Giveaway: Fred Harvey Santa Fe Line Postcard

I’ll give this away on Christmas Day (Dec 25), so if anyone wants it, participation cut-off will be midnight (eastern) on Christmas Eve (Dec 24).

(If several people are involved, I’ll show a preference for someone who didn’t get a print in my last giveaway.)





It’s a standard postcard size: 3-1/2” x 5-1/2”. I’m not a big train fan, or railroad fan, or tunnel fan, but I suppose that if you are, its appeal is self-evident. My interest in this card is how it was made. The process was called Phostint, and it was a proprietary process of the Detroit Publishing Company.

Here’s what one online site has to say about it:

Phostint The Detroit Publishing Company began utilizing the Swiss photochrom process (aac) after licensing it in 1897, and they eventually applied their own trade name Phostint to it in 1903. Not only did they alter the specifics of this process to give their own postcards and prints a unique look, they did much experimentation causing their postcard production to undergo a number of technical changes during the company’s history, which continually altered the appearance of their cards. Phostints are based on creating a continuous toned lithographic image through directly exposing a negative through contact printing to a stone photosensitized with a coating of Syrian asphaltum. By their careful control of the asphaltum in relation to its processing etch they were able to manipulate images in countless ways. It is even possible that they may have combined this technique with elements of the Vidal process. While typically six to sixteen litho-stones were employed to print all the different colors needed to create a single Phostint image, many more optical color variations were possible through their careful alterations of each stone. The precise details of their methods were kept such close trade secrets that when Detroit Publishing went out of business the techniques they developed died with them.
http://www.metropostcard.com/glossaryp.html

It’s convincingly photographic, but when you look at the details, it looks posterized.





Anyhow… it shows the railroad tunnel at the Raton Pass on the Santa Fe line. (See? Santa’s right there in the name!)

This tunnel was completed in 1879, but reference to the “recently completed” second, lower tunnel, which was finished in 1908, dates this c1910.

It’s also cool that it’s a Fred Harvey postcard, likely from one of his souvenir shops, maybe even purchased aboard a train on that same line.

 

MOS, my DH would love that. Our basement is full of trains with openings in walls running thru 3 rooms, all western themed. He is a big Santa Fe fan. Whenever we went on vacation out west, we had to stop at famous Santa Fe locations. He was disappointed when the Oracle of Omaha bought Santa Fe and his stock disappeared.
Patd

 

That's a powerful argument.

So here's a challenge:

If 3 more people come on and say, "Give it to Patd", I'll jump the gun and give it.

 

Give it to Patd!!

 

Give it to Patd!!

 

Give it to Patd!!

(and I was thinking of putting my name in for this one, but l will not appreciate it as much!)

 

In case you need one more... give it to Patd!

 

Hi,
I would give my eye tooth for the card but since my eye teeth are gone already please give it to Patd.
greg

 

OK then... this giveaway is closed, and @patd8643 gets it!

 

I just found this. My late dad was a rail nut's rail nut. But since he's been gone since 2005 I'll add my voice to the chorus and say just send it to PatD.

 

Good for patd! Congratulations!

 

Thank everyone and especially MOS. I know DH will be delighted with it.
Patd