Vintage 1968 Chesapeake & Ohio RR Chessie Cat Special 35th BDay Calendar Unused

Description

Never used. Still in original Mailing Packaging. Opened for Photos.
Collectible.
Vintage 1968 Chesapeake & Ohio RR Sleeping Chessie Cat 35 Yr. B'Day Calendar
Please read completely this description as it gives exact details of this item. Vintage 1968 Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Railroad RR Company / Baltimore & Ohio RR Sleeping Chessie Cat 35th Birthday CALENDAR and Appointments. Picture of SLEEPING CHESSIE CAT with 35th Birthday Cake on front cover that shows through the hole in the envelope. On back of calendar is a map of the passenger routes for passenger trains. The calendar is in mint condition other that the map has some yellowing due to age. It is in its original envelope that was used by C&O/B&O to mail the calendars. It has yellowed with age and I had to cut it at bottom to get calendar out to take pictures. Cardboard to protect the calendar during shipping is still in the envelope. On the front cover are 4 colorful pictures of past calendars - "Famous Chessie Calendars over the years 1934, 1937, 1943, 1958 - see picture 2 for details of each of these). The next page has large picture of Sleeping Chessie Cat with her 2 kittens - Nip and Tuck. This is the picture that is used with each of the 12 months. Each month has spaces for each day to write appts. , notes etc as well as railroad information in the rectangle eith at the top left of each month or at bottom right. There is a small hole on each page is you would want to hang the calendar and on the back side of
each month is a ruled line page for writing "Notes" (see pictures for details of all this). Child / Children BIB. This has never been used. This came from estate of C&O RR collector. Measure approx. 8 1/8" X 9 1/2" when folded. Please use zoom and enlarge when viewing pictures. If you have questions, please ask before bidding. A very nice item for collector of railroad memorabilia, Chessie cat memorabilia or cat lover. Chessie was a popular cat character used as a symbol of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway . Derived from an etching by Viennese artist Guido Gruenwald , the image first appeared in a black and white advertisement in the September 1933 issue of Fortune magazine with the slogan " Sleep Like a Kitten ." The advertisement makes no mention of the cat's name.When the ad generated a positive response, the railroad developed an advertising campaign around the image and chose the name Chessie as a derivation of the railroad's name. The promotion proved widely popular and, in addition to national print advertising, grew to include calendars, clothing, and even two children's books about the character. Chessie acquired two kittens named "Nip" and "Tuck" in 1935 , as well as a mate named "Peake" in 1937 . During World War II , the Chessie character was used to promote War Bonds and support for the war effort, depicted as working on the home front to support Peake, who was off to war. The Chessie image continued to appear in advertising until 1971 when passenger train travel was consolidated under Amtrak .When in 1972 the C&O merged with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Western Maryland Railway , the newly formed company was named the Chessie System after the popular image and adopted the "Ches-C" logo, which incorporated the silhouette of the kitten into the "C" of the railroad's name. The Chessie System later merged with other railroads to become the CSX Corp. Though the Chessie logo is no longer found in advertising and was phased out of usage on trains, Chessie is still the mascot of the CSX Corporation, and there are many examples of rolling stock that still feature the kitten logo, having yet to be repainted. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway traced its origin to the Louisa RR of Louisa County, VA, begun in 1836, and the James River & Kanawha Canal Co., also begun in Virginia in 1785. The first train ran on December 20, 1837. Amtrak took over passenger service in 1971. Dates of operation till 1987 when CSX became the successor.