Caroline (Clark) Woodward, in our first Clark family endorsement!

Here’s something new for Clark House Historian: a commercial endorsement from one of Jonathan and Mary Clark’s children! In June, 1900, our own Caroline M. (Clark) Woodward recommended travel on the Burlington Route in this newspaper ad…

Woodward, Caroline in railroad advertisement, Red Lodge Picket, Red Lodge, Montana, June 1, 1900, page 3. Click to open larger image in new window.

Mrs. C. M. Woodward, well known in W.C.T.U. circles sends us this cheering communication.

“We are enthusiastic in praise of the Burlington tourist sleepers. Berths furnished with hair mattresses, good pillows, clean linen, nice blankets, same as in Pullman sleeper. The car was kept clean and comfortable the entire trip. Passengers of an excellent class.”

Caroline and the railroads

Caroline Woodward was 59 years old when her “cheering communication” appeared in at least two Montana newspapers: the Red Lodge Picket and (a day earlier) in Lewiston’s Fergus County Argus. It was a good-sized ad for its era, a rectangle measuring two columns in width, and slightly more in height. It suggests that Caroline and the W.C.T.U were so well-known and respected in that part of the West that one of America’s major railroads believed her endorsement would be a benefit to their marketing and sales.

In 1900, Caroline was still deeply involved with both Nebraska and National W.C.T.U. work. She spent a total of eight years leading the national W.C.T.U. division of “work among the railroad men,” where she was a tireless advocate for temperance, rest and time for worship on the Sabbath, better work safety rules, and fair working conditions, respect and decent wages for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working American railroad men and their families

More particularly, Caroline’s endorsement may have been prompted by riding the chartered train that conveyed W.C.T.U. leadership—including Caroline—to the 1899 W.C.T.U. national convention in Seattle. That train may have looked very similar to this Burlington Route “Chicago Special,” shown steaming past the Colorado foothills, circa 1900:

Detroit Publishing Co., Copyright Claimant, and Publisher Detroit Publishing Co, Jackson, William Henry, photographer. Chicago Special, Burlington Route, Colorado, ca. 1900. Photochrom print Library of Congress. Click to open larger image in new window.

We’ll have more on that Seattle trip as we continue our survey of Caroline’s life and career.

Now, back to our regular programming…

That’s the end of today’s excursion into the world of early-20th-century advertising. We’ll have more on Caroline’s education, early family years in Milwaukee county, and much, much more in upcoming posts. And we’re due for a relevant “Monday: Map Day!” or two as well. So stay tuned!