Flying Fast in Pomona

The picture on the front of this post card is of a steam-powered trolley car, "The North Pomona Flier". It was in service in Southern California providing transportation to Pomona, Chino, and Ontario, Calfornia in or about the year 1897, when this picture was taken. The following information was gleaned from this website: http://www.erha.org/pelines/peepll.htm The thriving city of Pomona was founded in 1875, and soon grew large enough to support street railways The first four lines were operated by horses, but the last was spectacular; on it operated by "North Pomona Flier", a steam Dummy Line combining passenger car and locomotive in one vehicle—it went huffing and puffing down the street, billowing clouds of smoke and steam, visual evidence to the awe inspired citizenry that the machine age had arrived. The "North Pomona Flier" operated from Garey Avenue & Bertie Street, Pomona, north along Garey Avenue, Orange Grove Avenue, Hiwasse Street, Laurel Street to Railroad Street, then went west to a point opposite the Santa Fe Station in North Pomona. It operated continuously from November or December, 1887 to November, 1907. During 1895 the SP acquired control and operated it until operation ceased. SP then sold the line to Pacific Electric (PE) giving PE its first entry into Pomona. PE tore up the old rail on Garey Avenue and put down an electric railway constructed of 70-lb. steel rails. PE did retain enough Pomona Street Railway real estate to furnish a site for its substation at Garey & Bertie streets. PE at once began the development of its Pomona city lines, doing the work through the PE Land Company. This work was performed from 1 October 1907 to 15 September 1911. When completed, the Pomona city lines aggregated to 10.43 miles of equivalent single track, 0.06 mile spurs and sidings.

This post cards was published and distributed by the Olde Tyme Photo Cards Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles, California. I have five post cards from Olde Tyme Photo Cards in my collection. The post card was first printed in 1976.

Pick An Orange As You Go By

This post card is published by the M. Kashower Company out of Los Angeles. It is from the "white border era" of post cards, which means it was printed between 1915 and 1930. That puts it in the right time zone because the company only existed from 1914 to 1934.

It is a stylized picture of a steam train passing through an orange grove in southern California. I lived in So. Cal. for many years starting in 1959 and I can attest that, while this is certainly stylized, it is possible that a similar photo could have actually existed, including the mountain in the background.
This route (The Golden State Limited) began running on November 2, 1902 from Chicago to Kansas City to El Paso, then it went on to New Mexico and Arizona and finally arrived in Los Angeles. It was a partnership between the Rock Island Line and the Southern Pacific. The journey was 2,762 miles long, making it the longest route in the United States. Canada had a route longer, so this was the second longest train route in North America. It took about 63 hours to complete the journey from Chicago to Los Angels. The Golden State Limited used Pullman passenger cars exclusively. The route began as a seasonal experience, but in 1910 the Golden State Limited began to run all through the year until its demise in 1968. Limited was dropped from the name in May of 1947.

You Can Trust a Post Card Picture! Can’t you?

Here we are again, passing through an orange grove in Southern California. The previous blog post showed the front of a train; this is what the back of a train looks like. I can imagine all the Easterners coming to Southern California for the first time and, as the train passes through the orange groves to get to Los Angeles, crowding the back platform of the last car to get a better look at the trees laden with fruit! These people seem to have been distracted by the camera in the vehicle right behind them – or are scared stiff, afraid that it will crash into them. They do look rather casual, so this is probably a staged photo, after all. The title on the card doesn’t give us a very good perspective as to where in Southern California these tracks are. It simply says, “The ‘Limited’ passing through the Orange Groves, California.” When I was a kid growing up east of Los Angeles, we actually came across orange groves with train tracks through the middle of them – many times in many locations. We used to go for family car rides on Sundays and sometimes this post card is exactly what we saw, minus the train.

When you turn the card over and read the message on the back, you realize that you can trust a post card picture. The message says, “When travelling on the Limited this is one of the first scenes the tourist gets of Southern California. It is exactly as pictured.” So, there we have it. Someone travelled on “The Limited” into Southern California and verified that the picture on the front can be trusted. Hmmmmm.

The post card was published by the Western Publishing & Novelty Co. Los Angeles, Cal. The Metropolitan Post Card Club of New York City tells us that the company existed in Southern California from 1932 until the 1970s. They were a publisher and distributer of California related tourist materials and postcards.

It was printed by (or the picture was taken by) Theo Sohmer. There is a very long an extremely interesting history of Theo Sohmer written for the South Jersey Post Card Club’s newsletter in October of 2006. I recommend that you read page 3 of the newsletter, which can be found here: http://sjpostcard.com/ARCHIVES/2006PDF/102006/McClintock.pdf
The nutshell version is that Theo Sohmer was a prolific photographer for a newspaper who took pictures of many parts of California and sold his photos to the Western Publishing & Novelty Co. He had so many pictures that he even designed a logo for his copyright. You can see it in the upper left corner of the post card.

