Printed Cancels by the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad?

A corresponding collector in Minnesota sent me examples of cancellations, possibly printed, by the Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range Railroad, a railroad organized to transport iron ore and eventually taconite out of the Minnesota iron range to port facilities on Lake Superior at Duluth, Minnesota.  I was immediately interested in these, as examples of these cancels don't appear in Richard Fullerton's catalog, and the DM&IRR was not a part of any of the families of railroads known to use printed cancels.  

At first glance the cancels on the three stamps collectively make it appear that we could have printed cancels, as the cancels are all roughly in the same place on the stamps.  But with a bit of scrutiny it seemed that the cancels might even be complete fakes.  First, it seems likely they were not printed, as the cancels appear at differing angles on each stamp.  Second, the stamps indicate no sign of legitimate use, with dates or handstamps or normal manuscript cancelling.  Third, the ink has run and blurred across all the stamps.  The AMEX printed cancels show this blurred quality for stamps cancelled with older plates, but there is no evidence anywhere that the DM&IRRR cancelled enough stamps to wear out their cancelling devices.  

It appears to me that the maker of the cancels used a pile of cheap stamps - a 1c stamp, a pencil canceled 2c with a slight tear, and 25c with cut cancels, to add handstamp cancels.

It appears that at best we have philatelic mischief, or at worst fraud, committed sometime after 1937.

A little research showed that the DM&IRR was organized and so named in 1937, 35 years after the 1898 tax period expired.  On July 1, 1937, the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Ry (DM&N) and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway were merged to form the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway.  There is a reference called “History of the Missabe” published by the Missabe Railroad Historical Society that goes into this merger and the creation of the DM&IRR.

To cross check it, I went to a contemporaneous reference, the Poor’s Manual of Railroads (image below) from 1901, that lists all US Class I, II, III railroads.  There is no DM&IRR in the manual, but there are the Duluth & Iron Range RR, and the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Ry.

The mischief maker didn’t even bother to create fake cancels for a real, existing railroad during the time of the 1898 tax period.  At least we know that the fakes were made after 1937.  But that’s about all.  Whatever the case, these are an interesting philatelic story.  The collector that sent these stamps to me reported that he had seen a stamp with these cancels sold in an auction a few years ago.  While he did not win that auction lot, he did buy examples of these cancels from a collection located in Walnut Grove, Minnesota sometime in the last few years.  Buyer beware!

The Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad and The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company

The Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad was part of the New York Central's western division and would become totally absorbed by the NYC in a few years after the cancel of the stamp below.  The II&I ran through territory experiencing rapid economic growth and would profit from freight and passenger traffic in the region.  

THE I. I. & I. R. R. CO.

NOV

10

1899

CHICAGO.

IND.  ILL.  &  IA. R. R.

APR  4  1902

SOUTH BEND, IND.

The 2 cent documentary above almost certainly was removed from a check.  The cancel immediately above comes from the bill of lading below from the Studebaker Company which would become one of the United States most significant car makers in the early 20th century.  The BOL appears to be a document to send Studebaker vehicles to Roswell, New Mexico, the home of Area 51.  At the time, Studebaker's vehicle product was an electric car.  

Studebaker had been a coach and wagon builder in the 1800s.  But in 1902 they began to make electric cars, making it possible that this BOL for 31,000 lbs of freight (only 1c tax for 31,000 lbs?) could be for electric cars.  Most of the carriage for the trip to New Mexico was completed by the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe.

The association here between Roswell and Area 51, space aliens, electric cars from 120 years ago, Tesla, Elon Musk, and Space X would have made a great April Fools post.  No such creativity this year!

Meanwhile, these cancels would be great additions to the work started by Tolman and continued by Bob Mustacich on his site to inventory RR cancels on battleships.  

Railroad Printed Cancels: A Milwaukee Road Receipt Book

 

Long gone but once common on the sides of box cars, locomotives and other railroad equipment, The Milwaukee Road logo was the brand of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway.  Today is highlighted a receipt book from the C. M. & St. P. Ry. station in Monona, Iowa.  

