DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD Colorado gold platinum pin and gold railway pass S K Hooper 1890

Description

THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD.  S. K. Hooper special gold and diamond pin.  Gold TPA railroad pass.

Shadrick K. Hooper, General passenger agent, 1884 – 1923.

Some people are much more significant than the titles they possess.  This is true of “Major” S. K. Hooper.  He was more than a general passenger agent.  Hooper was one of the most influential marketers The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company ever had.  His accomplishments were nothing short of remarkable.

Not long after S. K. Hooper joined the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, he began work on increasing ridership on the line.  One of his first projects was to design a logo — trademark — for the D&RGRR.  Hooper solicited design submissions and received numerous over several months.  As general passenger agent, Hooper had ridden the D&RGR routes many times and had a general concept of what he was looking for.  Turns out, the Curecanti Needle in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River was one of the most impressive submissions — a recommendation he made himself.  Hooper worked with the artist to refine the logo design, and then submitted for Board approval.  Ever since the Curecanti Needle was accepted, it has remained the marketing symbol of The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (or Railway).

After that significant accomplishment, S. K. Hooper began writing and designing numerous promotional pamphlets and books to promote the D&RG Railroad.  These publications include:

Tourists’ handbook, descriptive of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah

Rhymes of the Rockies, or, What the poets have found to say of the beautiful scenery on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the scenic line of the world.

Sight places and resorts in the Rockies : a little book that tells briefly of the charming resorts and the wonderful sights of the Rocky Mountains and how best to reach them

A journey across the continent, by the scenic route : Colorado, Utah, & New Mexico via the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

Official guide to cities, villages and resorts on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande R.R., its branches and connections in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico : with a complete directory of resorts, hotels, banks, real estate dealers, architects, builders, contractors, etc., etc.

Map of the Denver and Rio Grande system and western connections

The story of Manitou.

The gold fields of Colorado : a brief description of the various gold districts located on and contiguous to the line of the Denver & Rio Grande R. R.

Gems of the Rockies

The beautiful Denver and Rio Grande : scenic line of the world.

And many, many other significant Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and Colorado publications.

S. K. Hooper was considered to have raised the D&RGRR ridsership so profoundly that other general passenger agents commented on his astounding productivity.

In 1895, Alexander Jackson, the general agent for the D&RGRR at Pueblo raised the necessary funds to contract with Tiffany & Company of New York to fashion a unique gold, platinum, diamond and enamel pin fashioned from Hooper’s original D&RGRR logo to present to him a special honor for exceptional work.  The pin presented here is that special pin — the only one ever made for S.K. Hooper.

This pin was acquired from Jackson Thode Collection, along with the special gold railroad pass for The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, The Colorado Midland Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad, given to special general passenger agents for the Tourists Protection Associaition Convention in Denver, Colorado, 1890.

A unique Tiffany & Company made pin and scarce Colorado gold railroad pass once owned by major shadrick k. hooper of the denver & rio grande railroad, acquired from the Jackson thode railroad collection.

COLORADO ARTIFACTUAL