October 8, 1983 - At Seashore Trolley Museum.
First Day Issue of the set of four trolley stamps.
Seashore Trolley Museum member/volunteer/trustee and
President of ARM, Michael Lennon, is standing next to
Mrs. Barbara Bush, who is standing next to her husband,
Vice President George Bush. U.S. Postmaster General,
William F. Bolger happened to be bending over behind
the podium when this photo was snapped. Next,
in the red jacket is the Chairman of the NEERHS
Board of Trustees, John G. Smith
Seashore Trolley Museum photo
The set of four stamps was officially issued that day.
Click Here to read about the history of the four stamps
Seashore Trolley Museum photo
Here is a copy of the cover of the USPS pamphlet with
the contents describing the First Day Issue stamps.
The pamphlet courtesy of the Dwight Winkley Collection
at Seashore Trolley Museum
One of the two inside pages of the pamphlet.
The pamphlet courtesy of the Dwight Winkley Collection
at Seashore Trolley Museum
The second of two pages is on the inside of the pamphlet.
The pamphlet courtesy of the Dwight Winkley Collection
at Seashore Trolley Museum
The back of the pamphlet.
The pamphlet courtesy of the Dwight Winkley Collection
at Seashore Trolley Museum
U. S. Railway Post Office car No 34 (left) was built in 1878.
U. S. Railway Post Office ca No. 108 (right) was built in 1904.
Seashore Trolley Museum photo
No. 34 is seen here on display at the event in 1983.
No. 34 was built in about 1878 as a 7-bench horse car for
the New Bedford and Fairfield Street Railway. The railway
was electrified in 1894.
No. 34 was converted into a post office car in about 1906
and operated between Fall River and Onset. Two postal clerks
worked on board the car sorting and canceling mail
while picking up and dropping off mail along the way.
Seashore Trolley Museum photo
No. 108 is seen here on display for the event in 1983.
No. 108 was built in 1904 for the Portsmouth, Dover,
and York Street Railway. It handled mail with a postal worker
on board until 1919.
Seashore Trolley Museum photo
Built by the Laconia Car Company Works for the PD&Y in
1904, U. S. Mail car No. 108 also carried Express. No. 108
is among the collection of Maine railway vehicles at
Seashore Trolley Museum listed in the
O. R. Cummings Collection
Railway Mail Service clerk Charles Preston sorts letters in
the postal compartment of No. 108 somewhere between
Badger's Island and York Beach.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The set of four stamps and the official First Day Issue
cancellation date stamp PWM Collection
A personalized envelope featuring Kennebunkport, Home
of Vice-President Bush, and the Seashore Trolley Museum
for the occasion was canceled with two of the new stamps.
PWM Collection
Various transportation-related stamps were canceled using
a special one-day cancellation date stamp depicting what looks
similar to postal car 34. PWM Collection
Other groups created special one-day cancellation date
stamps to commemorate the event using 108.
PWM Collection
A postcard of 108 was released in 1999 to promote
the Trolley Museum's first Pumpkin Patch Trolley event (1999).
It was also the inspiration to create a one-day
special U S Postal cancellation date stamp that would be used
to commemorate Seashore's 60th Anniversary and
included the School Around Us that planted
the original pumpkin patch for the first PPT.
PWM Collection
See below
A 108 postcard back with a special one-day cancellation
date stamp to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
the founding of the Seashore Trolley Museum.
PWM Collection
That postcard of 108 and a new postcard, seen in the lower left
hand corner on the table inside 108 in the 2003 event,
the Southern Maine Library Districts 3rd Annual
Summer Reading Celebration at the Trolley Museum.
For the 2003 SRC event, here in 108 is an STM volunteer
and U S Postal worker, Bob Perkins, Sr. applied for the
one-day special official Post Office Cancellation
date stamp to letters and postcards during the event.
PWM Collection
See below
Special one-day postal cancellation date stamp,
August 22, 2003,
for the 3rd Annual Summer Reading Celebration.
PWM Collection
The postcard created for the 2003 Southern Maine
Library District's 3rd Annual Summer Reading Celebration
hosted at Seashore Trolley Museum. Pictures from
the previous two Summer Reading Celebration events were
featured on the card. Including former First Lady
Barbara Bush in 2001 on newly painted Connecticut No 303 with
Maine author of Grandfather's Trolley (photos from STM)
Bruce McMillan and the three characters from the book;
Allison Fiske, (STM members) Richard Lane, and John Mazzei.
PWM Collection
While I was standing on the stage I took three photos
(my camera didn't have the panorama option back in 2001).
For the Sept/Oct 2001 issue of The Dispatch newsletter,
we put the three photos next to each other so readers could
view the crowd of 2,300 to see/hear Former First Lady Barbara
Bush read the book, Grandfather's Trolley. The photos inside
the children's-book were taken at STM and used Connecticut
No. 838 as the operating trolley. PWM
Click Here to go to Bruce McMillan's site with all the photos of the First Summer Reading Celebration with Former First Lady, Barbara Bush.
I was the one who initiated the event by first speaking to the children's room librarian at the Kennebunk Free Library during the winter of 2001. As the volunteer Director of Community Relations for the Trolley Museum at the time, I led the team that organized the event for the host site, STM. I also was the emcee for the event and introduced Former First Lady Barbara Bush to the more than 2,300 who attended the event in 2001.
Me introducing Former First Lady, Barbara Bush
to the 2,300 attending the 2001, Summer Reading
event. PWM
Me with former First Lady Barbara Bush.
2001 PWM
Front cover of the 1983 Annual Report of the NEERHS
(New England Electric Railway Historical Society - owner/operator of
the Seashore Trolley Museum - PWM Collection
Inside front cover of the 1983 NEERHS Annual Report - PWM Collection
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We continue the restoration work on the 1912, Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts
Being more than a century old, the stately, "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including; time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents captivates, fascinates, then generates, interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
Click Here: Donation Options
The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition of narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project
Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding
the Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
the Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
