Dirty Streets Forced Companies To Switch From Horses To Electricity

...a note from history

Portland’s horse-drawn railway car service came to an end in 1891, when the horses were replaced by electric cars. The companies running the prosperous horse cars were reluctant to make the change, but it was ordered by the city because of complaints about dirt streets.

When two rival companies, the Willamette Bridge Railroad Com­pany operating on the east side of the Willamette River, and the Metropolitan Company on the west side did decide to convert, there was a great race to see which company would get its tracks down first.

The Metropolitan wanted its line to win in the race to the Morrison Bridge. However, the east-side company won by a margin of two hours.

The Willamette Bridge Railroad Co. had four cars in service. Three ran over the Morrison Street bridge and one ran up Holladay Avenue. The Morrison Street bridge was a toll bridge at that time and it cost five cents to cross, whether you walked or whether you rode. This made the railroad company a paying proposition from the start.

At that time, conductors were paid $2.15 a day, and worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. Later, their pay was raised to $2.25 a day when the car ran an extra hour, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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Transfer Ware Made For Export

The blue transfer ware, which became so popular in the United States early in the 19th century, was primarily made by the potters of the Staffordshire region of England. This was not an elegant and expensive porcelain, but rather a simple pottery designed to be used.

It was made for export to America; very little of it remained in England. This is why most of the transfer decorations depict American scenes. In a few cases, this blue pottery is the only existing record of what some of our early places looked like, the original drawings having been lost, and the places themselves long gone.

With a few exceptions, most pieces can be identified by their border pattern - each potter had his own,   and while the center scene varied, the border remained constant.

The process of transfer printing, simplified, began with making a copper plate engraving from a sketch or painting. The plate was then inked with a mixture of cobalt and oil and then wiped; a print was made on thin paper from the remaining inked portion. The view and the border were cut apart for easier placement on the piece of pottery and the ink was pressed, or transferred, from the paper to the pottery item.  The paper floated away in cold water, and when the print was dry, the dish was dipped in a glaze and refired.

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Gold Was Very Popular In Victorian Jewelry

While some Victorian jewelry may not seem very striking at first glance, a closer look may show the rich, soft, deep yellow of the gold that was often used.

This gold was used as the setting for the popular stones of the era, which included coral and turquoise, along with semi-precious stones such as garnets, moonstones, amethysts and topazes. Emeralds, diamonds, sapphires and opals from the precious stones category were also used.

Surprisingly, in this period of time when so much was done in excess, the stones used as settings in gold jewelry were frequently quite small, and the finished pieces not at all ostentatious.

Other pieces of gold jewelry were decorated with cobalt-blue or black and white enamels - again, lovely pieces of jewelry, but not at all “showy.”

And sometimes the gold was used alone. A strand of gold beads was as important to a Victorian lady as a string of pearls was to her 20th century counterpart. The gold used was usually 24 karat. Chokers had beads of the same size; longer strands used graduated sizes. Gold was also used for watches that could double as brooches.

If you’re looking at a piece of Victorian jewelry, check the clasp, also. Some of the gold chains and bracelets used a clasp that looked like golden hands which would clasp together, and the really elegant ones added a small stone to the ring finger of the hand.

Watch for these nice old pieces of Victorian jewelry. The rich gold used makes it just as attractive to wear today as it was when it was first made.

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