Monday, September 1, 2014

25 Genuine Vitaprints -- Scenes Along the Way -- Milwaukee Road [1]

September

Wow, June ... July ... August, those months just flew by! Here we are on September 1, Labor Day (in the USA and Canada) and, for many, the beginning of a new season. Summer was a busy blogging season for us and we received more pageviews than all of last year put together. Posting (almost) daily does take a little bit of discipline. We enjoy it, though, and thank all of you who leave us the encouraging comments. Comments are a very significant part of the blogging experience ... they lead us to your blog where we can check out your areas of interest. We've read some great reflections on life and enjoyed many wonderful photos on your blogs recently. We wish you a productive and enjoyable September!

25 GENUINE Vitaprints

Imagine, for a moment, that 69 years ago, in 1945, you had just taken a train trip from Chicago, across the northern United States, for the first time, to a new city for you ... Seattle, Washington. The journey took you about 2 and a half days. As you stepped off the train and walked through Union Station in Seattle you noticed a news stand and spotted a little folder of miniature photos of scenes along the journey you had just completed. You might have spent one quarter to purchase the set of photos ready to be mailed back to your family at home.

Here is what you might have purchased and mailed ...


Small, black and white prints.

Each print has location/description info
printed on the picture.
The packet that was mailed in 1945 ...


Postmarked June 11, 1945
6 cents postage applied


25 photos for 25 cents

Description of the Journey
And now, the photos. Keep in mind these pictures are only about 3" x 4". The photos are generally in order from Chicago to the west coast.

Union Station -- Chicago

Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Court of Honor -- Milwaukee

Wisconsin Avenue -- Milwaukee

Along the Mississippi River


Minnesota State Capitol

Statue of Hiawatha

Entering the scenic part of the trip in the
mountains of Montana


Tables of Stone near Cardinal, Montana

Next post:  Remainder of the photos. Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

4 comments:

  1. John, I love these. What a clever idea for promoting the railroad and giving people a chance to see what a rider saw across the country.

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  2. The world has sure changed, hasn't it? It's nice to have these snapshots of the past to enjoy today. :-)

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  3. Hi John, Happy September to you. I used to blog not quite daily but several times a week and I found that people do tend to stop by when they know you are blogging more frequently. Once I blogged only once a week or sometimes less, the visitors and commenters also dropped. These days I guess I don't seem to have as much to say, lol. In addition, I don't quite have the same time to devote to blogging if I want to accomplish a few other important things. I'm sure the season will change again in future where I blog more frequently. It is nice that you are able to make time to share with your readers on a regular basis.

    Now the little souvenir keepsake you shared today is so delightful. I know if I was on that train trip I would have been one of the people to purchase the cards because I used to send a lot of postcards of my journeys and try to involve others in the excitement. These days there don't seem to be quite as many post cards available. I do still send some from my home to others around the globe

    The phone included in that souvenir are very beautiful.

    Have a wonderful Monday and rest of your week.

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  4. John, where do you find these treasures?

    Love the Hiawatha statue. I remember a childhood story about that character. I didn't know Hiwatha was real!

    ReplyDelete

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