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The Winters National Bank check, 8.25 x 3.25, filled out and signed by Wright, "Wright Cycle Co., W.W.," payable to Wm. Tompert for $5.02, April 1, 1907. Handsomely mounted, suede-matted, and framed to an overall size of 16 x 10.5. In fine condition, with a cancellation hole to the lower right.
The recipient, William Tompert, operated a meat market at 1109 West Third Street, just a short distance from the Wright Cycle Company’s final Dayton shop at 1127 West Third Street. The modest payment offers an evocative glimpse into the brothers’ everyday commercial life in the close-knit West Dayton neighborhood where they had grown from printers and bicycle mechanics into aviation pioneers.
Dated little more than three years after the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, the check was issued during a pivotal but relatively quiet period in the Wrights’ career. Although they had largely ceased manufacturing bicycles, the cycle company remained an active business entity, and its West Third Street workshop continued to serve as the practical center of their aeronautical work. There the brothers had conducted wind-tunnel experiments, designed their early gliders, and developed the aircraft that culminated in the 1905 Wright Flyer III—the first airplane capable of sustained, controlled, and practical flight. In 1907, Wilbur and Orville were increasingly occupied with negotiations to sell their invention to the United States and European governments, shortly before their celebrated public demonstrations transformed them from little-known Dayton experimenters into internationally recognized figures.
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