Saturday, March 5, 2011

Griffith's Portland Sightseeing Bus





This postcard of Griffith's Portland Sightseeing Bus (or "Seeing Portland Auto") has a handwritten date of February 22, 1913 along the top of the bus. Griffith's 20 mile tour through Portland is described on the back of the postcard. The picture shows an open air bus, but on the back the car is described as enclosed, steam heated, and as warm and cozy as your own home.

There is another version of a Griffith's bus that appeared on a postcard and is shown by University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division.

I couldn't find any information on this bus, but it appears to be similar the 1909 Seattle World's Fair Bus. That one had a two-cylinder engine mounted beneath the floor, a chain drive, and kerosene front-lamps.

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10 comments:

  1. Oregon Gifts of Comfort and JoyMarch 5, 2011 at 12:09:00 PM CST

    Happy SS! This is really cool. Too think that they had buses like that early on ... this is the first photo I've seen of one.

    Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  2. Bob ScotneyMarch 5, 2011 at 12:46:00 PM CST

    This puts the UK's open-topped sightseeing buses of today to shame.

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  3. Christine H.March 5, 2011 at 4:38:00 PM CST

    I hadn't heard of this bus before. It's great though. The sender would have fit right in today with text messaging - "2C the sights."

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  4. Postcard RoundupMarch 5, 2011 at 6:07:00 PM CST

    Marvelous bus and a great postcard. Nice!

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  5. Tattered and LostMarch 6, 2011 at 12:47:00 PM CST

    Oh I wonder what they did on those rainy Portland days. They must have had some sort of "window" covering to drop down which have provided a weirdly distorted view of town.

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  6. Alan BurnettMarch 7, 2011 at 10:09:00 AM CST

    I wonder if they had a photographer take pictures on each bus tour and then sold the resulting picture - with a pre-printed postcard back, rather like they do in some amusement parks these days. Interesting stuff.

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  7. HowardMarch 7, 2011 at 3:27:00 PM CST

    Fantastic postcard and wonderful bus. I'd have to draw issue with 'enclosed'. Fully heated only for those sitting on top of the steam engine's boiler. Safety doesn't seem to have been much of an issue then either!

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  8. UnknownMarch 7, 2011 at 4:06:00 PM CST

    a different looking vehicle for sure. Interesting

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  9. 21 WitsMarch 9, 2011 at 12:22:00 AM CST

    What an interesting bus! They were so fascinating way back when! Nice post, very interesting too!

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  10. Sr Crystal Mary LindseyMarch 12, 2011 at 3:08:00 PM CST

    OH WOW!!!!! I love this one!! so special!

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