Out of Date: the Author not the Post Card

This is a great example of how correspondence had to be written on a post card prior to March 1, 1907. The publisher of this post card, The Colorado News Company, had mercy on the potential customers and gave them room to write their messages on the borders. At the same time, the publisher was able to print a beautiful picture of St. Peter's Dome and a steam locomotive on the Cripple Creek Short Line.

On 13 April 1897 Lucian D. Ross, Thomas Burk, James L. Lindsay, W.T. Doubt and Kurnel R. Babbitt organized the Cripple Creek District Railway Company to operate a 6.25 mile standard gauge electric line between Cripple Creek and Victor. The Articles of Incorporation were amended 17 November 1899, at which time the line’s name was changed to Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway. An extension to Colorado Springs opened in April 1901. From 1897 to 1904 the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway remained under the control of local investors. After gaining control of the line through stock ownership in 1904, the Colorado & Southern directed operations until 1911. After the line lost money due to competition from the Florence and Cripple Creek Railway and the Midland Terminal Railway, the Colorado & Southern, in 1911, leased the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway to the Florence and Cripple Creek. In 1915 this lease was transferred to the Cripple Creek Central Railway, which also controlled the Midland Terminal Railway. By 1917 most rail traffic in the area was directed to the Midland Terminal Railway. The loss of the Bear Creek Bridge in May 1918 cut off all direct traffic from Colorado springs. The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway was declared bankrupt in 1919, at which time it went into receivership. All operations ceased in 1920 and the line was sold for scrap.

What is interesting to me about this post card is how the author used it. We can definitely date this post card to exactly March 9, 1909 because of the post mark on the back - we can even add 7:30 in the morning to the date. However, the appearance of the post card tells us that it had existed for two years prior to it being posted. Prior to March 1, 1907 this was the standard look of a post card: picture on the front and address only on the back. On March 1, 1907 people were able to add a message to the left side of a post card. So, the author could have easily written a message on the left and put the address on the right; instead, he or she followed the rules from two years prior. For some people, rules are rules and they are to be followed no matter what.

The publisher of the post card is The Colorado News Company; this was a publisher and distributor of printed items for The American News Company. Their offices were in Denver, Colorado.

The printer of the post card is The American News Company. This blurb is from the Metropolitan Post Card Club in New York City: "Founded by Sinclair Tousey in 1864 this firm became a major distributor of books, magazines, newspapers, comic books and postcards exclusively through their national network of more than 300 affiliated news agencies. Nearly all of their output was in view-cards and they mostly covered the New York, mid-Atlantic region. In addition to distributing postcards, they seem to have published some as well and worked as a middleman for many smaller publishers wishing to produce cards. Most of their cards were printed in Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin, Germany, but they switched to American and French printers during World War One. They often became the focus of litigation from trying to monopolize distribution of printed material in the United States. Their closure in 1957 led to great difficulties in distribution, putting many small publishers out of business as well."

The logo used and the number of the post card (No. A 1210) tells us that this post card was printed in 1906. Again, from the Metropolitan Post Card Club of New York: "Excelsior - A German made card printed in collotype. It was the first series this firm printed and later marketed as their highest quality black & white card (most customers chose this type over their cheaper halftone cards). Almost all cards in this series are printed in black & white, but there are some later examples issued in monochromes of blue, green, and sepia as well as more rare cards that were printed in color and handcolored. Prefix A 1-4999 beginning in 1906" to 1908. There were 4999 post card printings in these two years. Number 1210 is 24% of the way from 1 to 4999. So using interpolation methods we can guess that this post card was printed in the later half of 1906.

A Little Confusion

The title on this post card say that it is a picture of the First Bridge in Ogden Canyon, Utah. Ogden is the town at which the Lucin Cut-off begins as the trains head west across the Great Salt Lake. It was included on the Transcontinental Railroad by the Union Pacific Railroad when it raced across the country to meet the Central Pacific Railroad just north of Ogden at Promontory Point. However, back to the title. It says that this picture is taken in Ogden Canyon. When I searched for Ogden Canyon on line, I found a route that goes from a reservoir of water down the hill to Ogden. There was no set of tracks anywhere to be seen.

