Santa Fe Railway's Indian Band

This postcard shows the Santa Fe Railway's Indian Band in the parade at the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial, Gallup, New Mexico.

The Santa Fe All-Indian Band showcased musical talents of the railway's Indian employees. The band started in 1923 with three Native Americans who entertained for a Santa Fe Railway shop picnic in Winslow, Arizona. The original band included a trumpet, a tuba, and a bass drum. The inter-tribal band had members from as many as twelve tribes. Although most band members were Santa Fe employees, some family members were also included. The the Santa Fe All-Indian Band played at events for more than forty years. It was dissolved in 1964, because there weren’t enough replacement band members to keep the band going.

The Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial is still an annual event. The following description is from the New Mexico Tourism Department website:

Since 1922, the people of Gallup, New Mexico have been proud to present the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial each summer. A unique opportunity to immerse yourself in Native American arts, cultures, and traditions, “Ceremonial”, as it is known throughout the region, is a special time when indigenous peoples from throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico travel to Gallup to share the best of their creative and performing talents and diverse heritages with the rest of the world, and to reunite with other indigenous groups. Nowhere else on Earth can you experience tribal ceremonial dances, a contest pow-wow, indoor and outdoor arts and crafts markets, all Indian rodeos, a world class juried art show, opportunities to buy authentic Native American art and jewelry, parades, Native American foods, a ceremonial queen contest, and crafts demonstrations, all in one location at one time.

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States. This is a time to celebrate the heritage and contributions of American Indians and Alaska Natives. President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 "National American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations (with some variants in the name of the month) have been issued each year since 1994. The 2011 proclamation issued by President Barack Obama is online here.

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November 2, 1914 - Thanksgiving Greetings

I keep my postcards of Thanksgiving children in an album, so I usually don't see the backs. I discovered that this postcard has a long, interesting, and easily readable message when I was picking postcards to use in a Thanksgiving Fun postcard video I was making. It was written on November 2, 1914--97 years ago today. I think it really gives an idea of what daily life was like back then.

Nov. 2, 1914. Got your card this morning. It was real pretty. I intended to ans. it on a Thanks. card, but forgot so will write one now. I started to hunt you one today and decided this was the cutest I had. Mama picked its mate to send to Esther S. I seem to have missed answering one of your cards - Hello, People. I don't think your telephone calls were very fairly divided a week ago Sun. but maybe your turn hadn't come yet.
Leah and Catherine were here today. Had quite a nice visit. Gail and Aunt Kate came over a little while toward eve. with the team so the girls didn't have to walk home. I suppose they had an errand at Verna's so just drove around. I gave Catherine her apron. Finished one of papa's shirts today. Have the other 3 started. Guess I'd better quit as it's after 10. We've got 18 eggs several days lately. Pretty good for 30 hens. Some of the pullets are laying I think. Is this tobacco tag any good? Don't know where I got it, found it among some of your scraps maybe - I do sometimes.Any way I found it when I went to clean my safe drawer yesterday so will send it to you.
Katie to Algie

The card below is from the same series but has no writing on the back. It could have been the "mate" mentioned on the first card. Personally, I like the first card better. It is easier for me to relate to a girl feeding a turkey than to the fantasy on the second card.

First Santa Fe Train - Frank Sauerwein

This postcard was published by Fred Harvey (Hotels-Shops-Restaurants). It is titled "First Santa Fe Train" and is after a painting by Frank Sauerwein (spelled Sauerwin on the postcard). A group of Southwest Indians is viewing the train. The train is barely visible on the horizon, but I thought this would be an appropriate card to start November, since November is National Native American Heritage Month.

Frank Sauerwein (1871 - 1910) specialized in western scene paintings. He was born in the east and received art training in Philadelphia and Chicago. He moved west to Denver in 1891 in hopes of improving his health and spent most of the rest of his life in the Southwest. His travels to the Ute reservation in southwestern Colorado in 1893 began a lifelong fascination with the Southwest and its Native inhabitants. He spent time in Taos and Santa Fe, and visited the Navajo and Hopi reservations. (source)

The Santa Fe (the abbreviation for Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway) was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859. Although the railway was named in part for the capital of New Mexico, its main line never reached there as the terrain made it too difficult to lay the necessary tracks (Santa Fe was ultimately served by a branch line from Lamy, New Mexico). The Santa Fe's first tracks reached the Kansas/Colorado state line in 1873, and connected to Pueblo, Colorado in 1876.

Puffer-Hubbard Folding Delivery Boxes

Puffer-Hubbard was a Minneapolis company that manufactured silos, folding deliv­ery boxes, wheelbarrows, and other items. In a previous blog post I showed a postcard advertising Puffer-Hubbard's Panel Silos. The postcard shown here advertises their wire-sewed folding delivery boxes. The top half of the card shows the boxes when they were open and loaded. The bottom half of the card shows the boxes when they were empty and folded flat.

The back of this postcard, used in 1910, points out some of the advantages of using these boxes: "They take up less room in your store, give your wagons an up-to-date appearance, prevent loss of articles and insure their safe delivery."

The illustration below is from a book found on Google.com Detailed plans and instructions for organizing and operating a co-operative delivery system. The boxes could be numbered, making them easier to locate when delivering. This book pointed out that "In addition to the advantages in the saving of time and space, the unique construction of these boxes makes them especially durable and being made of slats they can be kept in repair by unskilled help at a very slight cost."

