Antique Yellowstone Postcard Album [Part 1]

Antique Postcard Album

Yellowstone National Park

If you visited Yellowstone in the early 1900s you had (just like today) a choice of souvenirs to take home to help you recall your visit. You might have selected this album of postcards. The cover is like a snake-skin material. Inside, the postcards are mounted on pages of scrapbook paper. The views on the cards cover a little bit of everything ... geysers, springs, hotels, etc. We are showing you the album exactly as it would appear if you were here with us and looking at it in reality as opposed to virtually. That means some of the cards, the vertical views, will be sideways ... you can decide how to handle the viewing.

We broke this album into two parts ... part 2 tomorrow.  Here is part 1 ... 

Fittingly, the first card is the train station
at Gardiner, Montana, and the
entrance arch to the Park.

This album was put together, probably, before
1915, when the first automobile
entered the Park.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

The Third Year's Harvest in Dakota (1870s?)

A card, distributed probably in the late 1870s, urging farmers to check out the grain field possibilities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Dakota along the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St Paul Railway.

The Farmer's Route
to the
Golden Grain Fields
of
Minnesota, Iowa, and Dakota

The Third Year's Harvest in Dakota

When you look at the image it appears the harvest was plentiful. Note the steam assisted equipment to process the grain. It looks like a long train was needed to haul the harvest back to market. Don’t miss the paddle wheel out on the river. We tried to do a little research to see what year might be associated with the "third year of grain harvesting in Dakota" territory. It seems that it may have been in the late 1870s. It was certainly prior to the end of Dakota Territory in 1889 when the states of North and South Dakota were formed. If you have better information, we hope you'll leave us a comment. In any event, this card is old and pretty rare.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Railroad War Art -- 1944 -- History YNP -- Mt Rainier

Excuse our weird title today. We are trying to think about how someone might search for this image. It's a cool vintage railroad advertisement with some well done art featuring Mt Rainier. This ad was published in 1944 by the Milwaukee Road (MR). The MR is no longer in existence, most of the western rails were pulled in the 1980s after the line declared bankruptcy. The MR is what is referred to by railfans as a "fallen flag". Back in the mid-twentieth century there were only three major railroads using a northern transcontinental route to serve the Pacific Northwest: Milwaukee Road, Northern Pacific, and the Great Northern. The latter two have survived but are now parts of modern, mostly freight, railroads. Of the three railroads, the MR had, arguably, the most scenic route, and was simply before its time by using electric power for much of the line from Montana to Western Washington. To make a long story longer, the MR was one of only five railroads that could claim they were providing service to Yellowstone National Park. (They were the Northern Pacific to Gardiner (previously Cinnabar), Montana; the MR to Gallatin Gateway, Montana; the Union Pacific to West Yellowstone, Montana; the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy (commonly known as the Burlington) to Cody, Wyoming; and the Chicago and Northwestern via central Wyoming.) So, to summarize, if you're going to collect memorabilia with two key elements: railroads and Yellowstone Park, you'll need to focus on The Milwaukee Road.

Now, if you read all that, you know more than most about railroads and Yellowstone!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Welcome Stranger - Montana Highway Patrol (1920s?)

We enjoyed this find out of the 1920s ... although we are not certain of an exact date.  Surely it is from the time when cars were first using the highways and travel between states was beginning.  Enlargements below, hopefully you can read it ...

This item doesn't really fit into any of the categories of interest stated in John's Profile, but when you're looking for vintage items to add to a collection you're going to come across some interesting items like this that do not fit exactly. Of course, these things raise questions. Did all states publish something like this and where were these things distributed?

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Colorful Old Railroad Advertisement

We love the art on these old ads!

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Update --- Pics from yesterday's walk ...

802 Seneca
New tower under construction nearby

Flowers more blue than the blue sky
on a blue-sky day.

Blue buds

Great Domes on the Great Northern

"The Great Northern Railway is an engineering masterpiece blessed by some of

the most wonderful scenery in America." --- John would agree.

Its Empire Builder glides past towering Rocky Mountains in Glacier National Park ... along jade rivers and white-capped Puget Sound ... through the forested Cascades ... on its super-scenic trail between Chicago and Seattle.  This old advertisement from Budd, the company that built rail cars, is probably from the 1950s.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

The Doctor Ordered Potatoes - 1928

Early American passenger railroads tried everything they could think of to improve business. Since many trips required multiple days one thing they could focus on was a pleasurable dining experience. The Northern Pacific became famous for its “Great Big Baked Potato”.  So, it’s not surprising that in late 1928 they printed up 50,000 little pamphlets called “What the Doctor Ordered”. It was all about potatoes. They probably handed these out in the dining cars. Here is the copy in our collection …

24 Tested Recipes for Serving Northwest Potatoes

Farming Potatoes

Statements That Potato is Fat-Producing Are
Exaggerated
AND
Why Potatoes Should Be a Part of the Menu

Here are a couple of recipes from the pamphlet. If you try them we hope you will come back and tell us about the results!

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Update – Recent Contributions

We have neighbors who keep an eye on John’s Island and give us encouraging comments when we see them out and around in the real world. Recently they shared two photos with the OK to post them on the Island. We enjoyed these photos and think you will too.

First, sunset on July 13th.  The evening was enchanted by this unusually colorful scene.

Second, a flower seen while out on a city walk.

We thank our neighbors for sharing the photos and hope to see more.