The Halifax River Yacht Club Requests the pleasure of Your Company at the Opera House…Daytona, Fla. [photographic invitation]

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Rare. Invitation to cards and dancing on March 11, 1896 at the Opera House in Daytona, Florida, one of the first events sponsored by the Halifax River Yacht Club. The yacht club’s first meeting was held just two months earlier, its organizers eager racers of gaff-rigged catboats.

The invitation itself is a photograph. The image incorporates a scene of sailboats racing on the Halifax River and a photo-reproduction of the handwritten invitation. Right around the time of the dance, “Laurence Thompson, a founding father of Daytona and one of the original 13 members, gave permission to construct a wharf from his premises on Beach Street, including the ‘riparian rights’.” (History of the Halifax River Yacht Club, accessed online)

The Halifax River Yacht Club is believed to be the oldest yacht club on the East Coast still at its original location.

Price: $350.00