At The Intersection of Money and Hope Series - #2 - 1964
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This is the second painting in the series called "At The Intersection of Money and Hope". This particular painting is on 50 shares of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company that was purchased on November 2, 1964 by a Frank P Mazzara. (Yes, this is the real certificate) For reference lets take a quick look at what happened with the Penssylvania Railroad Company: The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. throughout the Twentieth Century and was at one time the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. At its peak, it controlled about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail line. During its history, the PRR merged with or had an interest in at least 800 other rail lines and companies. The PRR corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row. The budget for the PRR was larger than that of the U.S. government and they employed approximately 250,000 workers. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival, the New York Central Railroad, to form Penn Central Transportation. The ICC required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather and the withdrawal of a government-guaranteed 200-million-dollar operating loan forced the Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970. The Penn Central rail lines were then divided between Conrail and Amtrak.Normally, I would put my own comment or story on these pieces but I think this series speaks for itself and probably speaks to all us to some degree.... Enjoy!