The item is a complete receipt book that first saw use in 1901, The first receipt in the book is dated March 5, 1901, and the last receipt is dated March 26, 1903.  The first 67 receipts, dated from March 5, 1901 to June 26, 1902, all have one cent documentary stamps with C. M. & St. P. Ry. printed cancels.  There are completed receipts from July 3, 1902 to March 24, 1903 without stamps.

Above is a typical receipt from the book for a consignment of 12 cases of eggs going to Chicago.  Many of the receipts are for eggs, from the same consignor to the same receiver, but there are several other agricultural and food related shipments that I can identify.  There is a receipt for 26 empty oil barrels from the usual egg consignor, being sent to Standard Oil in Dubuque.  And there are multiple receipts for empty cracker cans going to Chicago.  Every receipt except for one is for freight headed east.  That receipt is for a consignment to an indecipherable town in South Dakota.

Here is a quick look at the book:

The station periodically acquired stamps over the lifetime of the book and did not rely on a single sheet of stamps for the tax.  The location of the imprint of the printed cancels changes over time; in the middle months there is a series of cancels that are blurry and appear to be from well worn plates.

I'll study the book a bit more intensely in the coming weeks and I'll see if there is more to post.

Lastly, Monona, Iowa is due west of Milwaukee, but the railroad had no bridge over the Mississippi for a direct link:

New Find: R155 with St. Louis, Keokuk, and Northwestern Railroad Printed Cancel

Mike Morrissey has sent a scan of a Fullerton unlisted railroad item: an R155 with a St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad cancel. 

ST. L., K. & N. W.

R. R.

St. L., K. & N. W. R. R. cancels have only previously been known on R163s, both roulette and H. H.  Frank Sente figures the stamps were used on checks.  I would guess this likely, but if so, where are other examples, either on or off document?

If you know or possess an example of this cancel on an R155, please report it or send a scan of the stamp to:  1898revenues@gmail.com.  Thanks!

Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska Livestock Contract

Contract for hauling a load of livestock on the Burlington & Missori River Railroad in Nebraska listing the corporate family of associated railroads including the:

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad

Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad

Hannibal & St. Jospeph Railroad

St. Louis, Keokuk, & Northwestern Railroad

Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad

Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City Railway

The one cent documentary tax stamp contains a B&MRRR printed cancel from 1899.

The contract was for the shipment of 76 head of livestock from Doniphan, Kansas to Kansas City.  Doniphan was on the B&MRRR in Nebraska mainline.

Railroads were often used at this time to move livestock on the hoof to processors in big cities like Omaha, Kansas City, and Chicago.  The processors would then ship dressed meat in refrigerated or iced train cars, often referred to as "reefers".

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: St. Louis Southwestern Railway

Adams Express bill of lading with St. Louis Southwestern Railway printed cancel

This bill originally appeared on this site in 2011.

printed cancel:

ST. L. S W RY. CO

handstamp:

ADAMS

EXPRESS

COMPANY

JUN

19

1901

The St. L. S. W. Ry was known as The Cotton Belt Route

Companies like Adams Express and American Express received, shipped and delivered freight and packages using a mix of contracted transport, especially railroads. 

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad

Bill of Lading on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad

for a shipment to W. J. Bostwick

C. B. & Q. R. R. Co. Printed Cancel

Handstamp:

C. B. & Q. R. R. Co.

AUG  22  1900

ROCHESTER, ILL.

Reverse side of the Bill of Lading:  Full C. B. & Q. R. R. system map.

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: Chicago & Northwestern Railway

It appears that Mr. E.S. Randall, a one time Mayor of Calamus, Iowa, was sending a load of empty beer barrels and bottles back to a Val Blatz Brewing depot in Ceder Rapids.  By my read, the shipment included:

23 Half Barrels

17 Quarter Barrels

17 Eighth Barrels

9 Cases of Bottles

Blatz was brewed and headquartered in Milwaukee. 

