The photo with this article is a real photo postcard from Danny Clemons. Danny and I spent a year going through a collection of thousands of Vermont postcards.
While Danny and I share common collecting interests, we each buy cards the other doesn’t. Danny collects Plymouth and Calvin Coolidge cards, which leads us to this article. Danny had not seen this card for sale before.
The postcard
In the left foreground in white letters, “Erecting phone over which President Coolidge gave his first official message to Washington Aug 3-1923.” This date is important.
The day before, Aug. 2, 1923, President Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco. Vice President Coolidge was in Plymouth. Coolidge had neither electricity nor telephone. A telegraph was sent to Ludlow announcing Harding’s death, and that Coolidge was now president. A messenger was sent to Plymouth to inform Coolidge. There was no other way. The next day, a phone was installed in the Coolidge home. A real rush job!
At right is a new car. On the driver’s door is a round logo for the telephone company. This is the company car. Standing center is a man holding a coil of telephone wire. A man can be seen on the pole at left. Another man stands at the base of the pole at right.
On the reverse of the card these men are identified. Charles Sawyer is holding the wire, Ed Blakley is on the pole, John Mcnamera stands at right of the pole. The 1923 Vermont license plate is number 1671.
Hugh and Bunni Putnam of the Springfield Art and Historical Society helped with this article. Bunni found the following news article.
“Vermont Tribune, August 10, 1923
Handicapped by Lack of Facilities
An almost total lack of telephone facilities at Plymouth had so handicapped Coolidge, the press and other officials in keeping in communication with the world, shut out by hills from sleepy little Plymouth, that an emergency call had been sent to Rutland and W. T. Durfee, superintendent of the plant of the New England Telephone and Telegraph company, had hastened a gang of men to the village.
By 3:30 o’clock a telephone had been installed in the Coolidge home, wires having been tapped onto the main trunk line 500 or 600 feet away, a telegraph instrument had been installed in the store across the street for the use of the Associated Press and the United Press, and another telephone had been placed on a pole by the wayside for the use of the two syndicates.”
Another card Danny has is Coolidge with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and others. This photo was taken at the Coolidge home in 1924. Bunni also found a news article regarding this card.
Henry Ford developed the Henry Ford Museum in an attempt to collect and preserve historical artifacts. In this card Coolidge is signing the bottom of a wooden bucket for Ford. Was it for the Ford Museum?
The second article
“Plymouth, Aug. 19 – President Coolidge was host today to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone…
Visit on the porch
The three tourists made a short visit on the porch, during which the President presented Mr. Ford with a bucket which his forefathers used on their trips to Plymouth’s only establishment, a cheese factory…”
This week’s old saying: “A man leaves when he has no reason to stay.”