1879 - Nicely illustrated faux-manuscript advertising circular from the King Iron Bridge Company

Cleveland, Ohio, 1879. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This one-page advertising circular from the King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company is datelined "Cleveland Ohio February 1st 1879". The letterhead features two of the companies bridges one at Freemont, Ohio and the other at the Centennial Grounds, Fairmont Park in Philadelphia. The advertising text is in the form of a very realistic faux letter. It is enclosed in a 1-cent postal envelope (Scott # U113) with a double-oval Cleveland circular mail postmark. In nice shape.

The purpose of the letter was to inform customers that the company had closed its Philadelphia office and was only (truncated) conducting business through its Cleveland address. It also cautions them to


"Beware of any person showing you printed or other written articles intended to mislead the public about our bridges. Some of our competitors have hired other parties to write malicious articles . . . to damage our reputation. We can prove them to be false in every case. Over 4000 iron bridges of our make have been erected during the past 20 years and are now doing good service. . .." . The company was founded by Zenas King in 1858, and its bridges were built simultaneously throughout the country during America's westward expansion. Not just sturdy and functional, many of its bridges were also works of architectural art and are still standing today. Its most famous structures included three long-span cantilever bridges: one of 520 feet across the Ohio River linking Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky, another with a center span of 400 feet across the Willamette River in Oregon, and a 350-foot center span structure across the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania. Other of its most famous bridges were the Cedar Avenue Bridge in Baltimore, Ohio's Central Viaduct, the Veterans Memorial Superior Bridge at Detroit, and the Grand Avenue Bridge in St. Louis. The company remained in business until the mid-1920s.

(For more information, see the King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company website online.)

A scarce, well-designed, and aesthetically pleasing advertisement from a bridge company that proved its worth during America's westward expansion and urbanization. . (Inventory #: 010312)