Cancel for September 1: Schwarzchild & Sulzberger's Refrigerator Car Line

C.B.T. CO.

SEP

1

1898

K.C. MO.

C.B.T. Co. was the refrigerator car company controlled by Schwarzchild and Sulzberger, the 6th largest meating packing plant in the US at the turn of the century. CBT, like other meat packer associated refrigerator car lines, hauled primarily dressed (butchered) beef out of Chicago and the midwest to distribution warehouses in eastern urban areas. By the time of the cancel of this stamp, shipping live cattle east was in sharp decline and all the growing meat packers were shipping dressed beef by rail. G.F. Swift was the pioneer in the dressed beef business, but other companies quickly imitated the model including Armour, National Packing, Morris/Fairbank, and Cudahy. This stamp was cancelled in Kansas City, a major plant site for S&S.

I can't find a photo of an original Schwarzchild and Sulzberger refrigerator car, but I have found a photo of a model railroad car. Note the C.B.T. CO. on the lower right side of the car.

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S&S along with the other major meat packers listed above were part of the industry exposed by Upton Sinclair in his book The Jungle for dangerous labor and unsanitary food handling practices. Outcry from the book helped lead to regulation of the industry, though mostly for food safety and purity rather than worker safety and care.

Mercantile Cancels: Isaac Kubie & Company

ISAAC KUBIE & CO.

JUNE

4

1900

X8 MAIDEN LANE, N.Y.

***

From the web I've been able to track Isaac Kubie & Company to the chicle importation business.

The firm appears to have been involved in other import-export activities and was based in the Wall Street district on Maiden Lane. Chicle was once the main base of chewing gum, hence Chiclets.

***

Isaac's wife is the far more web-documented of the pair, and has her biography posted on several websites.

Cancel for August 30: Cleveland, Canton & Southern Railroad

CLEVELAND, CANTON & SO. R. R.

AUG

30

1899

***

The Cleveland, Canton, and Southern Railroad was orgininally called the Youngstown and Connotton Valley Railway. The Y&CVR was established in 1877 and built a line from Bowerston to Youngstown. The Y&CVR purchased the Ohio and Toledo RR in 1878 to expand its operations and they continued to expand through 1885 when they went bankrupt. The railroad was then reorganized as the Cleveland and Canton Railway and eventually changed its name to Cleveland, Canton and Southern RR as they expanded into southern Ohio. The CC&SRR joined the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway in 1899, not long after this stamp was cancelled.

Cancel for August 29: H. T. H. & CO.

H. T. H. & CO.

* AUG *

* 29 *

* 1898 *

Morristown,N.J.

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An unknown set of corporate of initials but a spectacular handstamp cancel with six rosettes.

Cancel for August 28: Hocking Valley Railway

Handstamped Hocking Valley Railway with manuscript date.

Logo of the Hocking Valley Railway. As in the map below, the railway ran from Toledo to Athens Ohio. The railway was absorbed into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1910. The line between Toledo and Columbus is operated today by CSX.

Cancel for August 27: Spencer Kellogg

SPENCER KELLOGG

AUG 27 1899

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Above is a picture of the Spencer Kellogg, linseed oil king from Buffalo, New York. For a time Spencer Kellogg was a Fortune 500 company but it fell off the list after 1961. Linseed oil was used in paints and is product made from flax seed.

Cancel for August 26: Hot Springs Railroad

Hot Springs R. R. Co.

AUG

26

1898

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The Hot Springs Railroad ran from Malvern, Arkansas to Hot Springs, Arkansas and was opened in 1876. The railroad was largely privately build by Joe Reynolds, a tycoon known as 'Diamond Joe" in Malvern. The tracks were narrow gauge. This was a small and independent railroad.

Financial Cancels: J.P. Morgan & Company

J. PIERPOINT MORGAN

1837-1913

J.P. MORGAN & CO.

MAR

28

1902

N.Y.

***

J. Pierpoint Morgan was the man who made late 19th and early 20th century finance. He essentially created both General Electric and US Steel through mergers he made happen. He was also heavily involved in railroads, and conducted major business deals with many of the great businessmen of the day including Edison, James J. Hill, and Carnegie.

