(Updated 12/1/24) Attractively framed checks associated with the Wright Brothers are readily available for those collectors who would appreciate a solitary framed autographed item associated with either Wilbur or Orville Wright. The prime interest may simply be in displaying a full autograph, with little thought given to the content of the check such as the date, receiver, or amount. There is quite a variety of checks available, and depending on your budget, you may choose to pick one, or assemble a collection. Checks from 1904 through January of 1908 are signed Wright Cycle Co with either Orville or Wilbur's initials written below. Then in later January 1908, the checks were signed Wright Brothers with Orville or Wilbur's initials below. Checks from 1904 through 1907 were fully in either Orville or Wilbur's hand, with those in 1908 having exceptions.
When purchasing checks associated with the Wright Brothers, a collector needs to be aware that the checks are not always in the hand of either Wilbur or Orville. Many checks are fully in their brother Lorin Wright's hand, including signing for Orville Wright, beginning with the year 1909. Lorin would sometimes place his initials
under Orville's name, but not always. Lorin wrote and signed many of the checks from 1909 through 1912, signing as Orville Wright, as Wright Bros., or as Wright Brothers.
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| Orville Wright's name as signed by his brother Lorin Wright. The W is very distinctive for Lorin and easily identified. |
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| This check was sold by RR Auction in April of 2010 for $530. It was described as "filled out in another hand and signed by Wright, payable to The Bank of Toronto for $300, August 9, 1938....Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA." This check, however, is fully in the hand of Orville Wright. A nice buy. An interesting check, cashed when Orville would have been at his summer retreat property, Lambert Island in Canada. Note the two ways he wrote his letter "T", in The, and Three, and in Toronto. |
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| This check sold by RR Auction in May of 2017 for $530 was described as "filled out and signed by Wright, "Orville Wright", payable to cash for $200, October 1, 1918." The body of this check, however, is filled out by Orville's secretary Mabel Beck, and only signed by Orville. This check still provides a nice strong Orville Wright autograph. Note the "T" in Two. This is typical of Mabel Beck's handwriting, not Orville's. |
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| Orville Wright's partial handwritten letter to his father, September 16, 1907, courtesy of Library of Congress. Note the style of the "T" in The. Compare this to the word "The" in the August 9, 1938 check above indicated to be in "another hand". Then compare the "T" in the word "Two" in the October 1, 1918 check above said to be in Orville's hand. |
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| This check sold by RR Auction in March of 2022 for $656 was described as "boldly filled out and signed by Orville Wright, payable to Mabel Beck...". Clearly, this check is filled out by Mabel Beck, and only signed by Orville Wright. One would only need to turn the check over to compare Mabel Beck's endorsement to the handwriting in the Pay to the Order of line to see that this is in her hand. |
| Mabel
Beck's signature is distinctive, with the high loop on the M in Mabel,
and the flowery sizable B in Beck. Comparison to name on the above check
shows clearly Mabel Beck's handwriting. From author's collection,
August 9, 1939 letter to Mr. G. Gebhardt. |
- Date of check.
- Who's signature appears on check.
- If signature is full, or just initials.
- If check is fully in Wilbur's or Orville's hand, or just the signature.
- If check is made out to an individual of interest and endorsed by that person. A partial list is offered below.
- Condition of check.
- Historical significance of the check.
Checks made out to specific individuals of interest (partial list)-
- Charlie Taylor, the Wright's mechanic
- Howard Gill, Wright Brother Exhibition aviator.
- William Tompert, owned Meat store at 1109 West Third, near Wright's Cycle Shop.
- Carrie Grumbach, the Wright's house keeper.
- Lottie Jones, the Wright's laundress.
- William Lewis, servant at Hawthorn Hill.
- Mabel Beck, the Wright's secretary.
- Charles Webbert, the Wright's landlord when at 1127 West Third.
- Frank Hale, neighbor to the west of Cycle Shop at 1127 West Third.
- Katherine Wright, Wilbur and Orville's sister.
- Lorin Wright, Wilbur and Orville's brother.
- Milton Wright, Lorin's son.
