2014 - Our 799Th Issue
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THE FARE BOX A Monthly News-Letter for Transportation Token Collectors New Issue Editor Editor Harold V. Ford Keith Baron 43 Arroyo Drive P.O. Box 6412 Moraga, CA Manchester, NH 94556-1228 03108-6412 New Issue Service Advertising Manager Bob Schneider Tom Wallace 2321 Londale Court 105 Garden Lane Virginia Beach, VA Winlock, WA 23456-6334 98596-9113 VOLUME 68, NUMBER 1 - JANUARY 2014 - OUR 799TH ISSUE 2014 AVA Dues Included in the October Fare Box issue was a dues envelope to pay your 2014 dues. If you do not pay your dues, this will be your last Fare Box issue. Current Rates are: United States $25.00 Canada $28.00 Foreign $37.00 Please submit payment by check or money order to: Joel J. Reznick 1591 Monarch Drive Venice FL 34293-0302 Change of Address Jack D. Cornelison, 4011 Witherbee Blvd, Lincoln, NE 68510-3642 Tim Henderson, 163 Curtis Road, Florenceville-Bristol New Brunswick, Canada E7L 7H4. As, you have probably noticed, this issue is printed in color. All recent issues of the Fare Box are produced in color, but printed in black and white. Members can download and print color copies of past issues of the Fare Box from www.vecturist.com. - Page 2 - - January 2014 - AVA Positions JANUARY SUPPLEMENT TO THE ATWOOD-COFFEE CATALOGUE Board Positions By Harold V. Ford President Bob Schneider [email protected] WISCONSIN Vice President Pro-Tem John Hoffman Madison [email protected] MADISON MENDOTA/TRANSPORTATION/CO. Secretary Rich Mallicote [email protected] O o A 26 Sd 35/Cents $100.00 Treasurer Joel Reznick [email protected] Additions and Corrections: Curator Keith Haney FL 440 A value should be $0.50 [email protected] FL 1000 K size should be 25mm, not 24mm Editor Keith Baron PA 85 A value should be $10.00 [email protected] Past President (Vacant) [email protected] On the internet I located an old catalogue that New Token Chairman Joel Bernstein listed bus lines that operated in the upper [email protected] mid-west which noted the existence of this outfit located in Madison, WI in the early 20th Fare Box Positions century. Lake Mendota is located on the north Editor Keith Baron [email protected] side of the city. New Issue Listing Coordinator Hal Ford [email protected] A short report this month as this past fall has Auction Coordinator Andy Abadia been very slow regarding the reporting of new [email protected] discoveries. The NIS has received leads on a Article Coordiantor Randy Glucksman number of plastics which need to be checked out [email protected] prior to listing to verify legitimacy and Classified Coordinator Tom Wallace [email protected] ascertain availability and cost. We do not Fare Box Distributor Gary Parent list plastics that were not obtained from a [email protected] transportation or ferry operation. Ombudsman Bob Schneider Rocco DiGiacomo reports a non-modern token he [email protected] found near Winston-Salem, NC. Researching the Other Positions internet I cannot locate the existence of this Convention Coordinator Joel Reznick operation. Prior to listing I could use some [email protected] help. Is it from NC or somewhere else? If New Issue Service Manager Bob Schneider there is no verification that there was a bus [email protected] line that could have used this token, I suppose Car Wash Token Editor Jim Delaney [email protected] it could be listed as a pattern or Parking Token Editor Joe Pernicano unidentified. [email protected] Personal Token Editor Keith Haney ADAMS BUS CO./W-S/PROMPT/(STAR)/SERVICE [email protected] B Oc Sd Good For/One Fare/5 (23mm) Foreign Token Editor Bill Weber [email protected] Condolences Writer Joel Bernstein [email protected] AVA was founded in 1948 -DQXDU\ 3DJH TOKENS &=63&)68.6,9) %2%01%:%6 5HSULQWHGFRXUWHV\RI7+(180,60$7,67RIILFLDOSXEOLFDWLRQRIWKH$PHULFDQ1XPLVPDWLF$VVRFLDWLRQ KWWSZZZPRQH\RUJ PHOTO: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LIBRARY PHOTO: NORTH AMERICAN HORSECAR TOKENS Quaint bits of exonumia recall simpler times when people traveled and worked at a slower pace. n 1995 an article appeared in Coin tory, varieties, price structure, availability, etc. World advising of an upcoming auction of I learned that most were issued in the late 1800s horsecar tokens. I had never heard of these and had much the same function as bus or subway before, but my interest was immediately I ᮡ HORSECARS WERE A COMMON SIGHT piqued, partly because the photos were in- in American triguing and also because I love animals (and they cities from 1860 to 1900. Horses or mules pulled love me back, since, as a vegetarian, I don’t eat the lightweight trams on tracks, averaging little them!). In fact, I have a horse myself, along with a more than 5 miles per hour. Most of these transit few other pets. companies issued fare tokens, but today only those So, I called the auctioneer and peppered him picturing horse-drawn cars are considered true with questions about horsecar tokens: their his- horsecar tokens. 