1962 Our 175Th Issue

THE FARE X -M miiinnnn miiimnn 1m Iplaai ul .u u~ D 7um uu,!i, 1111111111 A Monthly Ne'n-Letter for Traaoportatlon Token Colleotoro mi ipnlninnngmnnmmnmmyi nnnnnnnmnnnnunnn i"niiinm"nlnnnnnnlmnnn nmmlm l:j:illtl t~i~~r.;! !~!ti I n nnn NEW ISSUES EDITOR EDITOR Ralph Freiberg J. M. Coffee, Jr. 632 Ashbury St P.O. Box 1204 San Francisco 17, Calif. Boston 4, Mass . ASST. N. I. EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS John G. Nicolosi 3002 Galindo Sk Harry C. Bartley Oakland I, California Robert M. Butler Harold Ford, Jr. VOL UMR 16, NUMBER 1 - JANUARY, 1962 OUR 175TH ISSUE OUR SECRETARY, DANIEL DIMICHAEL,, WHOSE ADDRESS IS P .O . BOX 485 - COATESVILLE, PA ., INFORMS US THAT THERE ARE STILL ABOUT 50 A .V.A . MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOT PAID THEIR 1962 $3 DUES . IF YOU ARE ONE OF THEM, WHY NOT SIT DOWN RIGHT AWAY AND SEND HIM YOUR CHECK. IF YOU DON'T YOU ARE GOING TO MISS OUT ON A GREAT YEAR FOR TRANSPORTATION TOKEN COLLECTING, ROLAND C. ATWOOD HAS RESPONDED TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD FOR VOTING HIM HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP "GENTLEMEN : I AM IN RE- CEIPT OF YOUR MOST UNEXPECTED BUT MOST DELIGHTFUL HONOR . A M DEEPLY FLATTERED, AND DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOUR GIVING ME AN HON- ORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP IN THE A . V.A . As FOR YOUR GIVING ME A SCROLL TO CELEBRATE THIS, IT WILL BECOME A CHERISHED POSSESSION I ASSURE YOU," THE ARTICLE IN THIS ISSUE ABOUT Los ANGELES TRANSPORTATION TOKENS MENTIONS THE MAIN ST . & AGRICULTURAL PARK RAILROAD CO . TOKEN (CALIF 450 A) . THE ONLY REASON THE TOKEN IS LISTED IS BECAUSE OF CLAIMS MADE IN THIS ARTICLE . I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE WHO OWNS THE TOKEN, AND EVEN DETAILS OF ITS DESCRIPTION ARE VAGUE AND UNCERTAIN--SOME CLAIMING IT PICTURES A HORSECAR, SOME CLAIMING IT DOES NOT . UNLESS SOMEONE COMES UP WITH BETTER PROOF THAN WE HAVE, THE TOKEN PROBABLY WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE CATALOGUE IN THE FUTURE, THERE ARE A FEW OTHER TOKENS IN OUR CATALOGUE WHOSE EXISTENCE IS BASED ENTIRELY ON RUMOR, SUCH AS CONN 305 B WHICH NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN BUT WHICH THE PROPRIETOR OF THE COMPANY SAYS WAS ISSUED, THE FARE Box CAN ALWAYS USE ARTICLES ABOUT TOKENS AND THE COMPANIES THAT ISSUED THEM, HOW ABOUT TELLING US HOW YOU LO- CATED ONE OF THE RARITIES IN YOUR COLLECTION? free download from: www.vecturist.com -JANUARY 1962- -PAGE 2- JANUARY MEETING IN CALIFORNIA BY ROBERT M. RITTERBAND THE 28TH MEETING OF THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF TRANS- _ PORTATION TOKEN COLLECTORS WAS HELD SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 1962, IN Los ANGELES . PRESENT WERE ATWOOD, BURNS, CUTLER, FREIBERG, GALLAGHER, RITTERBAND, ROSEL INSET, K, SMITH, AND VON BOLTEN- STERN, VISITORS WERE MRS . BURNS AND YOUNG KIRK SMITH . ROBERT F. SINGER WAS ACCEPTED INTO MEMBERSHIP, ALTHOUGH HE COULD NOT BE PRESENT, RALPH FREIBERG, WHO IS NOT OFTEN ABLE TO ATTEND THESE MEETINGS FROM SAN FRANCISCO, WAS ESPECIALLY WELCOMED, HE EX- PLAINED TO US THE FUTURE POSSIBILITIES OF HIGHLY SPECIALIZED AUTOMATIC FARE BOXES, WHICH WOULD VASTLY INCREASE THE AVAILABLE VARIETIES OF