The Freedom Train Celebrating the Fourth of July

Today is the Fourth of July. In honor of the meaning of this day to the American readers, my American family and my American half (I have two citizenships), I will dedicate the month of July to the post cards in my collection that celebrate the Fourth of July. First up is a set of two post cards. These are the oldest two post cards that celebrate American Independence.

The idea about the first Freedom Train seen in the U.S. was presented by the Attorney General of the USA as a way to reawaken post-World War II Americans to the principles of liberty. It was a way of letting that American citizens realize that these were not to be taken for granted. He presented his idea in April of 1946. The train made its first stop in Philadelphia in September of 1947. The train made at least one stop each of the 48 contiguous states. It went up into New England first, then down and across the South (January 1, 1948 found it in Georgia) then up the West Coast and back across to Washington, D.C. for January of 1949.

These two post cards have almost identical backs:

Each back reminds us that these are "OFFICIAL Freedom Train Postcard's at the top. In the bottom left-hand corner it states that these post cards are copyrighted: "Copyright 1918 - The American Heritage Foundation". Under that is the post card number: either F.T.-1 or F.T.-2 The top card is number one.

For the rest of the month, I will share some of the Freedom Trains that appeared in the United States for the 1976 Bicentennial Celebrations.