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UP Soap Wrappers

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Whoever collected the stationery presented over the last three days also brought home these soap wrappers that advertise Union Pacific’s “Cedar City Gateway” to the southern Utah parks. The first wrapper once contained “Colgate’s Floating Soap,” obviously Colgate’s answer to Ivory Soap (which was “so pure it floats”).

Click image to download an 368-KB PDF of this soap wrapper.

The second, slightly smaller, wrapper once held a small bar of “Cashmere Bouquet Toilet Soap.” Though I suspect these wrappers are at least 90 years old, they, or at least this one, still have a very fragrant bouquet. Continue reading →

Zion Lodge Stationery

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Here is the stationery for guests at the Zion National Park Lodge. Unlike the Bryce and Grand Canyon lodge stationery, the picture of the Great White Throne on this letterhead does not match any of the Union Pacific menu cards that I have found. That suggests I may be missing one, or that the menu cards (at least one of which does show the Great White Throne from a different angle) don’t always match the letterheads.

Click image to download an 186-KB PDF of this stationery.

This letterhead is also arranged differently from the other two, with the picture on the right instead of the left. The picture is also surrounded by not one but two blue lines. I suppose these differences represent some creativity on the part of UP lodge planners, but I still think the Grand Canyon lodge letterhead is poorly arranged. Continue reading →

Grand Canyon Lodge Stationery

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

This stationery is the same vintage as yesterday’s and, like yesterday’s, features a picture that is also found on a menu card from 1929. Instead of an oval yellow line around the picture, this one features more elaborate red and blue lines, the red and blue of the UP logo. The picture and return address are also arranged a little differently on the page, unfortunately reducing the area available for writing a letter.

Click image to download an 132-KB PDF of this stationery.

The menu card says that the picture is supposed to represent sunset at the North Rim of the Canyon. The colors on the stationery are certainly sunsety, but those on the menu card aren’t. It is likely that the original black-and-white photo was taken in mid-day when sunlight would penetrate deep into the canyon and then any sunset colors were added by the colorists. Continue reading →

Bryce Canyon Lodge Stationery

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

This pretty piece of stationery features a picture of the Temple of Osiris, which we know because the same picture was used on a Union Pacific menu card in 1929. The picture is a colorized black-and-white photo and doesn’t really match the colors found in Bryce Canyon, but it is not too far off. Note the delicate yellow oval around the picture reminiscent of the yellow UP streamliners would wear in the late 1930s.

Click image to download an 123-KB PDF of this stationery.

Though the menu was from 1929, UP continued to use this menu through about 1934. After that, it switched to menu cards that were the same size but with no picture on the opposite side from the menu itself. For reasons I’ll reveal in a few days, I would date this stationery to around 1935, but it could be from a couple of years before or after that. Continue reading →

Grand Canyon Menu in Alvarado Hotel

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

In the 1950s, Fred Harvey operated close to 20 restaurants in its hotels, train stations, and other buildings ranging from Cleveland to Los Angeles. This is one of a series of nine menus “featuring some of
the more prominent Fred Harvey hotels, restaurants and sightseeing tours.” These menus were used in many of the restaurants to cross-publicize Fred Harvey facilities, but none were used in Santa Fe dining cars.

Click image to download a 1.8-MB PDF of this menu.

This menu features the Grand Canyon, where Fred Harvey operations “are among the largest enterprises of the company.” These included El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, Hopi House, the Watchtower, Hermit’s Rest, and Phantom Ranch. I believe that all of these offered food services except for Hopi House and the Watchtower. Continue reading →

A Glorious Sight at Any Season

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

The underlying theme of this brochure is that the south rim of the Grand Canyon that was served by the Santa Fe was open year round. Unmentioned except by implication is that the north rim that was served by Union Pacific was only open in the summers.

Click image to download a 4.0-MB PDF of this brochure.

This 8-1/2″x11″ brochure, which unfolds to 25-1/2″x11″, describes all of the activities that could be enjoyed at the south rim (some of which, presumably, took place only in the summer). These included mule rides into the canyon, watching Indian dances, motor coach trips along the canyon rim, and of course eating and staying at Fred Harvey hotels, lodges, and camps. Continue reading →

Fred Harvey’s Indian Building

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 28, 2023

In addition to operating dining cars, restaurants, and hotels, Fred Harvey sold lots of gifts, particularly Indian-themed goods in Arizona and New Mexico. Here are some postcards featuring the company’s wares on display at the Indian Building in the Albuquerque station-Alvarado Hotel complex. Most of these postcards appear to be from the immediate post-war era so I’m roughly dating them to 1950.

Click image to download a 244-KB PDF of this postcard.

The postcard calls this the Spanish Room. Some of the blankets on display may have been made by Southwest Indians, but others appear to be foreign-made, particularly the one with the dancers hanging on the wall. Apparently, the name Spanish Room was intended to convey that many of these items were made in Mexico. Continue reading →

Fred Harvey Hotel & Restaurant Postcards

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

At various times in its history, Fred Harvey owned or managed dozens of hotels and restaurants, many of which were a part of or immediately adjacent to Santa Fe train stations. It probably issued postcards advertising all of them, but here are just a few. As with yesterday’s cards, these are generally presented from east to west.

Click image to download a 192-KB PDF of this postcard.

The first postcard shows artist James Edgar Miller (1899-1993) painting murals in the Fred Harvey restaurant at Dearborn Station, the station Santa Fe used in Chicago. Born in Idaho Falls, Miller studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Once described as “the most versatile artist in America,” he was comfortable with sculpting, painting, carving linoleum, stained glass, and of course murals. He did this restaurant in 1950 so the postcard must date from around that year. Continue reading →

A Trip on the Santa Fe via Postcard

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Fred Harvey issued lots of postcards showing Santa Fe trains crossing the country. We’ve seen many in the past; here are a few more presented in approximately east-to-west order. All of these are Phostint cards printed for Fred Harvey by the Detroit Publishing Company between about 1911 and 1924, when Detroit went out of business.

Click image to download a 221-KB PDF of this postcard.

Here’s a train, possibly the California Limited, crossing the Rio Grande River about 10 miles west of Albuquerque. This card is postmarked 1921. Continue reading →

Rock Island December 1938 Timetable

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2023

What a difference a few years makes! Since yesterday’s 1931 timetable, whose cover was a throw-back from 1910, the Rock Island had entered the streamlined era, leading to a complete makeover of the railroad and its advertising. The orange cover (perhaps a reference to the Golden State) on yesterday’s timetable has been replaced by a bright red cover (on the back of course). This change was made with the introduction of Rock Island’s fleet of streamlined rockets in September 1937.

Click image to download a 23.0-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

The front cover still advertises the “de luxe” Golden State Limited as well as the “luxury-economy” Californian, the latter being the newish name (not really new as it was used in the 1920s) for the Apache since a few month earlier in 1938. The Golden State is no longer the real news at Rock Island, however, as it still takes more than 60 hours to get from Chicago to Los Angeles while both UP and Santa Fe are running trains over the same route in less than 40 hours. Continue reading →