***

The 1 and 10 cent blocks above came from the same document. J.P. Morgan and Co. would have used large numbers of documentary revenue stamps, especially high value revenues, in its stock and financial transactions.

Cancel for August 24: Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway

FREIGHT OFFICE

L.S.&M.S. R'Y

AUG 24 1899

SO. CHICAGO

ILLS

Running from Buffalo to Chicago and connecting in Buffalo with the New York Central, the LS&MS was one of the most heavily used freight and passenger railroads in the world

Cancel for August 23: F. Neumann & Company

F. NEUMANN & CO.

AUG

23

1899

N.Y.

***

I have no information on this company.

Railroad Cancels: Lake Shore and Michigan Southern handstamp types

Financial Cancels: J. & W. Seligman & Co.

J. & W. Seligman & Co.

1899

Joseph Seligman

Founder of J. & W. Seligman Co.

Investment Banker

***

You can still do business with the Seligman Company today. Go here: http://www.seligman.com/. Seligman Investments, however, started in the 19th century as one of the first major investment banks in the United States, and the company and Joseph Seligman played an important role in the finance of the Civil War and as a banking partners to Jay Gould, one of the most important railroad barons of the 19th century. They acted as Jay Gould's primary broker and were also engaged in the formation of Standard Oil and other gilded age industries.

Cancel for August 20: Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad

C. & C. V. R. R. CO.

AUG 20 1900

***

Formed in 1888 in Cooperstown, New York, the railroad was orginally planned to operate from Cooperstown to the West Shore Railroad. The small railroad has passed through many ownership hands and still exists today as a railroad of the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society.

E.E. Hamilton

A great set of cancels from EE Hamilton. But I have no idea what sort of business they were in.

Insurance Cancels: Raphael Brothers

RAPHAEL BROS

1899

HOUSTON TEX

Raphael Brothers was an insurance agency and was owned and operated by brothers Emanual and Mose Raphael in Houston. Emanual was a business and civic leader in Houston and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rice Institute which would one day become Rice University. Apparently, Raphael helped guide Rice to achieve his vision to create an institute and polytechnic school.

***

The insurance agency was successful at the time of this cancel in 1899. But in 1900, one of the deadliest natural disasters in US history destroyed Galveston Island, the largest city in Texas at the time. The hurricane of 1900 is one of the most infamous to ever hit North America, with a death toll estimated at a minimum of 6000. I haven't been able to determine the efffects of the hurricane on the Raphael's business but it could not have been positive.

***

BTW, William Marsh Rice, the founder of Rice University, was murdered for his money by a New York lawyer in 1900.

Cancel for August 17: D.M. Co.

The 40 cent documentary stamps were usually used by insurance companies on pricey policies or by brokers to make up fractions on taxes of large stock sales. I don't yet know who D.M. Co. are, but I like the wavy style of the box around this straightline cancel.

There was a company during the time of the issue of this stamp called the Dental Manufacturing Company that was one of the most significant players in the world in the dental implement business. But other than the box looking a bit tooth like I have nothing else that would point to this company having cancelled this stamp.

Cancel for August 16: Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway

Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul RY (aka The Milwaukee Road) CDS from August 16, 1899.

A couple of months ago my family toured the US visiting grandparents and one excursion took us to the Wisconsin Dells. In the Dells is a located a club that restores small steam engine locomotives and cars like you might find in a city park or zoo. The locomotive, tender and volunteers above belong to this club, the Riverside and Great Northern Railway.

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The club's short stretch of tracks are laid on the original mainline of The Milwaukee Road, a former Grade I US railroad that ran from Chicago to the Pacific.

My daughter Emily poses in a fiberglass minature of an old Milwaukee Road diesel locomotive on the site of the Riverside and Great Northern Railway's station, shops, and mechanical sheds.

Milwaukee Road Passenger Ticket

OK, so not really a Milwaukee Road passenger ticket.  But the branding logo is the same.  And the ticket entitled me to a ride along with my family on an old Milwaukee Road right-of-way, despite the fact that its only a toy steam train these days.

Cancel for August 15: F. P. T. & Co.

F. P. T. & CO.

AUG 15 1898

CLEVELAND

Another unknown company and set of initials. I am looking for information for this firm or cancel if anyone knows anything.

