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 590

RPPC, Roosevelt 1912 Campaign Parade, Wilber Nebraska

Estimate: $200 - $300
Starting Bid
$100

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 real photo postcard documents three simultaneous panoramic views of a Theodore Roosevelt campaign event held in Wilber, Nebraska on April 18, 1912, during Roosevelt's Bull Moose primary campaign against incumbent William Howard Taft. The composite format captures the full arc of the gathering across a single printed surface, with no photographer's imprint visible on the reverse. The undivided composition was almost certainly made by a local photographer working the crowd that day.

The top panel shows a brass band marching down a dirt main street flanked by storefronts and horse-drawn wagons. The center panel, the most detailed of the three, depicts four men in dark suits and bowler hats grouped around a wheelbarrow draped with a campaign banner bearing a portrait medallion, a strikingly literal prop referencing a campaign wager or political bet. The bottom panel records a dense crowd of hundreds filling a town square in front of a building marked "Furnishings."

Roosevelt's 1912 campaign for the Progressive Party nomination began with primary battles in the spring before his formal break from the Republican Party that summer, making April campaign stops like this one among the earliest documented public rallies of that historic race.

The reverse bears a pencil inscription reading: "Roosevelt Campaign / Teddy pushing the wheelbarrow April 18 / 1912 in Wilber Nebr." Dealer notations "2.90 SF-PP / GE" and "175-" also appear.

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