Woman posing with 1910 Mercer automobile

View of woman posing with 1910 Mercer car. Printed on back: "This was one of the first models of the Mercer 1910 toy tonneau produced by the Mercer Automobile Company of Trenton, New Jersey. (See Auto Facts, May, 1955 for more details). With her back to the Delaware River, a mysterious lady in black peered dramatically into the hazy future while seated at the wheel of $1,950 worth of Mercer automobile, model 1910 toy tonneau. Object? Publicity, for the Mercer Automobile Company had just been incorporated in Trenton, New Jersey. The company needn't have worried about trick publicity. The car--especially its racing models--quickly caught on with the public. Within a few years, the Mercer was setting the pace in the various competitions of the period. Noteworthy among its laurels was the world's road race record of 87.89 miles per hour established at Corona, California, on Thanksgiving Day, 1914. According to company literature, 'Until highly banked board speedways were constructed, this was the fastest time ever made in (automotive) competition of any kind.' Claiming its racetrack experiences as a basis for its high engineering standards, the company continued prosperously for many years. In 1924, its fortune declined and a year later it went into receivership. Subsequent attempts to revive the Mercer name did not succeed." Handwritten on back: "Mercer, 1910."