Paradise?

We are going to continue with the Southern California orange grove/train theme. This post card is from the white border era (approximately 1915to 1930).

The front of the post card is a picture of the final part of a train passing from an arboretum-like setting into an orange grove. The plants are all in bloom and the orange trees are full of fruit. In the background one can see the coastal range with snow on the mountain tops. Yet, there sit two lovely damsels in the flower garden enjoying the daisies. The title on the card says, “In California, the Land of Sunshine, Fruits and Flowers”. It certainly looks a bit like paradise. Even the people on the train are looking at the two lucky women sitting in the grass enjoying the lovely fragrances.

The back tells us that this is published by the Western Publishing and Novelty Company of Los Angeles. Because we are going to be focusing on California for a while, we will see a few cards issued by them. This company had a decent run – from 1932 to the 1970s. This company was a great promoter of the Southern California tourist business. Their cards were mostly pictures of California and they published some tourist material. There is a code on the top middle of the back of the card (A-101318) but I cannot tell you what it means. I would assume that it means that this is the 101,318th design of post cards that this publisher issued. However, I cannot back up that theory. If you know anything, I would love to hear from you. The back doesn’t tell us who printed the card, but I know that the Western Publishing and Novelty Company had a good partnership with Theo. Sohmer until he disappeared from the business scene.

More California Oranges

We are going to continue with the Southern California orange grove/train theme. This post card is from the divided back era (1907 to 1915, more or less).

The front of the post card is a picture of the parlor car of the “Limited” passing through orange groves in Southern California. It looks like a multi-generational family standing on the platform having their family portrait taken. The orange trees are very young, but laden with fruit. The “Limited” referred to on the card could be the Southern Pacific’s (and partners) Golden State Limited. It ran from Chicago past St. Louis and through New Mexico to California. It began its first run on October 2nd of 1902 and made it final “voyage” in 1968. On the other hand, it could refer to the Santa Fe’s “California Limited”. It began service from Chicago to Los Angeles on November 27, 1892. It took two and a half days to make the trip. The last trip of this “Limited” was in 1954. Both “Limited” trains used Pullman coaches and offered the finest service. Eventually, cost cutting measures caught up with both trains as they tried to compete with cars as a viable means of transportation across the country.

On the back of the post card we can see that the person who purchased the card actually rode the “Limited” into California. He or she has written “When travelling on the Limited this is our [view] of the first scenes the tourist gets of Southern California – It is exactly as pictured.” I always wondered how much of the post card scenes were fact and how much was fantasy and the genius art work of the printer. Evidently, on this card what you see is what you get. The publisher of the card is the Western Publishing and Novelty Company of Los Angeles. They existed from 1932 right into the 1970s. Their subject matter was scenes from Southern California to promote the tourism. The printer of the card is Theo. Sohmer, also of Los Angeles. As I look on the internet for post cards from either the printer or the publisher, usually, when I find one, I find the other. They must have been good partners.

On to California

We have been in Utah (on top of the Great Salt Lake, to be specific) for the last few posts. Today, we are moving over to California. I have more post cards of Utah, but I will save those for later. I want to visit California, where I lived for 21 years in 4 different locations in both northern and southern parts of the state.

This card seems to be part of an advertising campaign by the Southern California Tourist Agency. It probably isn’t, but it certainly highlights the attitude that people had about Southern California. The description of the scene on the top of the card says, “The Golden State Limited, Passing through Orange Groves, Southern Calif.”. I love that fact that they are combining Southern California with orange groves. I have actually seen train tracks through the orange groves. We moved to Southern California in 1959 and for a family outing would drive randomly through the state near our home. Sometimes we would wind up in an orange grove area and, sure enough, there would be train tracks in the middle of them. I love that this picture also has orange blossoms on the trees! This card is from the Linen Card Era (1930 – 1945). One can certainly tell, though, by feeling it that it was not produced by Curt Otto Teich. It is much smoother to the touch on the front.

The back of the post card makes it clear that this was not by Curt Teich. It is published by the M. Kashower Company of Los Angeles. It even says so twice! The first and clearest statement is on the left of the card, “Pub. By M. Kashower co., Los Angeles, Calif.” The second indicator is their logo. It is at the top, middle of the card between the words POST and CARD. It is hard to tell, but I think it is a bear (the California state symbol) between the two letters M and K. This is in a circle with a sprig of leaves covering from the bottom to about 1 and 11 o’clock on the circle. Most of their cards were scenes from Southern California. The M. Kashower Co. was headquartered in Los Angeles from 1914 to 1934. That means that they ended their business shortly after this post card was printed.