The collection of Seashore Electric Railway and the Seashore Trolley Museum
brochures that this blogger has acquired over the years. We'll look into
the contents for each one and seek to ID the date(s) each was available.
With the 85th Anniversary year of the Seashore Trolley Museum coming to a close, I thought taking a look at some of the early brochures would be a nice reflection of the early years of the Museum and its activities.
Click Here: for November 11, 1939 - Car 31 Ready for its first winter in Kennebunkport
Click Here: for 1939/1940s Newspaper Articles on Seashore Electric Railway
As you might expect, the type of brochure, its design, and its contents vary. Some have dates, some do not. Some have contents that help to focus on the possible date(s) one might have been made available.
Contents that can help focus on narrowing in on a particular timeframe:
* a trolley mentioned or pictured (each one arrived on campus during a particular year)
* a building mentioned or pictured (each was built on campus during a particular timeframe)
* the use of "Trolley Museum" (the term began to be used during a particular timeframe)
* the use of "Seashore Electric Railway" (the name was used during a particular timeframe)
* the use of "Seashore Trolley Museum" (the name began to be used during a particular timeframe)
* the use of "Museum of Mass Transit Museum" (the term began being used at a particular time)
* office mailing address used (the address varied during the early years)
* whether an admission fee is being charged or not (a transition from donations accepted, to required, to an admission fee being required, took place during a particular timeframe)
* location of trolley operations for passengers to ride a trolley (changed during a particular timeframe)
I'll attempt to narrow down the date(s) that the brochures presented in this post were used to promote the attendance of visitors to the Museum. If you have evidence that will help to pinpoint a particular year for any of these brochures, please message me and include the evidence and I'll be happy to update the info used in this post. Thank you :)
I became a member at the Museum in 1991, so I chose to have the last brochure be from that timeframe 1991-...
1950s
Click Here: for the Decade of the 1950s Post featuring photos and activities during those ten years
Click Here: for 1950s Newspaper Articles on Seashore Electric Railway & Seashore Trolley Museum
December 27, 1953, was the date that the first trolley operated on the main campus property using electric power. Twin City Rapid Transit No. 1267 from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Line was the first car to operate on the Seashore Electric Railway property. It would be a few more years before visitors were able to be passengers in the operating cars.
In the mid-1950s, there were about 45 cars owned by the organization and many, but not all, were located on the original ten-acre property. Many visitors would stop, park, and check out the various cars available to take a look at. Donations were encouraged, but there was no admission fee in the early years.
In 1954, the organization released the first book on the collection of trolleys that had been acquired.
Historic Cars of the Seashore Electric Railway
The front cover of the 1954 publication
The copyright page
Intro pages include details of the organization
Ibid
Ibid
Appendix page
The Roster of Equipment
1957 was the first year with operations on Route One at the Biddeford-Arundel city/town line at Proctor Road. Known as the Terminal, trolleys operated during the summers through 1960. 1961 was the first year that public operations took place at the main campus in Kennebunkport.
The front panel of the brochure whose contents
focus on a date of 1955.
The design of this brochure is a little different than many three-fold,
six-panel ones. What seems to be the front panel is the center panel above.
Notice the wording on the top of the right panel: "See the Antique Trolleys"
No rides on cars at that time.
The 1955 Annual Report helped to match up with the contents above and
helped to pinpoint the year of this brochure as being most likely 1955.
A total of 45 cars were owned by the Seashore Electric Railway.
Thank you to Mike Simonds for clarifying the phrase "...a car carrying
the famous destination sign Desire,..." The phrase had me scratching my head.
I knew that No. 966, from New Orleans, Lousiana, didn't arrive on campus until
1982. Mike recalled there was a destination sign on campus, which
did have one destination as "Desire, back in the day, well before No. 966 arrived.
The "Desire" destination in the New Haven, CT car.
Click Here: to see and read the August 20, 1961, Worcester Sunday Telegram newspaper multi-page article about Seashore Trolley Museum...and see the photo of the "Desire" destination sign.
The U. S. Route One, Seashore Junction Terminal, opened for passenger service during the summer of 1957. That first season, a little more than 20,000 passengers were carried. 1957 was also the year that the common term, "Trolley Museum", used by so many visitors to describe the organization, rather than The Seashore Electric Railway, was utilized in the organization's marketing. The Seashore Trolley Museum would also be used as well. Ultimately, that name, The Seashore Trolley Museum, would be the name used.
The front panel features, simply, "Trolley Museum."
The featured name transition continues...
This brochure (the common terms used at the time
was, leaflets and flyers) design was used during the
1957-1960 era of the "Terminal" operations.
Connecticut Company, open car, No. 615 was on
the front panel, and in 1958, after it was
refurbished to become No. 303, it was used on the
front panel of the 25th Anniversary brochure in 1959.
The interior panels of the brochure with "615" on the front panel.
Back panel
20th Anniversary celebrated in 1959 with
Connecticut Company, open car, No. 303 on the front panel
The interior panels use the term "Seashore Trolley Museum."
The back panel of the 1959 brochure
1960s
Click Here: for the Decade of the 1960s Post featuring photos and activities during those ten years
Click Here: for 1960sNewspaper Articles on Seashore Electric Railway & Seashore Trolley Museum
1960 was the final year of trolley ride operations at "The Terminal." The annual reports describe the reasoning behind the decision to consolidate the operation of trolley cars at the Terminal with the main campus on Log Cabin Road. The main collection of vehicles on display at the main campus was a prime destination for visitors, which divided the available volunteers between the two locations.