- Ivonette Wright Miller, Lorin Wright's daughter.
- Leontine Wright, Lorin Wright's daughter.
- Herbert Wright, Reuchlin Wright's son, (Reuchlin, Wilbur and Orville's brother)
- Katherine Wright, Herbert Wright's daughter.
- Wilbur Herbert Wright, Herbert Wright's son.
- Orville
wrote numerous checks to his grand nephew Wilbur H. Wright. Competing bidders brought the final price to
$2340 for a May 16, 1947 check in Mabel Beck's hand, signed by Orville,
and signed on back by Wilbur H. Wright. Actual value in my opinion is
more in the range of $850 on the high end, but obviously the bidders
disagree with me on this one, purchased from Heritage Auctions 2/27/22. This check is one of seven written to Wilbur H. Wright checks I've seen offered. One sold in 2003 for $531. One sold in 2011 for $1011. One sold in 2013 for $779. One sold in 2014, also for $779. All various dates from 1946 and 1947.
Price Range of Wright Brother Checks:
In my opinion, the value of checks associated with the Wright Brothers should vary per the following list starting from lowest value to highest, based on the factors as listed. Earlier dated checks would be more desirable than later dated check, but of course with some exceptions due to content:
- Check completely in Lorin Wright's (LW) hand.
- Check completely in LW's hand, signed by LW as Wright Cycle Co.
- Check completely in LW's hand, signed by LW as Wright Brothers.
- Check in LW's hand written to Charlie Taylor (CT), and endorsed by CT.
- Check in LW's hand written to OW, and endorsed by OW.
- Check in Mabel Beck's (MB) or some other hand, and signed by Orville Wright (OW).*
- Check completely in OW's hand, signed Wright Cycle Co and initialed by OW.
- Check completely in OW's hand, signed Wright Brothers and initialed by OW.
- Check completely in OW's hand, and signed OW.
- Check completely in OW's hand, written to CT, and endorsed by CT, 1904/1905 time period.
- Check completely in OW's hand, written to CT, endorsed by CT, 1906-1910 time period.
- Check completely in OW's hand, written to CT, endorsed by CT, later than 1910.
- Check in LW's, MB's, or some other hand, signed Wright Cycle Co and initialed by Wilbur Wright (WW).
- Check in LW's, MB's, or some other hand, signed Wright Brothers and initialed by WW.
- Check in LW's, MB's, or some other hand, signed by WW.
- Check completely in WW's hand, signed Wright Cycle Co, or Wright Brothers, and initialed by WW.
- Check completely in WW's hand, signed by WW.
- Check signed by both Wilbur and Orville.
- Check of historical significance, signed by OW or WW. One example is pictured later in this post, the Wright's bond check of $2500 for the sale of the first aeroplane to the U.S. government (10% of their asking price of $25,000).
* Results of recent sales (2023/24) appear to indicate more interest (higher selling prices) in checks fully signed by Orville Wright but in the hand of Mable Beck in lieu of checks fully in Orville's hand, but signed Wright Cycle Co or Wright Brothers with his initials. This would indicate that collectors are more interested in the full signature. Personally, I recognize Orville's handwriting well enough, that I basically see his "signature" throughout the check if all in his hand, and see more value than one simply written by Mabel and signed by Orville. But, we each have our preferences I suppose.
- Checks in Lorin Wright's hand can be obtained in the usual price range of $150 to $350. The actual range I've seen them sell is from $54 to $920. The low price being a bargain buy on E-bay, and the higher price likely paid by a collector who didn't recognize the check was entirely in Lorin's hand.
- Checks completely in Orville Wright's hand, but signed Wright Cycle Co or Wright Brothers with initials OW should sell in the $325 to $1100 range, but last year (2023) I witnessed a number of these checks selling as low as $180, as others offered at the same time by the same dealer go for several hundred more, though in Mabel Beck's hand with Orville's signature, and from a later date. As mentioned above, I believe this is due to the desire of some collectors to obtain a full signature.
- Checks in Mabel Beck's hand, but with Orville Wright's signature can be purchased in the range of $325 to $1100. There are exceptions with checks selling much higher, either because of special content, or buyer's inexperience in value.
