produced just for club members, as notifications of upcoming events - they were privately produced using a early version of a mimeograph or similar device. The real photo card showing motorcyclist and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, a club member, being transported aboard a small rigid airship, This was the first time Curtiss flew - Capt. Thomas Baldwin, famed dirigible aeronaut who made America’s first parachute jump, used Curtiss’s “extremely light” engine to power his ship, California Arrow. He moved to Hammondsport, NY to work with Curtiss, and gave Curtiss his first airborne-experience on June 28, 1907, making the city “The Cradle of Aviation.” The card was canceled  July 14/1907 ( just over two weeks after the event) in Hammondsport, where the event happened. The card was addressed to Dwight Patterson. There is a good chance the card was sent to him by Curtiss. The litho-chrome shows him at his most famous speed run,  in 1907, when he became the fastest man on earth by running a prototype motorcycle at Ormond Beach to a record speed of 136.3 mph. That motorcycle was powered by an experimental V-8 aircraft engine (of Curtiss' own design) mounted in a specially built elongated frame. Most of the other cards feature cartoon-style announcements of meetings, rides and races of the club. One card, with the 1907 Curtiss speed run invitation, asks club members to bring their 8 cylinder motorcycles to the meeting.