1911 Reo Ad 50 miles an hour

[TerryB]

Going through some old automobile ads I bought years ago in a bulk purchase I came across this ad from August 1910 for the 1911 Reo Model Thirty.  Somehow it just spoke to me that this two page ad that has survived for 110 years needed to be preserved.
I went to Michaels craft store to find a frame that would compliment the age of the subject. The ad is 14” x 22” so the best affordable frame I could find was 18” x 26” so I bought it. The size of the ad and frame were difficult to work with for me from my wheelchair but I did my best to mount it to a piece of cut down poster board as a backing and mount it with a minimum of bumps and waviness.   The black mounting cardboard was chosen to keep the printing on the opposite side from showing through.  It took some doing but I finally got it to where I like the outcome.  And here it is. For Reo fans and fans of brass era, I think you will enjoy how the ads reads.  Hopefully Walt G will give my efforts a passing grade!

 

 

[JFranklin]

Were there any roads that would allow one to drive at 50 MPH? Nice ad!

[wayne sheldon]

Now, that is what I call a "centerfold"

 

Looks great TerryB!

[JV Puleo]

I have that ad somewhere and I had two of the cars, a 1910 and a 1911. The "50 mph" is a little optimistic. Maybe downhill with a strong tail wind but at 50 the engine would be screaming.

[f.f.jones]

A very nice ad and a great framing job. I was just wondering if you were aware of the benefits of acid-free mounting board and paper. Often, newsprint and other documents disintegrate over time. Obviously your ad was well preserved, but many people recommend using acid-free mounting materials to prevent further deterioration.

 

"Acid free archival paper can last many, many years and is used in situations where art or documents require a longer life without becoming yellow or breaking down. It's also used commonly in the long term archival storage of art, documents and textiles."

 

Acid-free mounting material information and supplies are available on line and at many local arts and craft stores and might worth considering for your next project. Keep up the good work.

[TerryB]

Yes, I’m familiar with acid free products and have a few of them like small backing boards and tape. For this project Michaels wanted $15 for the backing board.  With that cost plus the frame I would be spending more than I wanted to do for the unknown outcome on a project of this size.  The other thing I had to consider is I will be selling this item at some point and didn’t want to get too much $$$ invested in it.  Normally my wife gets yard sale frames for my use but nothing showed up in this size recently.

 

This early ad and some others I have show the great artwork of the artists that did magazine ads.  I enjoy them immensely but can’t keep too many, just like cars, only room for a few.  My next project is an original 1937 Oldsmobile poster size 24” x 36”.  My wife found a nice poster frame at a yard sale for that one so at least the initial investment will be smaller.

[TerryB]

18 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

I have that ad somewhere and I had two of the cars, a 1910 and a 1911. The "50 mph" is a little optimistic. Maybe downhill with a strong tail wind but at 50 the engine would be screaming.

I thought this ad was impressive with the speed claims and the note of the top and windshield as options.  It’s great to know that you actually had a Reo from this era.