- Checks in Wilbur Wright's hand signed Wright Cycle or Wright
Brothers with Wilbur's initials sell in the range of $1500-$2500. I've
seen them listed for higher asking prices ($4500), but I doubt many sell in that
higher range, though at least one did in 2014 at $4873.
- Early checks in Orville's hand written to Charlie Taylor sell for $850 to $1200. I recall these being offered in the $1850 range eight years ago, but I don't know if they sold for that amount. In 2023, I've seen a number of OW to CT checks sell in the range of $550 to $795. These should be more desirable than a check to a utility company which will often sell in this same price range.
- Checks in Wilbur's hand written to Charlie Taylor sell for $1800 to $2500. Again, I've seen these listed at higher prices, but I don't know that they sell when asking $3800 to $4500.
When comparing sale prices of the variety of checks offered, it becomes apparent that a consistency in price is lacking. For example, it is not uncommon to see a later date Mabel Beck produced check signed by Orville Wright written to a Utility company sell for more than a more desirable earlier dated check completely in Orville's hand written to his sister Katharine, with her endorsement on the rear of the check. As checks are offered separately from each other over a period of many years by many various sellers, these side by side comparisons generally aren't available. Hence, the inconsistent prices and one of the purposes of this post.
Dates of Wright Brother Checks and affect on value:
Checks dated during the period the Brothers were active with the development and sale of the Wright Flyers would generally be more desirable and of higher value than those of a later period. Again though, other factors enter in, such as if the check is fully in Orville or Wilbur's hand. I would place checks from 1904 and 1905 of special interest as the Wright Flyer was being perfected at Huffman Prairie in Dayton Ohio during these years. Checks from 1906 through 1909 represent the time period the Brothers marketed, further developed, and eventually demonstrated and sold their machines. Checks 1910 through 1915 incorporate the years of the Wright Exhibitions and the Wright Company aeroplane factory. Wilbur died in 1912, and Orville eventually sold the company in October of 1915.
I've taken an inventory of Wright Brother checks offered for sale over the past two decades and my list is far from complete, and so what I share now is subject to updating as I continue to research. These are simply the number of checks of these dates that I've found records of being offered for sale, and these quantities do not necessarily correlate to the actual number of checks available to collectors for each of these years. The total number of checks from 1904 through 1947 that I've inventoried number 763 checks. The earliest checks for which I've found sales records, are dated December of 1904; my list includes five. From 1905, twelve checks. From 1906, one check. From 1907, sixty checks. From 1908, twelve checks. From 1909, nineteen checks. From 1910, fourteen checks. From 1911, nine checks. From 1912, eighteen checks. From 1913, five checks. From 1914, eight checks. From 1915, six checks. From 1916, twenty one checks.
The years 1917 and 1929 have a high number of checks in my inventory- 61 checks for 1917 and 60 checks for 1929. Other years that offer a large available quantity of checks include 1918 (21), 1932 (37), 1933 (22), 1937 (22), 1939 (39), 1944 (30), and 1947 (24). I believe Orville preserved all his cancelled checks going back decades. How these would have been distributed by Orville's executors Harold S. Miller and Harold W. Steeper, I don't know the specifics. Likely, they all remained with Harold and Ivonette Wright Miller, who then offered them at auction in the 1980's, with Heritage Collectors Society purchasing all or part of the archive at that time. If all the checks survived from the years 1905 through 1947, they would number 12,000 or so.
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of checks available on the market in 2023/2024. The checks being released generally are not historically significant, but rather checks written to utility companies, and to employees such as to secretary Mabel Beck or house keeper Carrie Grumbach. Most are in Mabel Beck's hand, with Orville Wright's signature. If the collector is most interested in Orville's signature, then this available selection should be of interest. Many have been encapsulated by PSA/DNA for authentication and preservation. I don't personally care for encapsulated items, as I prefer to be able to touch history, but this method of storage appears to be on the rise.
I am not aware of checks dated earlier than December of 1904 being offered to collectors.
