English: Postal Date: November 9, 1910, Valparaiso, Indiana

Scott Catalog Number of Postage Stamp: 332 Collection: Steven R. Shook

SENDER: C. H. PARKER CO., Valparaiso, Indiana

RECIPIENT: Mr. Jos. E. Amiot Fall River, Mass.

VALPARAISO AN IDEAL CITY. Valparaiso is located 44 miles southeast of Chicago on the Pennsylvania, Grand Trunk and Nickel Plate railroads. It has a population of about 8,000, not including nearly 3,500 students who live in Valparaiso 11 months of the year to attend Valparaiso University, one of the largest institutions of learning in the world. Mica, paint, educational specialties, tile building material and electrical specialties are manufactured in the city. A pure water supply, fine shade trees, electricity for lighting and power purposes, artificial gas for lighting and fuel purposes, 30 miles of paved and macadamized streets, miles of cement sidewalks, and excellent churches and schools help to make the city a desirable place to live. Valparaiso is acknowledged by visitors to be an exceptionally beautiful city. Its situation is naturally picturesque, and surrounding it is a beautiful and fertile farming country, studded with pretty groves and traversed by small streams. On the southeast edge of town is a beautiful lake and three miles north of the city is a chain of charming lakes, two of which are popular summer resorts. These lakes are made accessible to the city by an electric railway, recently constructed, which is being extended to connect Valparaiso with Chicago, Michigan City, Gary, South Bend and other cities. Valparaiso is an ideal place for the location of factories and for the homeseeker. The world is invited to move to Valparaiso.

REMARK: The C. H. Parker Company, manufacturers of paints, varnishes and enamels, was founded by Charles H. Parker, who first came to Porter, Indiana, in 1869 to operate a brick yard, and in 1871 disposed of this interest to a Chicago firm which was interested in the reconstruction of Chicago buildings after the fire of 1871. Shortly thereafter Mr. Parker decided to manufacture paint; he was assisted in his first venture by Mr. Heath of the firm of Heath-Milligan Paint Company of Chicago, who gave him practical advice and started him off in the right direction. The company moved to Valparaiso from Chicago in 1889, the original incorporators of this concern being: C. H. Parker, president; M. F. Parker, secretary-treasurer; and William H. Johnson. The business gradually developed into one of importance, and has grown with the years until it commands a conspicuous place in that industry today. The founder of this enterprise passed away in 1916, and his wife died in 1923. E. M. and C. H. Parker, the sons of C. H. Parker, now direct the concern; M. F. Parker, another son, passed away in 1914. Their chief lines of manufacture are special paints and enamels for the industrial trade; asphaltum base paints, varnishes and japans, air drying and baking; paint grinders, liquids for the paint manufacturers, and core oils for the foundry trade.

The recipient of this mailing, Joseph Edouard Amiot [not Joseph S. Amoit], was born on January 24, 1853, in St. Simon, Quebec, Canada, and died on April 29, 1921, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Joseph married Emma Marie Janson on September 29, 1874, in Providence, Rhode Island, and together they had 13 children.

Source: Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927. History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and Laporte. Volume II. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 827 p. (p. 527)

Copyright 2020. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.