A Century of Progress in Transportation

The Century of Progress Exposition was an international exposition held in Chicago, Illinois in 1933 and 1934. The exposition was a world's fair that celebrated Chicago's centennial and a "century of progress" in science and industry.

One of the main buildings at the exposition was the Travel and Transport Building. This building was also the most unique. A dome was constructed on the principle of a suspension bridge for the first time in architectural history. The dome of the Travel and Transport building was suspended 125 feet above the ground by cables attached to twelve steel towers. The use of this suspension principle allowed for a large and unobstructed space for exhibits.

A century of progress in transportation was dramatically represented by exhibiting the latest current mode of transportation next to that of a century earlier. The old John Bull railroad engine, which first ran in 1831, was contrasted with one of the new Boeing monoplanes that was then in service on United Air Lines' routes.

The United Air Lines' plane was selected for exhibition in the Dome of the Travel and Transport Building because it represented the latest features of airplane design and construction. These features were described on the back of the postcards:

Powered with two 550 h. p. supercharged Wasp engines, these Boeing Monoplanes can cruise 171 m. p. h. They land at the low speed of 59 miles an hour and take off after a run of only 770 feet. They can climb 1320 feet a minute at sea level and to 10,000 feet in eleven minutes. Carrying a full load of ten passengers, two pilots, stewardess, luggage, mail and express, these planes can climb with only one of their two engines if necessary.

The plane shown on the postcard above could travel coast to coast in 20 hours. It was the same type that was on exhibit, and was one of fifty in service on United Air Lines' routes. That type was described as the "fastest multi-motored passenger mail-express plane" then in service in the world.

The postcard below shows a cutaway view of the plane. Ten passengers occupied comfortable reclining seats in the cabin, which was in charge of the stewardess. The pilot and mate controlled the plane from the cockpit. Mail, express, and baggage were carried in the compartments at the front and rear.

The last three postcards were furnished for writing and mailing from the Dome of the Travel and Transport Building at A Century of Progress. The stampbox contained these words: "Please address, stamp and drop card in slot provided. Mail collected several times daily."

One of the big events at the 1933 exposition was the arrival of General Italo Balbo and a fleet of 24 Italian seaplanes from Italy on July 15. This video shows "Unprecedented scenes at 'A Century of Progress Exposition,' where a million people, jamming the shore front of Lake Michigan, hail the Italian Air Minister and the intrepid crews of his twenty-four seaplanes upon the completion of their epochal mass flight from Orbetello, Italy."

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Tulip Time - Holland, Michigan

The Michigan Historic Site Marker on this postcard tells the story of the Dutch in Michigan:

On February 9, 1847, The Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte and a band of Hollanders founded the city of Holland. Within two years, the other four original colonies - Graafschap, Zeeland, Vriesland, Overisel - had also been established. Plagued by illness and not accustomed to the task of clearing a wilderness, the settlers found their first year a hard one, but their suffering was to be repaid in the bountiful days ahead.

Holland, Michigan has held a has held a Tulip Time Festival in May since 1929. The festival is a celebration of Dutch heritage and culture. This year's celebration is particularly special because 2011 is the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of the founder of the Holland, Michigan, Reverend Albertus C. Van Raalte.

The dates of the 2011 Tulip Time Festival are May 7-14. According to the tulip update of May 10, "The tulips are in full color in downtown Holland and blooming at about 80% in the rest of the city."

This video is a short documentary about growing Tulips in Holland, Michigan during the 1940s.

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Tulip - Farmer Seed & Nursery Co.

This tulip postcard was published by Manz Engraving Company, Chicago. There is advertising for Farmer Seed & Nursery Co., Faribault, Minnesota below the picture:

Tulips, Narcissus, Hyacinths and other early spring blooming bulbs must be planted in the Fall. Nothing in the line of hardy flowers can be grown as easily and will give better results. Write for illustrated price list.

Farmer Seed & Nursery Co. has been in business in Faribault since the 1880s, and their building is on the National Register of Historic Places. They have a website and an online catalog.

This type of Manz Engraving Company flower postcard was available with advertising on the front or back, or with no advertising. My postcard has advertising only on the front. It has a handwritten message on the back and was sent from Winnebago, Minnesota in 1916 to a sister in Vernon Center, Minnesota. Another postcard of this type that I saw on the web has no advertising on the front and has a form printed on the back used to announce a shipment in 1914 from a New York seed company.

Vintage Locomotive Stamps

These maximum cards were issued in 1987 by the U.S. Postal Service. The stamps are from a booklet of five 22-cent stamps featuring vintage locomotives. They were issued in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 1, 1987, the first day of National Stamp Collecting Month.

The stamps were in booklets containing two panes each of the five designs:

1. Stourbridge Lion - In 1829 was the first actual locomotive to run in America.
2. Best Friend of Charleston - In 1830 was the first locomotive to draw a train in America at speeds up to 21 mph.
3. John Bull - First ran in 1831 and is the oldest complete engine preserved in the U.S.
4. Brother Jonathan - Built in 1832 and was the world's fastest locomotive for many years.
5. Gowan & Marx - Built in 1939 and was one of the most powerful of early locomotives, hauling haul 40 times its own weight.
   

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

Famous Friends - Ford, Edison, Firestone, & Burroughs

The postcard above shows Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, and Harvey Firestone at the Edison home in Fort Myers, Florida. The photo appears to be a colorized version of a black and white original. The Library of Congress has a black and white photo that seems to be identical (only the thumbnail is available online).

Ford, Edison, and Firestone were considered the three leaders in American industry at the time, and often worked and vacationed together. Between 1914 and 1924 they participated in a number of "vagabond" automobile camping trips together. Another friend who sometimes participated in trips with them was the famous author John Burroughs. The photo below shows Thomas Edison, John Burroughs, and Henry Ford at Edison's home in Fort Myers.

The last photo shows all four men posed on an old waterwheel in West Virginia in 1918. Left to right are Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, John Burroughs and Thomas A. Edison.

Here is some biographical information about the four men from Widipedia:

• Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was a prominent American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry.

• Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.

• Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.

• John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement.…By the turn of the century he had become a virtual cultural institution in his own right: the Grand Old Man of Nature at a time when the American romance with the idea of nature, and the American conservation movement, had come fully into their own.

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Pedro's South of the Border Highway Signs

These are some of the signs leading to Pedro's South of the Border, in South Carolina at the border between North Carolina and South Carolina.

From the back of the postcard:

Pedro's SOUTH of the BORDER highway signs brighten your trip for 400 miles of U.S. 301 and Interstate 95, from Virgina to Georgia . . . And all the signs lead to PEDRO'S!"

Here is some information on the signs from the South of the Border website.

Around 175 billboards are north and south from the Virginia/North Carolina state lines to the South Carolina/Georgia state lines. (At one time there were more than 250 different billboards from Philadelphia, PA to Daytona Beach, FL.) Many of these billboards are on I-95. They are also north and south on Highway 301/501, east and west on Highways 9 & 17. There are a few billboards on I-20.

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Northrup King Garden Seeds Display Case

This is a postcard that Northrup, King & Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota sent to a dealer announcing the shipment of a seed display case in 1913.

Northrup King was founded in 1896 and was located in Northeast Minneapolis until about 1986. The company is no longer in business in Minneapolis. The NK brand garden seeds are currently sold by Plantation Products Inc.

It is interesting to see how little garden flower seed displays have changed over the years. The picture below is from a 1954 Life Magazine ad. The Plantation Products website has pictures of current NK garden seed displays.