I was at the counter of a cape Cod antique mall, getting ready to check out with a few purchases, mainly as you would expect, material on the Cape for my wife’s great collection. I happened to glance up, and hanging on the wall above the counter was a small, framed item, in Spanish:

It seemed to be from 1833 and had a picture of a stagecoach. Very promising for a western americana enthusiast. Although I suspected it could be a modern reprint, I decided to take a chance. As someone once said, if you never make any mistakes, you are not taking enough chances.

Luckily, when I got it out of the frame at home it was indeed a letter press handbill on laid (hand made) paper of the period. A very unusual and unrecorded stagecoach handbill, full of legalese that would not be out of place today! Anything can be anywhere, even Nineteenth Century Mexican stagecoach handbills on Cape Cod.

Here is my write-up:

1). [Stagecoach Line] [Mexico] Jacob Rinewalt y Compaňia. Avoso. Posats De Diligencias. Puebla: Imprenta del C. José Maria Campos. January 5, 1833. 17.5 x 26.5 cm. Handbill printed on laid paper with decorative border. Illustrated with small image of a stagecoach and horses.  Written on verso: “Advertisement which we gave to the public.” Has been folded. Stains and small holes at folds. Good.            

OCLC shows no holdings. A very interesting and unusual handbill with a lot of warnings to the customers about the limits of the company’s responsibility, including for not buying a ticket in advance or for missing the scheduled stagecoach. Also information for pricing and luggage allowance – one arroba or 25 pounds – on the routes, which include to Mexico City; Jalapa and Jalapa to Veracruz. This stagecoach company states they operate under the name Linea Union Mexicana. I find one reference to that stage line as having a contract to carry the mail in 1835. See, Carmen Blázquez Domínguez. “Veracruz-Perote, Contrata de Postas (1800-1840).” La Palabra y El Hombre. Oct-Dec. 1984. Nineteenth Century primary source materials on Mexican stagecoach lines are uncommon. An early, ephemeral, and therefore rare survivor, giving a first-hand look at this important transportation business.