Railroad Memories Auction #106
RETURN TO AUCTIONLot 10
Price Realized: $340 |
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Lot: 10 Description: SANTA FE LION PAPERWEIGHT - cast iron souvenir paperweight. The following is an excerpt from the Santa Fe Railroad hard bound book copyright 1945, "In the early 1880's there was a lot of British capital in the Santa Fe and as a gesture of friendship to these stockholders the road has a map prepared of North America. The lower half showed the Santa Fe system and the upper half, Canada, was covered by a British Lion, couchant. As a further gesture of friendship, the road cast thousands of brass and iron paperweights in the form of the lion-at-ease. Carloads of these were made ready for distribution. This all came to the notice of Populist Leaders in Oklahoma and Kansas and they laid off revolutionizing the country long enough to pass stinging resolutions about it. They were all 100% Americans and wanted no British interference with anything in the Midwest. The Santa Fe prudently warehoused the paperweights and stored away the maps. At various time a few score of the souvenirs would be shipped around to station agents for their own use, and some of them still may be found in out-of-the-way depots and general offices. Tons of the brass ones, however, were melted down and used for journal bearings." I have only handled a couple of these over the years. Good condition. Minimum bid: $100 Price Realized: $340 |
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