Operation Lifesaver Would NOT Be Happy

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) [websites: https://oli.org/ in the USA and https://www.operationlifesaver.ca/ in Canada] is a non-profit organization and recognized leader of rail safety education. Since 1972, OLI remains committed to preventing collisions, injuries and fatalities on and around railroad tracks and highway-rail grade crossings, with the support of public education programs in states across the U.S. In 1981 this organization started “a sister” organization in Canada. As you can understand from the description above, Operation Lifesaver would not be happy with the people pictured on the front of this post card.

The people are sitting on the right of way of the Erie Railroad across Kinzua Creek in McKean County in Pennsylvania. The railroad decided to build the bridge rather than construct an additional eight miles of track. The trains that crossed the bridge carried coal and timber. The original bridge took forty workers took a mere 94 days to build the 2,053 foot long bridge. It was opened for traffic in 1882 and was hailed by the railroad and the construction crew as the Eighth Wonder of the World. However, the Eighth Wonder soon (12 years later) had to be rebuilt due to the heavier and heavier loads the steam locomotives were carrying across it. The bridge was rebuilt using steel, and reopened for use on September 25, 1900. During the bridge’s reconstruction many changes and adaptations were made; the bridge’s reconstruction took approximately 120 men about four months to complete. The commercial trains continued to use the bridge until the late 1950s. The bridge became the show piece of a State Park when Pennsylvania bought the bridge. Then, in 1987 the Knox and Kane Railroad began running tourist excursion trains across the bridge. In late June 2002, the bridge was closed to tourist trains. Two months later, pedestrians were no longer allowed to walk across the viaduct. It was decided to rehabilitate the bridge. In 2003, the bridge, while in the midst of the rehabilitation, was struck by a tornado. A large portion of it collapsed, rendering the bridge impassible. Today part of the bridge remains and tourists can use that part as a lookout while in the state park. This post card was published by the C.S. Woolworth & Co. out of Bradford, Pennsylvania. This information was found in Wikipedia: Its founder, Charles Sumner Woolworth (August 1, 1856 – January 7, 1947), was an American entrepreneur who went by the nickname of "Sum", opened and managed the world's first five-and-dime store in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was founder of the "C. S. Woolworth & Co" chain of 5¢ & 10¢ stores. Sum's brother, Frank Winfield Woolworth was first to venture into the retail business with his own store, and soon after, he asked Sum to join him. Frank founded "F. W. Woolworth & Co", which later merged with other Woolworth affiliate stores to be the F. W. Woolworth Company. After the death of his brother, Sum became the longest serving Chairman of the F. W. Woolworth Company. In 1904, Sum and Frank Woolworth were affiliated with six (6) chains. Frank developed the back office side of the business. Sum developed the front of the business, pioneering self-service methods, customer service, training new managers, brightly lit stores, and frequently-changed window displays to lure customers inside. In 1912 C. S. Woolworth & Co, with the other affiliated chains, merged 596 stores under the corporate name "F. W. Woolworth Company". After the death of his brother, Charles became the reluctant Chairman of the Board of F. W. Woolworth Company (now Foot Locker), for 25 years.

This post card was published by the C.S. Woolworth & Co. out of Bradford, Pennsylvania. This information was found in Wikipedia: Its founder, Charles Sumner Woolworth (August 1, 1856 – January 7, 1947), was an American entrepreneur who went by the nickname of "Sum", opened and managed the world's first five-and-dime store in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was founder of the "C. S. Woolworth & Co" chain of 5¢ & 10¢ stores. Sum's brother, Frank Winfield Woolworth was first to venture into the retail business with his own store, and soon after, he asked Sum to join him. Frank founded "F. W. Woolworth & Co", which later merged with other Woolworth affiliate stores to be the F. W. Woolworth Company. After the death of his brother, Sum became the longest serving Chairman of the F. W. Woolworth Company. In 1904, Sum and Frank Woolworth were affiliated with six (6) chains. Frank developed the back office side of the business. Sum developed the front of the business, pioneering self-service methods, customer service, training new managers, brightly lit stores, and frequently-changed window displays to lure customers inside. In 1912 C. S. Woolworth & Co, with the other affiliated chains, merged 596 stores under the corporate name "F. W. Woolworth Company". After the death of his brother, Charles became the reluctant Chairman of the Board of F. W. Woolworth Company (now Foot Locker), for 25 years.

In the bottom left-hand corner of the post card there is a symbol that tells us that another company had a hand in the printing and publishing of this card. The Samuel Langdorf & Co. has their logo there. Although the post card was printed in Germany, it was this company that made the connections that allowed the C.S. Woolworth & Co. to sell this post card in their store. The Samuel Langdorf & Co. published black & white and elaborately tinted halftone postcards. They are most noted for their cards with highly decorative borders incorporating motifs such as alligators. They existed from 1906 to 1918 in New York City.

Maybe the Last One, for a while...

This is a linen era post card printed by the, in my opinion, guru of linen post cards: Curt Otto Teich and Company. The picture is of a steam engine with a passenger train behind it crossing over the Kinzua Bridge in Pennsylvania. The Kinzua Viaduct, when first constructed in May 1882, was the highest and longest viaduct in the world, measuring 301 feet high and 2,053 feet long. The need to transport coal, oil and lumber across the Kinzua Gorge inspired General Thomas Kane, president of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Coal Company and Octave Chanute, Chief Engineer for the Erie Railroad to design a colossal viaduct. It was built by the Elmira Bridge Co. of Elmira, New York. The longest span is only 60 feet, but the entire bridge is 2,053 feet long.

In 1900, the viaduct was rebuilt of steel to accommodate larger loads and the weight of "modern" train traffic. I found a picture taken while they were re-constructing the bridge out of steel. That is the bridge we see in this post card.

The style of bridge is a Deck Plate Girder Bridge, which passes the train over Kinzua Creek [today on the former Erie Railway at Kinzua Bridge State Park] in McKean County, Pennsylvania. You can driver there today and walk on the re-constructed bridge that was mostly destroyed by a tornado on July 21, 2003. But the remaining spans were rehabilitated and reopened in 2011 as the "Kinzua Sky Walk"

If you choose to drive there these GPS coordinates can help you to arrive:
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.76345, -78.58928 (decimal degrees)
41°45'48" N, 78°35'21" W (degrees)

The post card was printed by Curt Otto Teich as a Linen Post Card and it was published by J. P. Walmer of Box 224 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Walmer took many pictures in Pennsylvania and turned them into post cards. Penn State has about 16 of his in their collection. Judging by what I could find I know he was active in the 1930s. That makes sense because the Linen Card era starts around 1930.