Articles Found on Trains

Detroit, MI: Gregory Mayer and Thom, 1927-1937. Vintage logbook used by the general baggage agent of Michigan Central Station to record lost items discovered on trains and in the station. Entries date from August 26, 1927 to June 2, 1937, with a note in holograph pencil stapled to page 265, noting that lost articles should be entered into a new book as of January 1, 1937.

Label of the Gregory Mayer and Thom corporation of Detroit adhered to the inside front board. The corporation sold office supplies, stationery, and offered printing, bookbinding, and engraving services.

Several pages, presumably inadvertently pulled from the binding, are stapled to a page near the back of the book. An envelope is adhered to the recto of the rear board, containing notes in holograph pencil about lost items. The articles recorded in the logbook run the gamut: hats, coats, purses and briefcases, gloves, umbrellas, jewelry, packages, and even one September 21, 1934 entry recording a pair of false teeth.

The Michigan Central Railroad was incorporated in 1846, establishing rail service between Detroit and St. Joseph. After 1867 the railroad was controlled by the New York Central Railroad, which later became part of Penn Central. Michigan Central Station was the main intercity passenger rail station in Detroit, and was built for the Michigan Central Railroad in 1914. The building was formally shuttered in 1988.

11.5 x 8.75 inches. Very Good, with loss on the binding and moderately rubbed boards.

[Book #156887]