Cancel for August 14: Central Passenger Association

M. T. B.

CEN. PASS. ASSOC.

AUG 14 1899

CHICAGO

Cartels of railroads created passenger associations like the Central to standardize and set passenger ticket rates across railroads.

Cancel for August 13: S.U. & N. Insurance Company

S. U. & N.

AUG 13 189x

INS. CO.

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Looking for the names behind S, U, & N. Anybody know?

Cancel for August 12: Central Equipment Company

The Central Equipment Company was a railroad car leasing firm, much like previously featured companies including Continental Fruit Express and Southern Iron Car Line. Eric Jackson currently has a check from this firm's bank in Terre Haute, Indiana posted for sale at his Ebay story.

Unknown Cancel: Tennis & Greeley

Tennis & Greeley of Wisconsin CDS. Town looks like Superior, a major logging port. I can't track this firm and am seeking information.

Cancel for August 8: Southern Iron Car Line

Southern Iron Car Line

AUG 8 1898

ATLANTA, GA.

This is my favorite straightline handstamp I have in my collection. Just the name Southern Iron Car Line is cool, but there is a different font for each line which enhances its character. Southern Iron Car Line was a railroad car holding and leasing company.

Cancel for August 8: Bradley Brothers

Here is a neat CDS from Dubuque, Iowa from a firm called Bradley Brothers that seems to be lost to history, at least on-line history for the moment. Please comment if you know anything about the Bradley Brothers of Dubuque.

Cancel for August 7: Kingman & Company

KINGMAN & CO.

AUG 7 1900

***

Kingman & Company was a agricultural implement manufacturer with its main offices in Omaha, St. Louis, and Kansas City. At the time of this cancel it was probably one of the largest companies in its field in the United States.

Bank Cancels: Buffalo Commercial Bank

On April 30, 1902, the Marine National Bank absorbed the Buffalo Commercial Bank, so it ceased to exist not long after this pair of 4 cent stamps were canceled. I live in Kenya, and the first time I googled the BCB I returned multiple hits for a Buffalo Commercial Bank based in Juba, which is south Sudan. This more more modern BCB is far, far away from Buffalo, New York.

Cancel for August 6: Scofield, Shurmer & Teagle

S. S. & T.

AUG 6 1898

---------

A major Ohio-based oil company, and at the time of this cancel a large competitor of the Standard Oil Company in Ohio and the region by virtue of its Cleveland refinery, Scofield, Shurmer & Teagle fought for years with Rockefeller and Standard to compete and maintain their independence. In 1901 they finally sold out to Rockefeller. Despite the fight for independence, once SS&T gave in, one of SS&T's founder's sons became the best known and successful oilmen in the world after Rockefeller himself.

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Walter Clark Teagle (May 1878 – January 9, 1962), was responsible for leading Standard Oil to the forefront of the oil industry and significantly expanding the company's presence in the petrochemicals.

In 1901, Standard Oil bought out the Teagle family refinery, and placed Walter Teagle, the son of an SS&T founder, in charge. By 1910 he became a director of Standard Oil, and a vice president shortly thereafter. At the age of 39, Teagle became the youngest president of Standard Oil of New Jersey, then known as Esso, for S. O. of NJ, and since 1972, known as Exxon. He served as president (1917-1937) and chairman (1937-1942) of the company. Under his leadership, Standard Oil became the world's largest oil producer, increasing market share from 2% to 11.5%.

Cancel for August 5: Hall & Henshaw

Hall & Henshaw were insurance underwriters and were based in New York City. Hall & Henshaw had a 3 story loft building near Wall Street. Most half cent documentary stamps were used by insurance companies to pay the tax on small premium policies.

Financial Cancels: I & S Wormser

I&S Wormser was a New York City-based banking and stock-brokerage house. I&S stood for the brothers Isidor and Simon, who emigrated to the US from Germany when they were teenagers. They initially went to California for the gold rush by sailing around the horn with merchandise they would sell in Sacramento. They prospered early and in 1870 moved to New York to establish what would become a very successful and well known banking business. The Wormser brothers were significant members of the New York establishment.