Nostalgia & History > Railroad Gum

In keeping with the season I wanted to do a posting on Railroad Frankincense and include the following website,

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45744432

The following excerpts are from the above website.

“Trees that produce frankincense, a fragrant resin used in incense and perfumes and a central part of the Christmas story, are declining so fast that production could be halved over the next 15 years, scientists said on Wednesday.”

“Frankincense, best known in religious teachings as one of the gifts laid before the newborn Messiah, is obtained by tapping various species of Boswellia, a small, deciduous tree that grows across Africa from northern Nigeria to the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Cutting the Boswellia's bark produces the frankincense resin, a white substance with a strong, sweet smell. The resin is burnt in churches, mosques and at ceremonies, as well as being used by the perfume industry and in herbal medicines.”

If you do a Google search for frankincense and on the results page change at the very top of the page from Web to Images you will get many pictures of frankincense and pictures of the Boswellia tree that produces frankincense. If you click on one of the images you will get the webpage from which the image was taken.

A Keyword search of the The Denver Public Library Digital Collections Quick Photo Search, http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm , for Railroad Frankincense and Railroad Resin gave no pictures.

I searched for synonyms of resin and selected Gum, Pitch and Tar.

A Keyword search for Railroad Gum gave 4 photos. Two of these photos are below.

Picture 1, Call Number: CHS.X9752. Title: Los Angeles, Cal. Elysian Park, Fremont Gate. Creator(s): Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942. Summary: View of the Fremont gate entrance to Elysian Park in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Shows a road and a steep path entering the park from a roadway adjacent to railroad tracks. An iron lamp post topped with an eagle is at the intersection. The path. meanders up terraces cut into the hillside, curves around a palm tree surrounded by upright stones and a pattern of small rocks, past grass and landscaped areas. California poppies and other plants cover the ground. Shows a bridge over the railroad tracks and a sign that read: ‘Chew Beeman's Pepsin Gum.’ Date: 1905? Attribution to Jackson based on the glass negative's inclusion in the History Colorado William Henry Jackson Collection. Title from CHS inventory sheet. Physical Description. 1 negative: glass; 21 x 26 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Is Part Of History Colorado, William Henry Jackson Collection.”

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Picture 2 is CHS.X9752 enlarged 35%. Left. Contrast 31. Midtone -45.

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Picture 3 is CHS.X9752 enlarged 30%. Right.

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Picture 4, “Call Number: RR-1475. Title. Susquehanna & New York R.R. 4-6-0 #119 and northbound mixed train north of Williamsport on PRR (Pennsylvania Railroad), distant view, Williamsport, PA. Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: Northbound Susquehanna & New York Railroad locomotive 4-6-0 #119 and a mixed train are north of Williamsport in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Shows a paved highway near the tracks, and billboards that advertise cigarettes, chewing gum and auto races. Signs read: ‘Auto Races, Altoona Speedway, Labor Day’ ‘Chesterfield, Refreshingly Milder’ and ‘Refresh Your Taste - Chew Doublemint Gum.’ Date: 1939 September 13. Title and date penciled on negative envelope. Physical Description: 1 negative: nitrate; 7 x 11 cm. (3 x 4 1/2 in.) Source: Robert W. Richardson.”

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I did a Keyword search for Railroad Pitch and got 4 photos. Two of these photos are below.

Perhaps Picture 5 would make good Then and Now photos.

Picture 5, “Call Number: WHJ-1141. Title: Maxwell's Rock Boulder Canon. Creator(s): Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942. Summary: View of Maxwell Pitch (Windy Point) in North Boulder Canyon, Boulder County, Colorado. A man stands near a bridge over North Boulder Creek. Colorado and Northwestern Railway narrow gauge railroad tracks are nearby. Date: (between 1898 and 1900?). Attribution to Jackson based on inclusion in bound W. H. Jackson sample album. Hand-lettered title reproduced in print. Physical Description: 1 photoprint: collodion; 23 x 17 cm. (6 1/2 x 9 in.) mounted on album page. Is Part Of W.H. Jackson sample album. Colorado Book VI no. 12.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/11 09:03 by flynn.

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Picture 6 is WHJ-1141 enlarged 100%.

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Picture 7, “Call Number: Z-5855. Title: Apache water-carrier, showing method of carrying the olla, or water-jar. Creator(s): Tibbits, H. C. Summary: A Native American (Apache) woman wears a shirt with a gathered yoke and a full skirt, and poses with a olla, a coiled, woven, pitch covered water basket in Gila County, Arizona. Shows a fabric covered wickiup, a tent, and a dog reclined near the camp. Date: 1916. Title and number ‘27139’ printed on photographic print. Physical Description: 1 photographic print; 18 x 23 cm. (7 x 9 in.). Is Part Of ‘Apache Trail,’ the wonder trip through oldest America. Southern Pacific Railroad Company--Public Relations--1910-1920.”

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Picture 8, “Call Number: CHS.X7914. Title: Mary McKinney Mine. Summary: Men, women and children disembark from possibly Colorado and Southern Railroad passenger cars near Anaconda (Teller County), Colorado. The site, identified as the Mary McKinney mine complex, was part of the Cripple Creek Mining District. Shows a mill processing building with tar paper siding and sash windows, railroad freight cars, tailings, head frames and tracks. A freight car is labeled: ‘Colorado Midland, 8081.’ Date: (between 1920 and 1930?). Handwritten on negative envelope: ‘Trans.- R.R.- Colorado Midland’ and ‘Mines- Mary McKinney.’ Physical Description: 1 negative: glass; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Is Part Of History Colorado, Mazzulla collection.”

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Picture 9 is CHS.X7914 enlarged 50%.

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Picture 10 is CHS.X7914 enlarged 100%.

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Well, another great post. Thank you Flynn.

V

SLOCONDR

Yes, yes, chewing gum and watching trains--both amusements are sure to be jaw droppers.

Fred Harrison
Central Point, OR
CORPpower/JSS/EORS



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/11 16:52 by fredkharrison.

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Can anyone determine where the Elysian Park photo was taken? I'm guessing on the east side of the hill looking NE across the Arroyo, but that still leaves a lot of room.

In The Right Stuff, author Tom Wolfe related that Chuck Yeager, before his test flights, always asked for a stick of Beeman's. As a kid, I chewed a lot of that and also Black Jack, both made by Adams in those days. The latter could also be used to sabotage somebody's phone earpiece (phones were big and black back then) by putting a wad on it and when they jammed it into their ear: $%#@$^