TOKENS IN CIRCULATION, MR . ATWOOD TOLD OF HIS TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC AND AUSTRALIA, AND OFFERED COLLEC- TORS A NUMBER OF THE TOKENS AND PASSES HE HAD ACQUIRED IN THE LATTER COUNTRY, A 1922 PAPER TOKEN FROM GERMANY, RECEIVED BY MR . RITTERBAND FROM JOHN NICOLOSI, WAS PASSED AROUND FOR INSPEC- TION, IT WAS STATED THAT MEMBERS COULD OBTAIN COPIES OF THIS ITEM THROUGH MR, NICOLOSI, SECRETARY-TREASURER RITTERBAND REPORTED THAT THE ASSOCIA- TION NOW HAS 21 PAID MEMBERS FOR THE NEW YEAR . HE CIRCULATED A COPY OF THE MIDWEST NEWS, JUST RECEIVED FROM MINNEAPOLIS, AND SAID THAT OUR ASSOCIATION WOULD CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THIS BULLE- TIN REGULARLY, NO ACTION WAS TAKEN ON AN INQUIRY RECEIVED BY HIM FROM THE NATIONAL ORANGE SHOW, SAN BERNARDINO, FOR A POSSI- BLE TOKEN DISPLAY THERE IN MARCH . DUPLICATE TOKENS WERE THEN EXCHANGED BY THE MEMBERS PRES- ENT . THE NEXT MEETING OF THIS GROUP WAS SET FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 11, AGAIN TO BE IN Los ANGELES . NEW ISSUES SERVICE NEWS BY JOHN G, NICOLOSI WE'RE REALLY STARTING OUT THE NEW YEAR WITH A BANG, A REAL BIG BANG, YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN SENT QUE 360 D E F G AND CALIF 745 R, WHICH WERE MAILED YOU THE LATTER PART OF DECEMBER . THIS MONTH I'M MAILING OUT TO THOSE WHO COLLECT CANADIAN ELEVEN MORE, QUE 745 H I J K L M N 0 AND 750 A B C,, . IF THE BALANCE IN YOUR N.I.S. ACCOUNT IS BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE COST, IF YOU DON'T RECEIVE ALL 11, CHECK YOUR BALANCE AND THEN SEND A CHECK IF YOU WANT THE TOKENS, A GREAT BIG THANKS TO MR . CASSIDY OF LACHINE FOR OBTAINING THESE 15 TOKENS FOR N.I.S . IT TOOK A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT ON HIS PART. OUR THANKS ALSO TO MR . MCDANIEL FOR GETTING CAL 745 R FOR US, THE FIRST TOKEN PICTURING A SCHOOL HOUSE ON IT, FIRST USED DEC . 11, 1961 . QUE 745 H TO 0 WERE IS- SUED AUG ., 1960 . QUE 750 A B C FIRST ISSUED JAN . 1961 . A FEW MORE TOKENS IN VIEW FOR NEXT MONTH, MEANWHILE, LET'S WELCOME TWO NEW MEMBERS TO N.I.S, : ROBERT HARRISON OF ATLANTIC CITY, AND WILLIAM MAGEE OF VICTORIA, B.C. WELCOME ABOARD .' free download from: www.vecturist.com -JANUARY 1962- -PAGE 3- = TRANSPORTATION TOKENS OF LOS ANGELES = BY A,C, ZAKOR Los ANGELES WAS FOUNDED SEPTEMBER 4, 1781, BUT NOT UNTIL 1873 WAS THERE A NEED FOR SOME SORT OF PUBLIC CONVEYANCE, THE POPULATION THEN WAS ABOUT 7,000 . THIS WAS THE YEAR THE FIRST PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICE WAS STARTED IN Los ANGELES AND CONSISTED OF A HORSE-DRAWN OMNIBUS LINE, NAMED THE "CARRYALL ." THE LINE RAN FROM TEMPLE AND MAIN STREETS DOWN MAIN TO WASHING- TON STREET. A FEW MONTHS LATER A COMPETITIVE LINE WAS ESTAB- LISHED OVER THE SAME ROUTE, HOWEVER, THE OPPOSITION LINE RE- TIRED UNDER THE SHERIFF'S HAMMER AS A RESULT OF FINANCIAL TROU- BLES A FEW MONTHS LATER, IN 1868 DAVID V . WALDRON AND FAMILY MOVED TO LOS ANGELES FROM VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA . THEY PURCHASED 35 ACRES OF LAND ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND MAIN STREETS AND PROCEEDED TO DEVELOP THE TRACT WITH AN ORANGE ORCHARD, IN 1870 MR . WALDRON OPENED A SALOON AND BEER GARDEN AT THIS CORNER, NAMING IT "WASHINGTON GARDENS ." MR. WALDRON THEN MADE THE