Wednesday, August 26, 2009

BUSINESS CARDS

Following are a few samples of Railroad Business cards I have stashed away here and there. Many - in fact most - of the cards in the collection are those of individuals from railroads that no longer exist.

As usual, you can left-click on any image to enlarge it.

This first one was handed out by a delegate to the Brotherhood Of Railroad Trainmen Convention (BRT) in Buffalo, 1905



This next one, distributed by J. A. Kinder, neglects to mention whether he belonged to a railroad or a Union.



Below, Mr. Schilla shows us he worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. He further tells us that the 1905 Buffalo Convention was the 7th biennial convention of the BRT.



On the below card, Mr. Wm. Brennan indicates that perhaps his wife did not trust him out of town for any period of time. Seeings how he did not bother to print her name, maybe she wasn't his wife after all.



Mt. R. L. Willis believed in brevity. No wasted ink on this card.



Note the very early herald on this card for the Union Pacific. It called itself "The Overland Route", and claimed of heady title of "World's Pictorial Line".



Another one of those "let's not waste any ink" cards:



This last card, although a part of the collection, doesn't appear to be a railroad card. But it can make the claim of being a part of America's first "Hooters". I wonder if Waldo was a waiter.



It's was a bit difficult to pick a few out of so many. The one card I will not post is the one with the names of two ladies and their room number... They may have descendents.

It was, after all, a convention.

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