Re: [CBQ] Question concerning dawn-to-dusk run related item

["Bryan Howell via groups.io" <tubaman21=yahoo.com@groups.io>]

Hi Daniel,

I have not been able to confirm that a Fred W. Johnson was a passenger on the May 26 run. His name does not appear on the list of known passengers in The Pioneer Zephyr by Carl R. Byron and Robert Rediske. However, that list is incomplete as it only lists 25 passengers and 14 crew while standard capacity was 72 people. There were chairs added to the baggage and RPO sections for the run bringing the unconfirmed capacity up to at least 85 people on the run. As for whether the envelope was on the run, it does appear to have. In Rediske's earlier PZ book on page 89, he has scans of another of the envelopes that is nearly identical to the one you have that was also signed by Jack Ford and was in Jack's son Merrit's collection at the time of publication. The caption with the scans seems to agree with your assessment that it was carried on the run. The one in the book does not carry the handwritten text on the back about there only being 70 pieces of mail carried, but I have no reason not to believe it based on the postmarks on the envelope and the fact that the USPS would often do special cancellations for events such as this. I can't imagine there are many of these envelopes left given that there were probably only 70 to begin with. It is a very cool piece and thanks for sharing it!

Bryan J. Howell

Superior, WI

On Monday, January 15, 2024 at 03:50:59 PM CST, Daniel Schibley <dschibley@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm hoping one of your knowledgeable members can give me a little information about an item I recently acquired. It’s an envelope that appears to have been prepared in connection with the “dawn-to-dusk” run of the original Burlington Zephyr, which I know ran from Denver to Chicago on May 26, 1934 in connection with the opening of the 1934 season of the Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago. I’ve attached scans of the front and back. As you can see, the stamps at the right of the front were canceled in Denver at 4am on May 26, 1934. There is also a stamp on the bottom center canceled with the special U.S. Postal Car Exhibit cancel at 10am on May 26, 1934. The front bears a signature in ink of “Fred W. Johnson.” The back of the envelope has a special cachet sponsored by the Burlington Railroad on the right and, on the left, another cachet recording the departure and arrival times of the Zephyr. A pencil notation reads “only 70 pieces of mail carried."

The questions I’m hoping someone can answer are (1) Was one of the passengers on the run a man named Fred W. Johnson (a man by that name was appointed the Commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office by President Roosevelt in 1933)? (2) Were pieces of mail carried on the run, as the cancellations and notation on this piece seem to indicate?

I really appreciate any information anyone can provide. Thank you.

Daniel Schibley

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