This ad below is from the Minneapolis Tribune of October27, 1912

New Zealand Lakes on Stamps

These postcards show the scenic stamps of lakes issued by New Zealand in 1972. This 1972 Scenic Stamp Issue featured two lakes from the North Island and two lakes from the South Island. These postcards are from a series of five: one postcard shows all four stamps in the series, and four postcards show the individual stamps in the series.

The following is the issue information from the New Zealand Post website for the 1972 Lake Scenes stamps:

Lake Waikaremoana - 6c
Perhaps the most beautiful lake in the North Island, Lake Waikaremoana is situated near Wairoa, Hawke's Bay. Its star shape and surroundings of forested mountains make it a breath-taking spectacle.

Lake Hayes - 8c
Situated in the heart of the Southern Lakes District not far from Queenstown. A charming lake. It was named for a Donald Hay who sought land in the area. However, a theory persists that it was named after the notorious pirate Bully Hayes.

Lake Wakatipu - 18c
The longest of the lakes in the South Island's Southern Lakes District, Lake Wakatipu is noted for its scenic attributes. It is shaped like an "S" and is of glacial origin. With a length of 84 km and an area of 290 square km, it ranks second in size amongst the southern lakes. The mountains in the background are the Remarkables.

Lake Rotomahana - 23c
A celebrated lake of the Rotorua District. Lake Rotomahana is three square miles in area and occupies an extremely deep volcanic crater. Originally it was much smaller in area and on its slopes were two of the most beautiful spectacles of this thermal area, the pink and white terraces. Both terraces disappeared after the historic eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. It was then that a new Lake Rotomahana came into being.

The New Zealand Post website is an excellent source of information about New Zealand stamps, both old and new. The Historical Stamp Issues section is the most complete and easiest to use that I have seen from any country.

I am participating in Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Greyhound Buses at A Century of Progress Exposition

Greyhound was selected as the official transportation carrier at the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago. The company reserved 2,000 hotel rooms and offered transportation and lodging to the fair on one ticket.

Inside the exposition grounds, Greyhound provided bus service using a fleet of sixty specially designed semi-trailer type open buses. The buses had a capacity of 100 persons each. The seats of the buses ran lengthwise and faced outward, permitting passengers a good view.

The postcard above shows a Greyhound bus at the 12th Street (North) entrance. Greyhound operated both a Rapid Transit Service with stops at designated locations and sightseeing tours. The sightseeing tours lasted about an hour and gave a complete view of the fair grounds, passing all the important buildings and attractions. A trained guide told about each exhibit as it was passed. At points of particular interest, the buses stopped while the guide pointed out and explained unique features.

The map below shows the Rapid Transit and Sightseeing routes.

The next postcard shows one of the Greyhound buses in front of the Hall of Science. The Hall of Science was one of the major exposition buildings. It housed exhibits of science and industry.

The next postcard shows two of the Greyhound buses in front of Eitel's Old Heidelberg Inn. This was a German style restaurant seating 2500 patrons. There was German music, and the building included garden terrace service, a lunch room and an old-fashioned Rathskeller.

Old Heidelberg Inn looks like a good place to end our tour.

Greyhound buses themselves were an important example of progress. Greyhound became an American icon and the largest provider of intercity bus transportation. However, 1933 was less than twenty years since the company's beginnings in Northern Minnesota, and only four years since its name was changed to Greyhound Corporation. The Greyhound running dog, which is one of the most-recognized brands in the world, was first used as the company's logo in 1929.

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Up And Down The Monon

Wouldn't it be fun to travel back in time about 60 years and take a ride on the Monon Thoroughbred train through this beautiful Indiana scenery? The Thoroughbred streamliner ran between Chicago, Illinois and Louisville, Kentucky. According to the 1950 schedule posted here, we could leave Chicago at 1PM and arrive in Louisville at 9PM.

The Monon Railroad operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The railroad was also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway. The Monon name was due to the convergence of the railroad's four main routes in Monon, Indiana. From Monon, the mainlines reached out to Chicago, Louisville, Indianapolis and Michigan City, Indiana.

Below is an enlarged version of the Monon emblem from the back of the postcard. The evolution of this emblem is shown here. The round shape is a wheel and the line under it is a rail. The "M" shape is two teepees side by side, and an arrowhead is above the middle of the "M." MONON is an Indian word meaning "Swift Running."

The Monon Route had its beginnings in 1847 with the New Albany & Salem Railroad, chartered to connect New Albany, Indiana with Salem, Indiana. The railroad celebrated its centennial in 1947. Sheet music and lyrics of "Up And Down The Monon", from the 1947 Centennial Program are shown here. This is the first verse and chorus:

VERSE:
Out Kansas and Missouri way
They brag about the Santa Fe,
The New York Central, B. and O.,
Those are the toast of Ohio,
Kentucky's got the L. and N.,
And Pennsylvania's got the Penn,
In Michigan, it's the Pere Marquette,
But we've got the grandest railroad yet, Oh!

CHORUS:
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line,
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line,
All aboard!
All aboard!
It's my Indiana home that I'm a headin' toward, Oh!
Up and down the Monon
Everything is fine,
'Cause that rootin', tootin' Monon
She's a Hoosier line.

This is the first of my "Transportation Tuesday" posts.