Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Sat, Sep 19, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-09-19 11:00:00 2026-09-19 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : September 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/september-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-24380
Our September 2026 auction is anchored by two remarkable private collections, together making up about half the sale, alongside a broader selection of consignments spanning early photography, Civil War material, and vernacular imagery. The Soffer Collection, built with an eye for rarity and historical significance, is particularly strong in vernacular portraiture, Native American photographs, and Iowa Civil War imagery. The Palmer, Massachusetts collection, much of it found at Brimfield, centers on maker-marked daguerreotypes from the golden age of the American daguerreian studio.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 594

Real Photo Postcard, Construction Site with Workers, Windsor Ohio

Estimate: $50 - $100
Starting Bid
$25

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A large crew of laborers poses amid an active excavation and construction site in this real photo postcard postmarked Windsor, Ohio, on July 22, 1910. The image captures a substantial civil engineering operation, likely a dam, lock, or reservoir project, with a towering wooden A-frame derrick dominating the composition and a suspended wooden bucket or skip visible mid-frame. The photographer is unidentified, with no studio imprint present.

More than a dozen workers are distributed across multiple levels of the site, several holding shovels and wearing work clothes, suspenders, and wide-brimmed or peaked caps. A white draft horse and a second horse team are visible on the upper earthen berm alongside a wagon, while steam rises from machinery at the upper left. Freshly poured concrete retaining walls curve across the mid-ground, and piles of excavated earth and broken rock fill the foreground.

The postmark reads Windsor, Ohio, and the one-cent Benjamin Franklin green stamp places the mailing firmly within the 1908 to 1910 postal rate period, consistent with the date written on the reverse.

The reverse is inscribed in ink: "Windsor O 7/21 1910 — What do you think of Windsor O — Received every thing ok to night, to late to write, will write tomorrow night and explain address this place, write soon, A.H.B." Addressed to Miss Olive Hiles, 409 N. McKean St., Kittanning, Pa. Penciled notation "15.00" appears at lower right.

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