C. & N - W. Ry.

Sept 20

1899

Val Blatz Brewing Company branded arch at the former Blatz building in Milwaukee.  The building has been converted to residential apartments.

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad

Waybill for freight from the firm E. E. Bruce & Company transported on the Freemont, Elkhorn & Missori Valley Railroad.  The waybill includes a one cent documentary tax stamp with a printed cancel from the FE&MVRR.

The E. E. Bruce Company made its founder, Edward Bruce, a very wealthy man.  His prosperity as a businessman in Omaha, Nebraska, gave him a position of leadership in the community.  One of the most famous events commemorated in American philately, that honoring the Trans-Mississippi exhibition held in Omaha from June to November 1898, was in part managed by Mr. Bruce.  Bruce was the exhibits manager for the 4,062 exhibits, for a fair that covered 108 city blocks.

Country Club Bourbon

sold by E. E. Bruce of Omaha, Nebraska

While by title a druggist, Mr. Bruce made most of his fortune through the distribution and sale of alcohol.  E. E. Bruce sold wine, whiskey, and brandy, among other spirits, and had a substantial sale network that spread west all the way to the Pacific.  Bruce sourced his whiskey in likely places like Kentucky, then packaged and shipped it west.

Read more about Edward Estelle Bruce at the "Those Pro-Whiskey Men" blog.

Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad printed cancel with 1900 year date.

The Fremont Elkhorn was a part of the Chicago & Northwestern system.

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:

This photo can be found at the Badger Steam and Gas Engine website.

 

Bills of Lading with Printed Cancels: Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska

Waybill for transport of goods on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska by Walter G. Clark Company.  The documentary tax was paid by a 1 cent battleship with a B&MRRR printed cancel.  See the closeup below.

Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska cancels have been featured before in posts on this site.  The B&MRRR in Nebraska was a component of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincey Railroad.

Cancels:

Printed:

B. & M. R. R. R. 

IN NEB.

Handstamped:

B. & M. R. R. R. In Neb.

Received on

JUL   2   1900

OMAHA STATION

The bill of lading was printed specifically for the firm of Walter G. Clark Company of Omaha, which meant the firm had repeated need for these bills and must have conducted a large share of its business via rail.  The firm traded in sporting goods, and did business in fire arms and ammunition.  The specific purpose of this bill was to document the shipment of "1 box Ld shells" and 1 Box empty shells".  What were the shells?  Ammunition of some sort perhaps, or something far more benign?  A little searching came up with this great shot of a an old Walter G. Clark baseball bat, confirming the firm's broader trade in sporting products, including their manufacture.

The bat is currently on sale at this webite.

Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Printed Cancel Type I Varieties

Mr. Fullerton includes a no period variety after "Co" in his listing of type 1 CB&QRRs, but he does not list a two periods missing variety, one after the Co and one after the second R.  Here is an example of such a cancel and such a stamp.  This clearly deserves its own listing. 

It appears as if the periods are almost pushed into the neighboring letters, as the neighboring letters look overinked or somewhat bulbous in the region near where the period should be.  How could something like this have happened given the printing process used for these cancels?

Chicago Burlington and Quincy Printed Cancel Type I Varieties

Here is an example of a flaw within a single letter, this time on the first R in the cancel.   These stamps were used only days apart, showing no longevity or persistence to the flaw, but the location and similarity of the flaw makes it clear that each of these stamps came from the same position on the cancelling plate.

JUN  21   1902

JUN  3 -  1902

I doubt whether this flaw or variety would deserve its own listing. 

Chicago Burlington and Quincy Printed Cancel Type I Varieties

Here is another apparently persistent variety of Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Type I printed cancels.  This example is not as dramatic as the variety in yesterday's post.  However, it is distinctive.  Both the second R and the C in Co are damaged in this variety, with the damage to the R changes over time in the examples below.

