Is Seventy Years Ago Today is Still an Antique?

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad needed its own exotic Miami-bound passenger train after rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SALRR) debuted its very successful Silver Meteor on February 2, 1939 connecting New York with Miami. To keep pace the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACLRR) inaugurated its own version in December of that same year and called the service The Champion.

In conjunction with the Florida East Coast Railway the train provided daily service between New York and Miami. The train featured a beautiful livery and because both the ACLRR and SALRR served the very trendy vacation destination of Florida, their passenger trains to the Sunshine State remained popular through the late 1960s! However, both railroads’ flagship trains served essentially the same market. So, when Amtrak took over all American intercity passenger train operations in the spring of 1971 AMTRAK elected to keep only the Silver Meteor.

This post card is certainly not as old as those that I have recently added to this blog. However, it is older than I am, so I consider it to be old. It was mailed 70 years ago today. That's an antique in my books! The author is informing a friend of the latest happenings in her life. "Dear Lottie, guess you don't know we have been in Florida a couple month. I like it here but Dick doesn't. Too damp he says. Everything green and flowers blooming. Lovely poinsettias. It is a little cook the last couple days but has been warm. I have a little cold so I stayed home from church today. There is one across the street that I go to. I hope you are as well as common. Love Lille Busch"

The post card is printed by the Curt Otto Teich corporation. This post card falls into the Linen Post Card style. The numbers in the bottom right of the front of the card indicate the year that it was printed - 1941. The number is 1B-H1056. The B tells us that it was printed in the 1940s and the 1 in front of the B specifies the first year of the 40s. The H in the number is a code for telling us that this is a Linen Post Card. This is post card design number 1056 out of 2693 designed printed in 1941.

Ninety Seven Years Ago Today

The picture on the front of this post card is from inside the Royal Gorge. It is called this or "The Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River". This is because it is between 8 and 10 miles long (depends on where you start the measurement) and over 2,500 feet deep. It is a midget compared to the real Grand Canyon, but if haven't been to Arizona, this one is impressive.

In this picture, the train has just passed over the suspended bridge. Here the walls of the canyon are so narrow that the only way they could support the bridge deck was from above. I have other post cards that give a better and closer view of it. In this picture the red girders come to a point over the back of the train and the bridge is also red-ish.

The post card was written on December 14, 1920 (the date is written in the same handwriting as the rest of the message). But, using my super-super magnifying glass, I have come to the conclusion that it probably was not mailed until two days later. The number to the right of the 1 is too round to be a 4 in the cancellation mark.

The message is a friendly thank you. "Dear Anna & all; just got the pictures from Katherine yesterday, sure think they are beautifull (sic) and thank you many times for them and Gladys thanks the girls for her's (sic) too. I never saw any photos as pretty as they are. What are you going to do Xmas? I don't know if we will get to go to Hastings or not." Then, because she ran out of room at the bottom of the card, the author signed her name at the top, left of the card: "From Nellie".

Did you notice the cute little fellow at the top, middle of the card? This little alien-like critter is the logo (along with the arrow up the middle) of the H.H. Tammen Company. Those are their letters in the middle of the arrow. This company was a novelty dealer and important publisher of national view-cards and Western themes in continuous tone and halftone lithography. Their logo does not appear on all their cards but other graphic elements are often remain the same. H. H. Tammen (1856-1924) Harry Heye Tammen was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 1856, the son of a German immigrant pharmacist. He attended Knapps Academy in Baltimore, then worked in Philadelphia before moving to Denver in 1880.

In 1895 Tammen formed a partnership with F.G. Bonfils (whom he had met at the Chicago World's Fair) and they became co-owners and co-editors of the Denver Post. Their publishing business flourished, and Tammen's business successes made him a wealthy man. In 1917 Buffalo Bill Cody happened to die while in Denver, and Tammen (one of the city's biggest boosters) offered Cody's widow $10,000 if she would allow Cody to be buried in Denver; she accepted, and the ensuing funeral procession drew 50,000 people. He established the H.H. Tammen Trust in 1924, providing essential health care for children of families who cannot afford to pay. Tammen died July 19, 1924. The H.H. Tammen Curio Co. was in business until 1953, and possibly as late as 1962.

One Hundred and Fifteen Years Ago Today

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.

I do not know who the printer or the publisher of this post card is. Although there is a hint in the lower right corner of the cover picture, I cannot break the code.

But this card is being added to my blog because at 10:30 this morning it will have been mailed 115 years ago. The message is quite serious: "Dear Uncle, This to let you know Rollie has been in the hospital since the morning of the 8th - a bad case of strangulated hernia and also took the appendix. A difficult operation and he'll be in bed 3 to 4 weeks - away from work 2 months. Is doing splendidly. Father will write later. Love to you all from us all. Lottie."

I can only imagine the kind of medical coverage that they had back then. My guess is that there were 2 months of his life when there was absolutely no income while he was off work. Thank God for family!!