May 18, 2012  

Historic Photo

The following photograph taken by Lewis Reed is from the “Wheelmen (and associates), 1890s-1910s” blog post by the Montgomery County Historical Society’s official blog, “A Fine Collection”.

A bicycle race at the Rockville fairgrounds, circa 1915. Photo by Lewis Reed; glass negatives donated by the Reed and Gartner families.

With photography for a hobby, one that began even before automobiles were around Montgomery County, Lewis Reed had amassed a large library of photographs of buildings, farm carts drawn by oxen, and other historic spots in Montgomery County. Lewis Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane Gartner, recently donated her father’s photograph collection of 280 glass plate negatives to the Montgomery County Historical Society. The glass plate negatives from Lewis Reed’s Collection are a great example of early photographic techniques which were in common use between the 1880s and the late 1920s.

May 16, 2012  

1st Dodge TV Commercial

Here`s the very first 1955 Dodge commercial video presented by Lou Crosby from the Lawrence Welk premiere show!

May 11, 2012  

Reed Brothers Can Now Be Found On Montgomery County Historical Society’s Website

The Montgomery County Historical Society (Maryland) has just added a new page to the History & Resources section of their website, entitled “Other Local History on the Web“. Reed Brothers would like to acknowledge with much appreciation, the Montgomery County Historical Society for placing a link to our history blog on their new page, so we may now be able to preserve and share our heritage with future generations.

You can find us here: Other Local History on the Web

Also, please take some time to explore the official blog of the Montgomery County Historical Society. Their artifacts blog, “A Fine Collection” contains an incredibly wide variety of objects representing 300-some years of Montgomery County.

May 10, 2012  

Glass Plate Negatives Donation

Print made from a Lewis Reed glass negative, showing the Reed Brothers dealership in 1922.

The following is an excerpt taken from the Summer 2011 edition of the Montgomery County Historical Society Newsletter.

“The Sween Library was recently given a collection of 280 glass plate negatives, showing Montgomery County in the early 20th century. Lewis Reed was a well-known photographer in the county as well as owner (along with his brother Edgar) of Reed Brothers, the Rockville automobile dealership. The collection was donated to the Society by Mr. Reed’s daughter, Mary Jane Reed Gartner.

There are scenes of different areas of the county, buildings, events such as the county fair, and local people. These are a welcomed addition to our growing graphics collection.”

May 9, 2012  

Royal Inspiration

Sometimes I can’t help myself. Like a few weeks ago,while searching through the closets at the dealership I came across this beautiful relic of the past. I found my mom’s old Royal Typewriter. Big, heavy typewriter – built like a tank! It was the one she used in college and my dad had taken to work and used for many years at the dealership.

So when I saw this old typewriter, I thought of my father and was motivated to take it off the shelf where it resided and dust it off. And, of course, to write about it.

Click click click… click click click… click-ding!

Now in an age when the typewriter has become a relic of the past, I pay tribute to this little machine that was hiding away in the closet collecting dust.

Yes, the typewriter may be on it’s last legs, but my memories of my dad sitting at his desk so many years ago typing on it will be with me forever. Funny how simple things like that leave their indelible mark on our memories of the past.

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