The front panel of a 1961- brochure featuring the name,
(The) Seashore Trolley Museum. Up to 70 cars
owned by the Museum. This brochure design was the
base design for a few years.
The interior panels of the 1961- brochure. Notice the announcement of the
closure of the former U. S. Route One location.
The back panel of the 1961- brochure
The front panel of the 25th Anniversary brochure
in 1964. Up to 80 cars were owned by the Museum.
The interior panels of the 1964 brochure. The notice of the former U.S.
Route One location as being closed, is still included. Notice, no zip code with
the mailing address and the WOrth 7-2712 phone number.
Rear panel of the 1964 brochure
This brochure was included in the mailing of
the Museum's newsletter, "The Trolley Museum Dispatch,"
in May 1965.
The front cover of the very first issue of the Trolley Museum Dispatch was
May, 1958.
The interior panels of the 1965 brochure have different images of cars.
Notice that for the first time, a zip code was added to the General Office address.
The zip code "font" makes me think it was added separately.
Nationally, zip codes were introduced beginning July 1, 1963.
There are similar brochures that do not have the zip code included.
Those brochures also have a variation
of the Museum's phone number. The brochure above has
(207) 967-2712. The 1964 brochure, is similar to this one; has the museum
number as WOrth 7-2712. So, I'm thinking the brochures with no zip code
and the WOrth 7-2712 phone numbers, were all pre-1965.
The back panel of the 1965 brochure
A third similar brochure from the mid-1960s. The
interior, below, has a slight change added.
Interior panels of a mid-1960s brochure. Notice in the Summer Season
The schedule in the upper right of the right-side panel includes
"Rides every 30 minutes."
The back panel of a mid-1960s brochure.
There is a small ID located on the lower left side.
The company that printed these brochures.
1970s
Click Here: for the Decade of the 1970s Post featuring photos and activities during those ten years
Probably later in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
Inner panels. Still no admission fee. Phone number and zip code mean
post-1965. The mailing address listed was in use until 1972.
The back panel shows the printer of the brochures
as Star Press in Kennebunk.
The front panel of a tri-fold brochure.
The 1973 Annual Report mentions "...a new
supply of flyers in 1973..." Based on the
contents, I think this is a brochure from 1973.
The first (far left) interior panel has a photo instead of a sketch or drawing.
Of the brochures I have, this is the first since the 1955 brochure to have a photo
on an interior panel. The panel on the right shows the mailing address of
P.O. Box 220, in Kennebunkport. This address was used beginning in 1973
through January 6, 1984. Notice: No Admission Fee. Instead, a modest fare
is charged for a ride. This is probably a 1973 brochure. 1974 was the year
that the transition took place in advance of the standard admission fee for
all guests that began in 1975. The 1974 transition had two stages; 1) instead
of a charge per trolley ride, a higher admission fee was charged and guests could
have unlimited rides, with free access to the gift shop, with no fee charged to visitors
who did not desire to take a trolley ride.
Tri-fold fully open showing the three interior panels. A third of a century is mentioned
as the general length of time the Museum has been in existence. So, that matches up with
the idea that this is a 1973 brochure. Annual attendance is mentioned as 50,000. I don't
have access to info that lists attendance separately from Admission revenues. Some
Annual Reports mention attendance. 1977 states attendance at 44,000.
It mentions an extension to a round trip taking place in 1972. Another point
that helps the idea of this being a 1973 brochure.
The back panel
The front panel of a 1976 brochure.
The United States Bicentennial Celebration year.
The first brochure I have that shows "THE MUSEUM OF MASS TRANSIT"
The marketing phrase was used on the new sign installed at the
Main Entrance to the Trolley Museum on Log Cabin Road.
A photo in the 1974 Annual Report showing the new main entrance area.
The full three panels of the tri-fold opened.
Two panels with the Museum location on a map...the map has an
image of the new main entrance sign. The 1976 Annual Report mentions
...the adoption of straight admission policy that began in 1975...
The back panel
The front panel
The first two interior panels - The admission charge simply states
"a modest admission charge..." This is the first brochure I have that shows
Food Service - Our Trolley Dining Car - Electroburger hamburgers, etc.
North Shore Dining Car No. 415 was first used at STM as the
dining car beginning in mid-July 1978. It continued as the dining car for
visitors for a few years, but the contractors that used the car to provide the
food never really made enough money to maintain constant operations.
The text in this brochure says the food service is available beginning
in mid-June, I'm going to guess this brochure is 1979 or 1980-ish.
Gross sales for the 1978 season: $7,578.71
More than 1,700 "Electroburgers" were served!
From the 1978 Annual Report - Woolnough photo
The tri-fold panel when fully open
The back panel
1980s
The front panel of a 1982 brochure
The first two pages of the interior panels. Trolley Dining Car Food Service
still happening. Christmas operations are listed. The first Kennebunkport
Christmas Prelude took place in 1981.
The tri-fold panels when fully open. Notice the Visitors Center in one of the photos.
The Visitor Center construction began in July 1979. Portions of the Visitors Center
were available for public use beginning in 1980.
The back panel
The front panel of a brochure from 1991-
The first two panels of the brochure opened. The "Ghost Trolley" event
is two weekends. The first Ghost Trolley event was one weekend in
October, 1990. So, this brochure is one from the early 1990s, starting in 1991.
All tri-fold panels when fully open. Notice the Food Service is different.
No Dining Trolley. "Sandwiches, drinks, and desserts are available at the
Trolley Dog Snack Bar..." The Northampton Station is mentioned as
an option to see. It arrived in the summer of 1990.
The back panel of the 1991- brochure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We continue the restoration work on the 1912 Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
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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.
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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.
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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