Coming Down The Line 100 Miles An Hour Old Orchard Maine ME 1912 Postcard

Old Orchard Beach, located on the coast of Maine, became a popular venue for organized beach racing and automobile exhibitions in the early 20th century, taking advantage of hard-packed sand at low tide for high-speed runs. The postcard caption claiming "100 miles an hour" reflects contemporary promotional language used to advertise daring motoring feats to visiting vacationers and growing crowds of spectators along the dunes and boardwalk.

These events featured early vintage cars and were part of broader motor sports and seaside entertainment trends that drew tourists to the resort town during the early 20th century. Such seaside races illustrate how coastal communities in New England adapted public beaches for recreational and promotional uses tied to the rise of automobile culture.

Postcard Image

🖼️ Information on the Front of the Postcard

📝 In-Scene Text
Not visible

🏢 Publisher Information
Not visible

💬 Captions
Coming down the line, 100 miles an hour
Old Orchard, Me.

✍️ Messages
Not visible

📬 Information on the Back of the Postcard

📮 Address
Miss Wm A Kilbourne
41 Congress St.
Watertown
Vt

📅 Postmark & Stamp
**Postmark:** No clear circular postmark with a location or date from the postal service is visible. The 1-cent stamp is cancelled by horizontal wavy lines.
**Stamp:** U.S. Postage, One Cent. Green stamp featuring a profile portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

✍️ Message
Aug 11 1915
I am going to Boston
this morning so we
can go to the baseball
game with Ochall
Harry

🏛️ Publisher & Postal Note
**Publisher:** The circular mark on the left side (not a postmark) indicates "OLD ORCHARD", "ACHNOR BROTHERS INC.", "FROM COAST TO COAST", "BOSTON, MASS.". Below this is "TRADE MARK".
**Postal Note:**
- "POST FOR CORRESPONDENCE ONLY" (left side)
- "CARD FOR ADDRESS ONLY" (right side, under flag design)

📌 Context
The postcard was sent on August 11, 1915. At this time, the domestic postcard rate in the U.S. was 1 cent. World War I was in full swing in Europe, though the United States had not yet entered the conflict. The message indicates the sender, Harry, is traveling to Boston to attend a baseball game, which reflects a common leisure activity of the era. The publisher's mark links "Old Orchard" (likely Old Orchard Beach, a popular resort town in Maine) with "Boston, Mass.", suggesting the postcard itself might have been purchased in one of these locations or distributed by a company based there. The recipient, Miss Wm A Kilbourne, resided in Watertown, Vermont.

Note: Postcard information is read by AI and may contain errors. Please review images for accuracy.

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