Checks completely in Orville Wright's hand:
Checks completely in Orville's hand are less common after 1916. From my sample inventory of 763 checks, I find only seven checks in this group after 1916 completely in Orville's hand. The the vast majority of the checks after 1916 are in Mabel Beck's hand, with Orville's signature. The August 9, 1938 check pictured earlier is one example of a later dated check in Orville's hand. From the check inventory, checks in Orville's hand include-
- April 24, 1920, No. 491, to J. H. Carr, Treasurer, $250.
- Aug 15, 1922, to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, $3000.
- December 24, 1930, made out to himself, and so signed three times.
- Aug 8, 1931, to Gidley Boat Co Ltd.
- Aug 19, 1931, to Gidley Boat Co Ltd., $1000
- Aug 19, 1931, to Gidley Boat Co Ltd., $1075
- August 9, 1938, to Bank of Toronto
The checks to the Gidley Boat Co are pictured in "From Kitty Hawk to KittyHawk, Orville Wright's Live on Georgian Bay in Canada" by Guy R. Johnstone. Orville wrote these while at Lambert Island. It is likely many other checks written while at Lambert Island are in Orville's hand, and I'll update this information as I perform further research.
Banks utilized by the Wright Brothers:
Checks dated 1897 through 1918 will be from Winters National Bank. The brothers had an account with Farmers and Merchants Bank, but as I understand it, they wrote very few checks with Farmers, with first on April 4, 1910, and last on October 26, 1912. From 1918 through 1930, Orville had accounts with Fourth National Bank Of Dayton Ohio and City National Bank (& Trust Company). From 1930 through 1948, Orville had accounts with Union Trust Company and Winters National Bank & Trust Company. If your check is not from one of these institutions within these time periods, you do not possess a genuine Wright Brother check.
Collectors beware of non-genuine Wright Brother checks:
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| Check offered for bid March 2, 2022 with a given estimated value of $3000-$4000. Orville Wright did not have an account with The Dayton Savings & Trust Co. The body of the check is not in any familiar hand; not Mabel Beck's, not Lorin Wright's, not Orville Wright's. The signature is not in the hand of Orville Wright though it was written to appear as such. The written date is June 15, 1924, but the stamped paid date is June 17, 1921. Yet this check was provided with a certificate of authenticity (buyers need to research the reputation of the COA company). Even if had been genuine, the value would have been in the range of $350-$850, not $3000-$4000, and unfortunately did sell for $1100. |
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| State Bank of Pasadena check offered by auction April of 2023. The body of the check is not in any familiar hand; not Mabel Beck's, not Lorin Wright's, not Orville Wright's. The signature is not in the hand of Orville Wright, and is one of the worst attempts of duplicating his signature I've seen. Orville did not have an account with the State Bank of Pasadena. Buyers beware. |
Collectors beware of reproduction Wright Brother checks:
Reproduction checks are offered in the price range of $15 to $90, and are generally advertised as reproductions. I have seen, however, the sale of a reproduction check presented as a genuine check. Be aware these checks continue to be produced, and are simply printed copies of original checks, offered as an affordable alternative collectable item.
Cut Signatures:
I do not understand the interest in cut signatures. Why would cutting Orville Wright's signature out of the check (which in the process destroys the document), be preferable to simply displaying the entire check, complete with date and Bank of issue? How does a collector verify that the check is not simply a cut reproduction check, if encased such that even the back of the "check" is not visible? Why is the destruction of documents so popular to so many collectors? What was the date of the check? Who was it written to? I assume a trash can somewhere contains the other portions of these checks, with Mabel Beck's handwriting. History to the burn pile. I don't get it.
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| Auctioned on E-bay, this "authentic signature" attracted the interest of at least 8 different bidders, with winning bid of $765 on October 29, 2023. Full complete checks in Orville Wright's hand can be obtained for less than this price! |
Examples of Wright Brother Checks of interest:
Not everything is necessarily as it seems. This check is dated December 31, 1901, and was sold as such by RR Auctions in April of 2018. It is in fact a 1910 check, as Lorin Wright had a moment of dyslexia, and reversed the numbers. Lorin would have signed the check as Wright Cycle Co. if this had been a 1901 check. Further, the style of the Winters National Bank check dates to the 1910's, not the early 1900's.
