Theory of Decadence

EXTREMELY RARE, Century Old, Antique Automotive Serial Number Tag/Plate. Original Chassis ID Plate from the Brecht (Borbein) Automotive Company, St. Louis, MO c: 1899 - 1903.
Brecht was one of the very earliest automotive maufacturers/dealers in America(see brief history below) and only produced cars under the Brecht family name for 3 years, making this tag an exceptionally limited and hard to find piece of automotive history.

**A Brief History of Brecht ( Borbein ) Automotive Company --

BORBEIN-St. Louis, Mlssouri-(1900,1904-1909}-ln 1899 H.F. Borbein & Company began manufacturing solid steel axles and artillery wood wheels at the corner of Ninth and Clark in St. Louis. In 1900, when his quarters became cramped there, Henry Borbein moved to Cass Avenue - and within a year was crowded again, but without sufficient capital to make another move. During 1900 he had built an electric runabout and caught the "automotive bug." Consequently, early in 1901, he joined forces with the Brecht Butcher's Supply Company, which had decided to establish an automotive sideline. Borbein served as manager of the Brecht Automobile Company from 1901 until October 1903 when he had the wherewithal to buyout Brecht, immediately changing the name of the product from Brecht to Borbein and announcing that he stood ready "to fill all outstanding orders." Like the latter-day Brechts, Borbeins were sold in diverse states of un­dress. Motors, tanks and connections were never supplied, but the rest varied according to model. Borbein's No. 26, for example, was a large 130-inch steel­framed touring car chassis "furnished ready for power with one coat of lead paint, with or without upholstering."