I think that this is actually a bridge on the Transcontinental Railroad in Weber Canyon. (By the way, Weber is pronounced "Weeber" in case anyone asks. It was named after a trapper who hunted in the area.) The Union Pacific followed this canyon into Ogden as it built the railroad across the country. It built many bridges and tunnels in order to make the journey safe for the steam engines.

This post card is also published by Edward H. Mitchell. This makes three weeks in a row that an Edward H. Mitchell post card is in this blog. He was a very prolific publisher. BUT, I notice that the way his name is displayed on the back of the card is different from the previous two cards. Usually, his name is up the left hand side of the post card. On this one it is on the bottom left. He is listed as the publisher, too, not the printer.

Similar is not the Same.

The picture on the post card below is very similar to about 15 other post cards in my collection.

There is a train headed across the trestle that makes up the Lucin Cut-off. There is a beautiful sunrise in the east and a bit of a mountain top just poking its head over the Great Salt Lake.

This particular train looks like it is passing another train at Mid-point Station. As they constructed the trestle, they built little towns right on the trestle as a place for the crews to live. When the construction was finished they left one of the "towns" in place, double tracked the section and added signals. They called it the Mid-point Station and the train would stop so that the passengers could get out and see the sights. This particular train is on its way with three people on the observation platform of the final car. I have several post cards in my collection with this picture on the front.

I am still blogging about the group of post cards that came in while I was focused on Pikes Peak several sets of postings ago. I received this one a couple of weeks ago.

I chose this set of cards to blog about because the are similar but NOT EXACTLY like the other 15 post cards with the same picture on the front, so it is a new one in my collection. The picture is exactly the same, in fact the quality of this picture is better than the others. But what makes it different is the title.

I have scanned three of the other post cards with the same picture AND the same beginning to the same title. However, you can see that there is a slight variance among the titles. So, in my collection this constitutes a new post card. You can see that the top post card is written with a script font; the middle one is all caps and doesn't spell out Southern Pacific; the bottom one is all caps and does spell out Southern Pacific.

You can see from the scan of the back of the post card that it spent some time in a collection using the little triangles to hold it in place. The back of this card tells us that it, like the post card from last week is an Edward H. Mitchell production. In fact, all three post cards are from Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco. They were just different print runs. All three of them are also from the Divided Back Era (1907 - 1915).

Chicago 1933 - 34

Continuing with the theme set by last week's blog entry....

As part of its program of experimentation with steam locomotive design in the 1930s, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad equipped two P-1 Pacific type engines, including No. 653 seen on the post card below, with the Caprotti poppet valve gear. As built in 1929 by the railroad's Colonie Shops, these 4-6-2s exerted 41,027 pounds of tractive effort, having 73-inch drivers, a boiler pressure of 260 p.s.i., and 22x28-inch cylinders. They weighed 300,000 pounds, and their wide firebox — designed to burn anthracite coal — had a grate area of 87 square feet. As rebuilt, No. 653 boasted a very high 325-pound boiler pressure, 3200 square feet of evaporative heating surface and 1500 square feet of super-heater surface.

The locomotive was displayed at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1934, as shown on this post card. She displays the clean lines and uncluttered appearance favored by Delaware & Hudson president Leonor F. Loree, who admired the British "look" in steam engines.

There is no mention of the printer or the publisher as such on the back of the post card, although I would assume that the A Century of Progress International Exposition is the publisher. One could probably purchase these post cards at the Exposition in Chicago.

A Century of Progress International Exposition was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Chicago. Its theme, as given in A Century of Progress Chicago International Exposition of 1933 Statement of its Plan and Purposes and of the Relation of States and Foreign Governments to Them (Chicago, 1933) was to "attempt to demonstrate to an international audience the nature and significance of scientific discoveries, the methods of achieving them, and the changes which their application has wrought in industry and in living conditions." This was done through exhibits that appealed to the public in general, often with miniaturized or replicated processes.

The fair was held on 427 acres (much of it landfill) on Lake Michigan, immediately south of Chicago's downtown area, from 12th Street to 39th Street (now Pershing Road). Today, Meigs Field and McCormick Place occupy this site. A Century of Progress officially opened on May 27, 1933 and closed on November 12 of that year. Although originally planned for the 1933, season only, it was extended for another year, reopening on May 26, 1934, and closing on October 31, 1934.