3DJH -DQXDU\ However, horsecar operation was not without its proble1ns. A typical horse ate 10 to 14 pounds of oats and corn daily. you find this long-forgotten means of transportation as fascinating as I do. History of lhe Borsecar For centuries throughout the world, the horse was the chief means of transportation. In the early 1800s, public transportation evolved beyond the stage coach, particularly in densely populated metropolitan ar- eas. Developers hit upon the idea of setting a carriage on rails and pulling it with horses or mules. One of the first horsecars, the "John Mason," began operation in New York City in late 1832. Manhattan went on to develop the longest and most heavily used horsecar lines in the country. However, horsecar operation was not without its problems. A typical horse ate 10 to 14 pounds of oats and corn daily and required new shoes about every two weeks. It was expensive to con - tinually clean the streets of the large creatures' deposits of offal and urine. A horse eould pull a car for only a few hours before it needed to be re- placed by a fresh animal, and most had to be re- tired after a few years. A line's investment could Clu>ITOL HEIGHTS Street Railway Company, Lincoln, Nebraska be wiped out by contagious horse diseases, as (1887-90). Brass (540-J), less than 10 known. Not Actual Size happened in 1872. Because of these drawbacks, concerted efforts tokens do today. I entered my bids and won a were made to replace the horsecar. Small steam number of specimens. locomotives were considered, but were too heavy A month or two later, I learned that another and noisy for street use. Cable railways worked large collection of horsecar tokens was to be well, but the capital expense was too great for auctioned. I was an eager bidder and happily all but the high-traffic lines. Compressed air acquired even more pieces. With effort, patience and other more exotic power sources were tested, and some fortuitous opportunities, I managed but abandoned. Finally, in 1898, electricity was to assemble a complete collection comprising harnessed for city railway service. It was quiet, 32 examples. efficient, smoke-free and cheaper to build and op- Over the next decade or so, I put together an- other set so I could display the pieces, both ob- verse and reverse, at an ANA convention. I exhib- ited my collection at the 2010 World's Fair of Money5M in Boston and earned first prize in the "Tokens" category. The following year, after con- ducting more research, I spruced up my display for the 2011 convention in Chicago, where I took the Howland Wood Memorial Award for Best of Show Exhibit. In this article, I will share a bit of what I've learned about horsecar lines in this country, and E\11\NSVIIJ.E STREJ:I' RlULWRY COMMNY, Indiana (c. 1892). illustrate some representative t okens. I hope White metal (280-A). Not Actual Size 46 Th e N UMI SMATIST www.money.o rg DECEMBER 2013 -DQXDU\ 3DJH In North America_, only 32 types of horsecar tokens were issued by 25 cornpanies. Token-issuing horsecar lines operated in 16 states and a Canadian province. erate. By 1900, the electric streetcar- and the n ewly emerging automobile - had re- placed a ll but a few horsecar lines. Borsecar Tokens H orsecar lines issued and used hundreds of different tokens. Most ..i Gl\INESVILLE PllRK STREET RlULW1lY COMPANY, Texas (c. 1890). of them bore s imple White metal (280-A). Not Actual Size inscriptions, such as GOOD FOR ONE FARE Coffee Catalogue of United States and Canadian and the name of the Transportation Tokens (2007) by John M. Coffee company, but carried and Harold V. Ford, based on Roland Atwood's ..i THIS C.l\RDBO.l\RD TICKET was used no design elements . classic guide. by the Galveston City (Texas) Rail- However, today's col- road Company. Not Actual Size lectors con sider the Size & Composition only true horsecar to- Twenty-four of the 32 types were struck in brass kens to be those that show both the railcar (with one New York type plated with white metal); and the horses pulling it. (One token issued 6 in white metal; 1 in copper; and 1 in aluminum. by a streetcar company illustrates a running Six of the tokens are octagonal; the rest are "' horse, but no railca.r, while another depicts a round, a.bout the size of a U.S. nickel. All have mule pulling a car. Neither qualifies as a horse- plain edges.