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| December 31, 1910 check completely in the hand of Lorin Wright, incorrectly dated as 1901. Sold for $270, April 11, 2018, Courtesy of RR Auctions. |
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December 31, 1904 check written to Charles Taylor, the Wright Brother's mechanic, entirely in the hand of Orville Wright, signed "Wright Cycle Co." with Orville Wright's initials.
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| Entirely in Orville Wright's hand, and signed Wright Cycle Co., an early dated check ending the year 1904. With the lessons learned from the 1904 Huffman Prairie experiments, the entire 1905 season lay ahead for Wilbur, Orville, and Charlie, with the eventuality of the world's first practical aeroplane. |
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| Classic C. E. Taylor signature. From Author's collection. |
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March 28, 1908 check written to Chas E. Taylor in the hand of Wilbur Wright, and signed Wright Brothers with Wilbur's initials below.
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| Sold for $1548, June 18, 2008, Courtesy of RR Auctions. |
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May 8, 1909 check written to Charlie Taylor entirely in the hand of Lorin Wright, and signed Wright-Bros.. Lorin would sometimes include his initials, but he does not in this case. The Classic C. E. Taylor signature adorns the rear of the check.
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| Check to Charley Taylor for the amount of $18, the same amount he received in 1904. Time for a raise? Courtesy of RR Auctions. |
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January 12, 1918 check to Chas. Taylor in the hand of Mabel Beck, and signed Orville Wright by Lorin, with his initial L under the signature.
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| Sold on E-bay June 12, 2022 for $350. |
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January 27, 1908 check written to James Allen, Chief Signal Officer for $2500, in someone else's hand and signed "Wright Brothers" by Wilbur Wright with his initials. From The Bishop's Boys, "Landing in New York on November 22, Wilbur went straight to the Flint offices for a conference with Frank Cordley. The following day he caught a train for Washington, where he spent a rainy weekend waiting for the government offices to open on Monday. General William Crozier, senior officer of the Board; General James Allen, Chief Signal Officer, and Major Lawson M. Fuller met with him on the morning of November 25. For the first time, Wilbur recognized that the Army was seriously interested in his invention. And the Wright's were ready.............The brothers spent the next few weeks corresponding with the Board to ensure that they understood all the requirements. On January 27, 1908, they submitted their formal proposal to sell a flying machine as described in the circular for $25,000. It was the only bid that the Board expected to receive. In fact, there were forty-one proposals when the competition closed on February 1." (Ch 25, pg346-348)
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| Bond payment by Wright Brothers for sale of first aeroplane to the United States Army. Sold by International Autograph Auctions Europe December 10, 2016 for $9835. Resold by Alexander Historical Auctions December 9, 2021 for $42,500! |
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| Orville Wright's handwriting on rear of check, signed Wright Brothers, with Orville's initials. |
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March 28, 1910 check written to Edmund S Lorenz for $11,500, in the hand of Wilbur Wright, signed Wright Brothers with Wilbur's initials. From "What Dreams We Have", "the brothers purchased property in Dayton View at the intersection of Salem Avenue and Harvard Boulevard on March 28, 1910. Katharine felt this lot was too close to the center of the city, and she suggested purchasing property on a wooded lot. Wilbur and Orville finally agreed to a different location., and in February 1912 they purchased a seventeen-acre lot in the town of Oakwood, just south of Dayton. The site was located at the intersection of Park Drive and Harmon Avenue on a wooded hill." (Ch 9, page 170)
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| Sold by Bloomsbury Auctions December 1, 2016 for $1598. In the hand of Wilbur Wright for the purchase of property at Salem Avenue and Harvard Boulevard. |
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January 26, 1911 check stamped The Wright Company, and signed by both Wilbur and Orville Wright to the B. F. Goodrich Company. Auctioned by RR Auctions January 10, 2024. Indicated by RR Auctions as filled out "in another hand", and signed by both brothers.
