Sunday, February 19, 2012

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway

One of the most common printed cancels on the 1c documentary is that of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.  And one of the most common 1898 bills of lading available to collectors today are those of Hirsch Brothers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  These bills show up in single lots and on occasion in bulk on Ebay on a fairly regular basis.  Two are illustrated below and both are from May 1902.






Note that the cancels identify the CMStP as "Railway" while the bill has "RR" printed at the top.









Hirsch Brothers was an agricultural implements company based in Milwaukee.  John and Charles Hirsch were the brothers that founded and ran the firm. 

While the firm supplied standard agricultural implements, it also built specialty machines, like the corn sheller in the photo below:



 

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