To review, the Fullerton List documents 3 types of printed cancels for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.  Over 200 type Is have recently been made available to me for inspection, and I've sifted through them for major varieties.  This post is part of a series examining those varieties.

The two of the three stamps below have been handstamp dated over a one year period.  Over this period the appearance of C having a neatly planed electro remains steady.

 

MAY  11   1901

Damaged right leg of R, apparently pushed to the left, with neatly planed off C in Co at bottom left.

Inscrutable date.

Bottom right leg of R has been shifted back to the right compared to the stamp above.  Planed C remains constant.

MAY  21  1902

Date one year later than first stamp above.  Damage similar to undated stamp.

Here is a new and unlisted variety by Fullerton with apparent persistence.  Here we have another collectable variety that might be included in a new list.

Chicago Burlington and Quincy Printed Cancel Type I Varieties

The Fullerton List lists 3 types of printed cancels for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.  Recently I've acquired a couple hundred or so Type Is.  Over 90% of these are hyphen perforated stamps, with a majority of those having handstamped dates from 1902. 

These have all been sorted and inspected for any major subtypes.  The most significant variety identified can be seen clearly in the two stamps below.  The variety is significant because of the extent of the damage to the letters C and B in the cancel, and even moreso due to the variety's persistence.

The stamp immediately below is from April 1901; the subsequent stamp is from May 1902.  The damage to the cancelling device for this position changes somewhat over the 13 month time, but it is clear that these two stamps were cancelled by the same position.  Of course the printing date does not necessarily correlate with the time these stamps were cancelled.  However, the CB&QRR was one of the largest users of printed cancels and it is unlikely that stocks of cancelled sheets stayed around for very long. 

C., B. & Q. R. R. Co.

APR  24  1901

Bottom and top of C damaged.  Though damaged, the top of C remains curved.  A bite out of the bottom loop of the B is damaged

 

C., B. & Q. R. R. Co.

MAY  29  1902

The condition of the B on this cancel is nearly identical to the stamp above this one.  The C, however, has changed over time.  The top of the C has straightened out and looks more like the Greek letter gamma, Γ.

Mr. Fullerton did not include this variety in his list.  In addition to these two stamps I have 5 more examples of the variety.  A future listing might include this variety.

Chicago Burlington and Quincy Printed Cancel Type I Varieties

This post adds to material in the first post on this variety with the damaged C and B.  These are the seven examples of this variety in my possession.  Click on the image for better viewing.

Cancel for July 13: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway

As I am in St. Paul this week I wanted to post at at least one stamp with St. Paul as the subject.  Railroad historians and buffs know that the twin cities of Minnesota were a major railroad hub in the United States, and they remain so.  While Chicago was the primary western terminus for eastern railroads like the Pennsylvania and the New York Central, St. Louis and Minneapolis-St. Paul were the true frontier hubs for people heading west, and for goods like grain and cattle heading to the east. 

St. Paul and Minneapolis were major stops or headquarters for several US Class I railroads, including the CM&StP, The Great Northern, and the The Northern Pacific. 

A few years ago I looked into buying a house off of Summit Avenue in St. Paul that was designed by Cass Gilbert, the same architect that designed the United States Supreme Court.  The house had been commissioned by an attorney for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and was only a few blocks from the James J. Hill House.

St. Louis Southwestern Railway and Adams Express

I haven't started to understand what is happening with these and the Adams Express use of St. Louis Southwestern Railway printed cancels.  But I do understand the Ebay bargain these represent.  A few weeks ago these items presented in a lot of seemingly inconsequential value to collectors.  The printed cancels were hard to see in the lot photo and unmentioned in the description.  The lot went for less than $20.

The group of documents is remarkable.  Each contains a scarce St. Louis Southwestern printed cancel, on an Adams Express document, and further cancelled with an Adams Ex handstamp. 

The consignments do not appear to have ever been carried on the StLSW, as they were received in St. Louis and marked to go to Philadelphia or Richmond.  More on these in a later post...