We begin the New Year with a series of posts about the Southern Pacific. Before 1926, the main line of the Southern Pacific between Portland and Sacramento went over the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon and northern California. With just … Continue reading
We’ve seen this menu cover before in Lee Paper Company’s book showing off Corinthian paper by reprinting 18 Union Pacific menu covers. In this case, the cover was used as as City of San Francisco dinner menu. Click image to … Continue reading
We’ve seen this cover before on a 1954 lunch menu. The two menus have many similarities, but also some significant differences. Click image to download a PDF of this menu. Although some prices went up slightly between 1949 and 1954, … Continue reading
We’ve already seen this cover on a 1947 lunch menu. The lunch menu was fairly ordinary, with four table d’hôte meals and a few salads, sandwiches, and other a la carte items. This breakfast menu offers more choices, with seven … Continue reading
This postcard shows the Overland Limited “observation parlor with library writing desk and stenographic service.” The “library” apparently consisted of the books in the elegant, glass-fronted cabinet and the magazines on top. The “stenographic service” was the typewriter and an … Continue reading
Much of this brochure was developed by the World’s Fair committee, and Southern Pacific added to it and adopted it for its own advertising. For example, here is the same cover but with “Admission 50¢ Children under Fourteen 25¢” in … Continue reading
This on-board letterhead has the classic Southern Pacific sunset emblem, designed in honor of the railroad’s longest route. I have it on both white paper and cream-colored paper, the latter of which comes with a matching envelope. Regardless of color, … Continue reading
This on-board stationery doesn’t mention the name of a train, so it was probably used on a variety of lesser trains. The linen finish is found only on older railroad stationery, and It really is an amazing drug when you … Continue reading
About six months ago, I posted a PDF of an envelope that used this illustration, which is based on a 1930 painting by Maurice Logan, saying I had the envelope but no letterhead. It turns out I do have the … Continue reading
The Southern Pacific’s first line from Portland to California was a windy route through the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California. In 1926, the railroad opened a new line across the Cascade Mountains southeast of Eugene, Oregon that … Continue reading
