VINTAGE TOAD & TOADSTOOLS, GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO POSTCARD

Thank you bidders for following my postal auctions. Here is another neat item you will want to add to your collection. You are bidding on one (1) Vintage 1940's Toad & Toadstools, Garden of the Gods Linen Postcard. This early linen card features a ground level view of this unusual geological feature. "TOAD AND TOADSTOOLS, GARDEN OF THE GODS, NEAR COLORADO SPRINGS AND MANITOU SPRINGS" is noted on the top of card. Back of card reads "TOAD AND TOADSTOOLS, GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO" “Another type of rock formation known as "Mushroom.” In by-gone ages, this formation was all one stone. Today it is three separate rocks. Erosion has formed here the "Toad and Toadstools". This group in popularity is second only to the famous Balanced Rock.", "Published by Elmer C. Clark, 739 Marion St., Denver, Colo.", "Natural Color Postcard", "Made in U.S.A. by E.C. Kropp Co. Milwaukee, Wis. - HCL". Beside the stamp box on the back of the card is the number "23403".

Postcard has a divided back with stamp box. It is in very good condition and is postal unused. No rips, stains, tears, creases, or writing. Nice corners. The card measures 5 1/2" by 3 1/2" (inches) or 140mm by 90mm. I collect postcards so I try to list any important printed information provided on the card. I understand many postcards have different variations so if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Garden of the Gods History: General William Jackson Palmer a veteran of the American Civil War. After the war, Palmer took on railroad pursuits he had started before the conflict. He was in charge of the Kansas Pacific Railroad's line into Denver. Upon completion of that line, Palmer founded his Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, whose first section was a Denver to Pikes Peak area line. Delighted with the new area, he founded Colorado Springs, and made his home, called Glen Eyrie, in the northwest foothills north of the Garden of the Gods rock formations (now a park). His wife, nicknamed "Queen", visited the Glen just once. She did not like the wilderness of the area despite the impressive facilities at the Glen Eyrie mansion. After waiting for the area to become more populated for some years, and having had her first two children born in Colorado Springs she left. Mrs. Palmer died unexpectedly after bearing their third child in England. Afterwards, the three children returned to the Glen and their father. Palmer set upon making his railroad extend from Denver to the country of Mexico, but failed in his bid. His north-south narrow gauge railroad was conflicting right of way issues with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and the U. S. Supreme Court ruled against Palmer in 1880. During 1879, General Palmer repeatedly urged his friend, Charles Elliott Perkins, the head of the Burlington Railroad, to establish a home in the Garden of the Gods and to build his railroad from Chicago to Colorado Springs. Although the Burlington never reached Colorado Springs, Perkins did purchase two-hundred and forty acres in the Garden of the Gods for a summer home. He later added to the property but never built on it, preferring to leave his wonderland in its natural state. Perkins died in 1907 before he made arrangements for the land to become a public park, although it had been open to the public for years. In 1909, Perkins' children, knowing their father's feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs. It would be known forever as the Garden of the Gods "where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park."

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