Railroading Night at The Grafton 123

I know I have some cross-traffic over here from The Grafton 123 site and from The Taylor County Blog Project, but I also have a few folks who visit here regularly that don't read The 123 goings-ons.
SO- today I will call attention to The 123 goings-ons:

Tonight is Railroad Night
Tomorrow night is Live Music.

Go over there and check it out.

Oregon Trip - Post 9 - City Hall & Mayor History

Here is Troutdale's City Hall:


And this sign about Early Women Mayors:


It says,
"Early Women Mayors
In 1913, one year after Orgeon women won the right to vote, Clara Larsson was elected the mayor of Troutdale, defeating her male opponent, S.A. Edmundson, by five votes. A quarter Indian, daughter of the pioneer family Latourell family, she was one of the first women mayors in the state. In 1914, Troutdale voters approved Prohibition and closed all of the town’s saloons, including one belonging to the Mayor’s husband, John.The city elected a second woman mayor, Laura Harlow in 1924. She was also a deputy sheriff and was the wife of Lou Harlow, whose father was Capt. John Harlow, Troutdale’s founder."

I think it's probably safe to say that Clara Larsson and her husband, John, had a bit of a public disagreement going on, huh?
That must have been interesting (and possibly entertaining); certainly a story or two there, anyway.

Oregon Trip - Post 7 - Troutdale History

This sign was located in the park behind the yellow rail car:

It says,

"Oregon History
Troutdale

This pioneer community, gateway to the Columbia Gorge, was settled in the 1850s. Cattle herds of early pioneers were driven to the nearby Sandy River from the Dalles while the emigrants rafted their wagons down the Columbia.
First known as Sandy, the present name came from fish ponds built by the town's founder, Capt. John Harlow. By the turn of the century, railroad and river commerce made Troutdale a noisy boom town boasting 'A tavern on each corner and one in the middle.'
Here in 1894 part of Coxey's Army, 500 unemployed demonstrators, commandeered a train in and attempt to reach Washington, D.C."

Oregon Trip - Post 5- Depot Rail Museum

In yesterday's post at The 123, I talked about why I found this little Oregon town so fascinating. More specifically -and something else in common with Grafton's red caboose (and other rail history)- this Depot Rail Museum caught my interest:

This little Depot-turned-museum sits at the far end of town, just about on the Sandy River.
"End of the Line Museum Store:"






Unfortunately, I was there too early in the morning to take the inside tour, but I couldn't help looking through the windows:




although the view from the front porch wasn't much:




This yellow car sits in the front yard:







I wanted to take pictures of this car like I did for our red caboose post, so I just walked around snapping away:











It's obvious that this car is much newer than our red caboose.



How much newer?



I googled this train car number:


And learned that this car was built in Ohio in 1975.



It was in service as recently as 1993, because the picture of it on the web page was taken in Washington State.






There was no information online or on-site that indicated when or why it was retired.












I tried to look in the window, but it was pretty blurry:


There was a boiler and a few cots, like a bunkhouse. Does that make it a caboose?



I have no idea.

What impressed me the most -and this wasn't the first time- was the age difference in our history.
Grafton, West Virginia's boom began in the 1850s when the railroad first came over the Allegheny Mountains. Troutdale, Oregon's boom was around 1900. It took time for our nation to move West.

I tried to find out when our red caboose was built, but I can't find a thing. I do know, however, that it has been sitting on Main Street for 30 years or so. That means it was retired around the same time that this yellow caboose was just a baby.

Quit Smoking Ad from 1900

Strategic placement in advertising is apparently not a new phenomenon.

Here is a newspaper clipping from The Grafton Leader in July 1900 (yes, that's right, 1900):




I think it's interesting that the Insurance Company is listed right before the tiny ad for "No-To-Bac." I'll bet they sell life insurance.

Okay, putting cynicism aside -or at least pushing it to the backseat- it's a fascinating ad:

"To quit tobacco easily and forever, be magnetic, full of life, nerve and vigor, take No-To-Bac, the wonder worker that makes weak men strong."

These selling techniques must work because we are bombarded with the same messages in modern advertising. Today the wording is not quite so blatant, but it's the same thing, only with a shinier, brighter, louder delivery - subtlety that's harder to laugh about.

Fifty cents or One Dollar. That's a ton of money for 1900; I'm not sure how to figure it out in today's dollars, but it had to be a lot of money back then.


I've been going through old, old magazines and books and I've come across lots of interesting things. What I find most fascinating, though, is the consistency and persistence of advertising. Nothing, really, has changed in more than 100 years. The only real difference is the mode of advertising - there are a hundred, possibly a thousand or more, new ways to target an audience.
We are targeted with effective, time-tested, honed techniques.

It's no wonder we've become a consumptive (yes, I meant to use consumptive) society with a serious credit problem.


***edited to add:
I forgot to tell you where I found this paper and why I was looking at it.
I'll tell you more later, both here and on the Taylor County blog.