Remembering the Alamo

The 9-cent Alamo stamp was issued on on June 14, 1956, at San Antonio, Texas. It was part of the definitive series of stamps and was used to meet the three-ounce first-class domestic letter rate.

The Alamo, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, is a former Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound. It was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 and is now a museum in San Antonio, Texas.

The mission compound was built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. In 1793, the mission was secularized and soon abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing a Mexican Army group. Mexican soldiers held the mission until December 1835, when General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered it to the Texian Army following the siege of Bexar.

A relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound. General Sam Houston believed the Texians did not have the manpower to hold the fort and ordered Colonel James Bowie to destroy it. Bowie chose to disregard those orders and instead worked to fortify the mission. On February 23, Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led a large force of Mexican soldiers into San Antonio de Bexar and attacked the Alamo. When the Battle of the Alamo ended, all or almost all of the Texian defenders had been killed. (Source: Wikipedia).

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Chicago Railroad Fair

The Chicago Railroad Fair was held on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois in the summers of 1948 and 1949. The fair was held to celebrate and commemorate 100 years of railroad history west of Chicago. Thirty-nine railroad companies participated in the fair which has been referred to as "the last great railroad fair."

The Bank of Gold Gulch (shown on the first postcard above) was sponsored by the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago. The Bank was a part of Gold Gulch, the typical Mining town recreated as part of the Chicago Railroad Fair. Gold Gulch was the terminus for the Deadwood Central narrow gauge railroad that ran the length of the fair grounds. It has been suggested that Gold Gulch was an inspiration for Disneyland.

The narrow gauge Deadwood Central Train (shown on the next postcard) carried fair visitors from one end of the grounds to the other. The train consisted of early-day equipment that once operated on Burlington Lines in Colorado. The names of the engine and cars were reminiscent of the old Deadwood Central Railroad that served the Black Hills of South Dakota in the days of Deadwood Dick and other well-known western characters.

The highlight of the Chicago Railroad Fair was the "Wheels A-Rolling" pageant that showcased the development of transportation and the railroads across the United States. In the foreground of the next postcard is the Minnetonka, Northern Pacific Railway's first locomotive as it appeared in the pageant. The Minnetonka was built in 1870. Behind the Minnetonka is the "new" diesel locomotive that powered the North Coast Limited streamliner.

The next postcard also advertises Northern Pacific Railway which served Yellowstone National Park. There was a rodeo show, dude ranch, and a small replica of Yellowstone Parks's Old Faithful Geyser at the Burlington, Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads exhibit.

The next postcard shows Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad's exhibit beside Lake Michigan. The "Southern Colonial Manor" building housed the transportation exhibit and was set in the vegetation of Florida.

Visitors to the Chicago Railroad Fair could also stroll through Old New Orleans at Illinois Central's exhibit. A typical French Quarter street and flagstone courtyard were reproduced there.

Those with more than a passing interest in the fair can read all about the pageant and exhibits online in the 1949 Official Guide Book of the Chicago Railroad Fair and experience it themselves in the YouTube video (embedded below). There is also an educational film documenting the "Wheels-a-Rolling" pageant here.

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TWA Jetstream Aircraft Murals

The Mural Lounges aboard TWA's JETSTREAM* Aircraft (circa 1950s) featured distinctive paintings by Maric Zamparelli, representing a city or nation along TWA's world-wide routes. Each plane in the Jetstream fleet had a different mural subject. The first postcard shows Zamparelli's interpretation of ROME. The second postcard shows CEYLON.

New Life Cafe - Two Harbors, Minnesota

The New Life Cafe didn't have much to say for itself on this postcard. All it says on the back of the card is that the cafe is in downtown Two Harbors, Minnesota, the iron ore shipping center of Northern Minnesota. The happy chef sign jutting out from the building advertises "meals and lunches."

I was fortunate to uncover some information about the cafe in a newspaper article posted online: Remodeling uncovers history. The interior of the building had eight murals depicting outdoor scenes along the North Shore. The murals were painted by German immigrant Otto Goebl around 1954. They had been covered during a previous remodeling and remained out of view for more than forty years. The photo below showing a glimpse of the murals is from the newspaper article*.

* The article was written by Janna Goerdt of the Duluth News Tribune and appeared online in a December 31, 2005 issue of the Post-Bulletin.

Universal Postal Congress Mail Transportation Stamps

Shown above are four maximum cards with the 25-cent Classic Mail Transportation commemorative stamps issued November 19, 1989. The text from the back of the cards is shown below the corresponding image.

The stamps are from a block of four stamps that was during WORLD STAMP EXPO '89 an international philatelic exhibition sponsored by the US Postal Service. The exhibition took place November 17-20 and November 24-December 3 in conjunction with the 20th Congress of the Universal Postal Union. The stamps feature vehicles that have delivered mail and range from colonial America to the early twentieth century: the stagecoach of 1850s, paddlewheel steamer, biplane, and depot-hack type automobile. (source: 20th UPU Congress Issue)

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Old Dover Days Maypole Dancing - Dover, Delaware

The postcard above shows the Old Dover Days Maypole in front of Old Christ Church. The postcard is undated, but I am guessing it is from about 1970. The black and white photo below shows the Maypole dance in front of Old State House in 1950 (source: Delaware Public Archives).

The next photo is a more recent one from the Dover Days Festival website photo gallery. Old Dover Days celebrates the history of Dover, the capital of Delaware. The 2012 festival dates are May 4-6. The festival includes traditional Maypole Dancing on the green Saturday, May 5 between 11AM and noon.

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Incline Railroad, Duluth, Minnesota

This postcard shows a view of the Duluth Incline Railroad looking down to the harbor.

Duluth's topography is dominated by a steep hillside that climbs from Lake Superior, somewhat similar to San Francisco's water-to-hilltop topography. The Incline Railroad operated from 1891 to 1939, running uphill from Superior Street at 7th Ave. W. to Skyline Drive. This Incline operated as part of the streetcar system. There were two sets of tracks, and the cars were pulled by a steam engine at the top.