FIRST EFFORT TO FURNISH STREET RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION IN Los ANGELES, APPLYING FOR A FRANCHISE JULY 2, 1873, WHICH WAS AP- PROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL A FEW DAYS LATER . THE FARE WAS TO BE TEN CENTS THE FIRST TWO YEARS FOR ANY DISTANCE UNDER TWO MILES, AND AFTER TWO YEARS THE FARE TO BE FIXED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL . THE LINE WAS TO REPLACE THE CARRYALL, COVERING THE SAME ROUTE DOWN TO MR . WALDRON'S SIX DIRECTORS . CAPITAL STOCK $30,000 TO BE DIVIDED INTO 600 SHARES OF $50 EACH . INT- EREST SOON DIED AND THE FRANCHISE WAS ALLOWED TO LAPSE, IN DECEMBER, 1873, JUDGE ROBERT M . WIDNEY, AN ATTORNEY, SECURED A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A SINGLE-TRACK STREET RAILWAY, USING HORSES AS MOTIVE POWER . THE LINE WAS TO RUN FROM TEMPLE & SPRINGS STREETS OVER SPRING, FIRST, FORT (BROADWAY), FOURTH, HILL, SIXTH TO PEARL STREET (FIGUEROA), WITH THE RIGHT TO EXTEND THE LINE NORTH TO MAIN AND ALAMEDA STREETS IN THE EVENT THE WALDRON FRANCHISE WAS ALLOWED TO LAPSE, WHICH OCCURRED, THIS LINE, KNOWN AS THE "SPRING AND WEST SIXTH STREET RAILROAD," STARTED OPERATION JULY 1, 1874, AND HAD THE HONOR OF BEING THE FIRST STREET RAILWAY IN Los ANGELES . THE EQUIPMENT CONSISTED OF ONE HORSECAR AND TWO HORSES . ANOTHER CAR HAD TO BE ORDERED AND WAS PUT IN SERVICE DECEMBER 1 . THE FARE WAS TEN CENTS STRAIGHT, OR FOUR TOKENS FOR TWENTY-FIVE CENTS, SMALL CHANGE WAS SCARCE THOSE DAYS, AND THESE STREETCAR TOKENS SOON DROPPED INTO GENERAL CIRCULATION AND WERE RECEIVED A T THEIR FACE VALUE AT ANY BUSINESS COUNTER IN THE CITY, DESPITE THE FACT THAT HUNDREDS OF THESE TOKENS WERE IN GENERAL CIRCULATION, THERE ARE FEW OF THEM AROUND TODAY, SEVERAL YEARS LATER, WHEN JUDGE WIDNEY WAS ASKED WHAT WAS free download from: www.vecturist.com -JANUARY 1962- -PAGE 4- THE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WHICH PROMPTED BUILDING THE SPRING & SIXTH ST . RAILROAD, HE SAID IT CAME FROM HIS WIFE, THEY LIVED ON SPRING, NEAR FIRST STREET, HE PROMISED HIS WIFE IF SHE WOULD CONSENT TO THE BUILDING OF A HOME THERE HE WOULD CONS- TRUCT A STREETCAR LINE PAST THE HOUSE, IN ORDER TO DO THIS IT WAS NECESSARY TO TURN OFF BROADWAY AT FOURTH AND SOUTH ON HILL TO SIXTH, INSTEAD OF GOING DOWN BROADWAY TO SIXTH AND THEN ON SIXTH TO FIGUEROA STREET . AFTER THE SPRING & SIXTH STREET RR WAS BUILT THE NEWS OF GREAT PROFITS WAS BROADCAST IN THE COMMUNITY . THIS STIMULATED MR . WALDRON AND OTHERS TO RENEWED ACTION AND THEY AGAIN APPLIED FOR A FRANCHISE, WHICH THEY SECURED SEPTEMBER 28, 1874 . THE ROUTE OF THIS LINE WAS SIMILAR TO WALDRON'S FIRST A TTEMPT . IN ADDITION IT WAS TO BE EXTENDED BEYOND HIS BEER GARDEN OVER WASH- INGTON TO FIGUEROA, DOWN FIGUEROA TO THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT AG- RICULTURAL ASSOCIATION IN AGRICULTURAL PARK, NOW KNOWN AS EX- POSITION PARK (Los ANGELES COLISEUM, OPERATION OF THE LINE STARTED . JULY 1, 1875, AND WAS KNOWN AS THE MAIN STREET AND AG- RICULTURAL PARK RAILWAY. HELLMAN, TEMPLE 6 Co . RAN A GENERAL STORE AND HAD THE ONLY LARGE SAFE IN TOWN, THEY STORED SO MUCH GOLD FOR THE PIONEERS THEY DECIDED TO ORGANIZE A BANK IN 1871 AND CALLED IT THE FARM- ERS AND MERCHANTS NATIONAL BANK.

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