Touring Car RR Crossing Train Depot Family Antique 1910s - RPPC Photo Postcard

USD 45.00

Condition: Not specified

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View Touring Car RR Crossing Train Depot Family Antique 1910s - RPPC Photo Postcard with current marketplace pricing, condition, product images and item details. 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 A sepia real photo postcard capturing an early motoring family posed with their touring car at a rural railroad grade crossing, circa 1913. The automobile appears to be a big right-hand-drive touring car of roughly 1912-1914 vintage, likely a Cadillac Model 30 or similar large four-cylinder tourer, with its folding top raised, wooden artillery wheels, brass-trimmed headlamps, and a visible license plate on the front. A young man in a white shirt and necktie leans against the running board, another man in a flat cap crouches on the step, while a woman in a wide-brimmed hat and a young boy sit in the car behind the steering wheel. The setting is a wonderful slice of 1910s Americana: behind the car stands a small-town wooden railroad depot with decorative gable trim, a round banjo-style crossing signal marked DANGER on a post at left, and overhead a crossbuck-style sign warning RAILROAD CROSSING - STOP LOOK LISTEN mounted beneath a steel utility tower. A superb crossover image for early automobile collectors and railroadiana enthusiasts alike, from the estate of a longtime vintage automobile postcard collector. Historical Notes The scene here sits at the exact collision point of two eras - the railroad age and the dawning automobile age. The 'Stop, Look and Listen' warning visible on the sign became a national safety slogan precisely because scenes like this one were becoming deadly: as touring cars like this one multiplied on American roads in the 1910s, grade crossing fatalities soared, prompting railroads and states to launch massive crossing safety campaigns through the 1920s. The round banjo-style DANGER signal seen at left was an early attempt at automatic crossing protection, soon replaced by wig-wag signals and eventually flashing lights and gates. The small wooden depot in the background tells the other half of the story. As automobiles like this family's tourer took over passenger travel, thousands of these small-town stations lost their purpose. Most were shuttered by mid-century and demolished, making period photographs of working depots with their signals intact increasingly prized by railroad historians. The big touring car itself, if it is indeed a Cadillac Model 30, represented one of the most successful American cars of its day - the Model 30 line helped establish Cadillac's reputation for precision manufacturing and won the brand the Dewar Trophy, paving the way for Cadillac's landmark 1912 introduction of the electric self-starter. Browse our complete RPPC Photo Postcard photograph collection. Text Present Sign on post (front): 'RAILROAD CROSSING - STOP LOOK LISTEN' Round signal at left (front): 'DANGER' with additional smaller warning text around the rim Back, printed: 'POST CARD', 'CORRESPONDENCE HERE', 'NAME AND ADDRESS HERE', 'PLACE STAMP HERE' Back, faint pencil at top: what appears to read 'No. 134 Ed Schultz' Print analysis This is a Type 1 original real photo postcard, gelatin silver print, developed on period postcard stock. The divided back with 'CORRESPONDENCE HERE' and 'NAME AND ADDRESS HERE' layout and the stamp box design are consistent with photographic postcard papers of the 1910s. The image content - the circa 1912-1914 touring car, period clothing, and early crossing signal - matches the paper era exactly, indicating the print was made at or very near the time the photograph was taken. Condition All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Category: Collectibles › Postcards & Supplies › Postcards › Topographical Postcards.