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| Sold for $14,949. |
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October 14, 1915 check written to The Wright Company for $539.04, completely in the hand of Orville Wright, with his signature. The rear of the check is endorsed, "The Wright Company Mabel Beck", in Orville's secretary Mabel's hand. This check was written at the time of the sale of The Wright Company by Orville. "In the end, Orville proved to be a very successful businessman. His handling of the negotiations for the sale was masterful. The final agreement with a group of New York financiers was signed on October 15, 1915. Although the full amount of the purchase price was not disclosed, the New York Times reported that Orville received roughly $1.5 million, plus an additional $25,000 for his services as chief consulting engineer during the first year of the new company's operation". (The Bishop Boys, Ch 33, pg 466) The Dayton Daily News reported on October 13th of the sale, indicating "All the negotiations for the purchase of the Wright plant was completed in New York and it is understood that the stock will be transferred within a day or two."
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| October 14, 1915 Check in Orville Wright's hand to The Wright Company; his last day of ownership. From Author's collection. |
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August 15, 1922 check written completely in Orville's hand to Vilhjalmur Stefansson in the amount of $3000, endorsed by VS. This check was originally available through HistoryForSale.com, Gallery of History. Known as "Stef" to Katharine and Orville, Stef had sought financial assistance to hire a ship to rescue the five person settlement associated with the 1921 Wrangel Island expedition, and this check represents the Wright's portion. When a ship finally arrived in 1923, of the five, there was only one survivor. In a letter dated February 26, 1924, Katharine wrote to Stef concerning her disappointment of his handling of the $3000 loan. She wrote,
"...we never discussed whether we could or couldn't give the money. It was hard to hear you say at N.Y. that you were rather glad the ship didn't get through! Orv had it written on his books as a loss and we cut off some unnecessary but very pleasant expenses to put the money back into our capital again. But we never regretted any of it as long as we thought it had been spent to try to get a ship to Wrangell. I could do without anything, almost, gladly, to save you from trouble..... But to find out over a year later, in an unexpected way- not from you at all- that our money hadn't gone for what we thought and that what the Canadian government gave was more than enough for the ship- And Griff had thrown over a thousand more of ours into the mess of unmanaged affairs!"
(The 8 page letter from the Author's collection, Katharine Wright archive).(1)
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| Check completely in Orville Wright's hand to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, intended to help finance rescue of the five from the Wrangel Island Expedition. Image courtesy of HistoryForSale.com. Sold for $407 on October 23, 2023. Then offered for sale by the purchaser on E-bay for several thousand, and then price lowered to $1499. Would have been a nice addition to my collection but beyond my budget for now. |
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October 22, 1947 check written to Miami Valley Hospital for $119.15. From "The Bishop's Boys", Orville Wright "suffered his first heart attack on October 10, 1947, while running up the front steps of the main NCR building to keep an appointment. Hospitalized for four days, he spent his time teasing the nurse and working out a means to improve the efficiency and comfort of the oxygen tents. He was released on October 14, after being cautioned to slow down." (Ch 37, pg 523-4)
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| In the hand of his secretary Mabel Beck, and signed by Orville Wright to cover the expenses of his hospital stay after suffering his first heart attack. Orville did not believe in insurance, and so covered this exorbitant $119.15 expense of his four day hospital stay from his own funds. From Author's collection. |
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I plan to visit the Wright Brother Archives at Wright State University, and will add to this post my findings. Of interest are the financial records in MS-1 Part 2 Manuscripts Series 3, including cancelled checks from 1814-1935, Winters Bank, Fourth National, City Bank, and Union Trust records. (2024, and I have yet to follow up on the WSU research; will eventually get to it.)
Copyright 2022- Getting the Story Wright
Notes:
1. For more on the Wrangle Island Expedition, see the National Park Service account-
Ada Blackjack: Stranded on Wrangel Island
For related posts:
"Collecting Historical Items associated with the Wright Brothers"
"Value of Historical Collectables associated with the Wright Brothers"
"Buyer Beware When Collecting Wright Brother Items"
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