Souvenir: Exhibit of Progress in Transportation as shown by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in the Civic Parade at Philadelphia, September 15, 1887, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States.

Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott, printers, 1887. Oblong 4to (9.25” x 12”), brown leather with black leather spine. “No. 70” inscribed on verso of title-page. 17 pp., 22 mounted albumen photographs (including 3 of paintings), each approx. 4.25” x 7.5”, plus mounts. CONDITION: Good, text lightly toned, a few light stains and wear to a few images, minor loss to the corner of one image, and some scuffing to margins of the first image, but images overall very good with strong tonality. [with] Compliments of the General Agent, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia. Business card, 1.5” x 3”.

A rare photographically-illustrated book produced by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. documenting railroad-themed floats the company created for a parade in Philadelphia celebrating the centennial of the U. S. Constitution.

The floats include nine images of the company’s modern railroad cars, as well as miniature locomotive and rail cars, individuals recreating the “Pioneer Emigrants and Pony Express,” early modes of transportation such as packet ships, and more. The introductory text covers the occasion for the parade, the parade itself, a roster of participants in the company’s floats, and an overview of the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. Using the Constitution’s 100th anniversary as an occasion to demonstrate national progress, a three-day celebration was held in Philadelphia beginning on 15 September with a Civic and Industrial Procession on Broad Street. The procession featured 21,029 representatives from the city’s trade and commercial organizations, 2,106 musicians, and 497 massive floats depicting moments in U.S. history. A military parade followed the next day and celebrations concluded on 17 September at Independence Square. About 500,000 visitors and one million local residents observed the parade, including President Grover Cleveland. While participation by both African Americans and Native Americans was limited, the Carlisle Industrial Indian School was a centerpiece of the procession, and a series of floats focused on the African American experience from slavery to emancipation.

Chartered in 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature to build a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. soon became the largest of the trunkline railroads to connect America’s East coast with the interior. The company’s first passenger train ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in 1848, and in 1856 the railroad reached Chicago. After the Civil War, the railroad expanded in all directions to ultimately become a 10,000-mile system. By 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad had become America’s largest railroad. At the end of 1926, it operated 11,640 miles of rail line. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival New York Central Railroad, becoming the Penn Central Transportation Co.

OCLC records four copies, at Yale, the Clements Library, New York Public Library, and Southern Methodist University in Texas.

REFERENCES: Kativa, Hillary S. “Constitution Commemorations,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia online; “Pennsylvania Railroad Company,” Britannica online.