A young man poses astride an early Indian motorcycle in this real photo postcard mailed from Forestville, Connecticut, postmarked March 30, 1909. The motorcycle's rear fender bears the printed legend "Indian Hendee Mfg. Co. Springfield, Mass.," firmly identifying it as a product of the Hendee Manufacturing Company, the original maker of Indian motorcycles, during one of the brand's earliest production years. No photographer's imprint is visible on the card.

The rider wears a canvas work jacket with button cuffs and a flat-brimmed motor cap with goggles pushed to the brim. The motorcycle itself shows a V-twin engine with exposed cooling fins, a leather saddle, twist-grip handlebars, a leather tool pouch mounted below the seat, and chain-and-sprocket drive. The setting is a dirt yard beside a clapboard house with louvered shutters, and bare winter trees fill the background.

Indian motorcycles from this period are among the most collectible in American moto history. The Hendee Mfg. Co. began producing Indians in 1901, and by 1909 had introduced the twin-cylinder configuration visible here, making this card a precise document of the marque's formative era. The reverse carries a handwritten message signed "Bob," addressed to Miss Blanche Shaw, 18 Park Ave., Attleboro, Mass., reading in part: "This snaps picture was taken after a ride in the mud last Sunday. I was talking to Misis dear Russell last night. Oh say Blanche do you love me as you used to?"

From the collection of James Lee Soffer