Erie Railroad Spoon?

[hpidaves]

Greetings,
This teaspoon is marked on the front "Erie R.R. A.A." I assume that means the Erie railroad, but I'm not sure what the "A.A." represents.
The maker's mark is "ATLANTIC P&R SUP. CO. A 1/2".

Any info on this spoon would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

[Traintime]

Railroads supported various things for employees...fishing/hunting clubs, old timer clubs, YMCA's, etc. This might be an Athletic Association in the same idea. You have some additional marks on both extremes of the handle back...what are they?

[hpidaves]

You are correct, I didn't even notice them before. The one nearest the bowl is a number "7" inside of a diamond. The other end is much more difficult to see. The raised lettering is very worn. I'm not even sure it was legible when the spoon was new. It almost appears to be a reversed image of a stamp -- there seems to be two capital "N"s that are reversed. It is very difficult to see, much less get decent photos, but I did attach some images.

Thanks.

[Traintime]

Erie Railroad Athletic Association is mentioned on page 85 of this document circa 1915 and related to baseball teams: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sponholz ... rt1915.pdf

Atlantic P&R Supply Company may be "Paper & Restaurant", but seems to be lost for references at this junction. (Larry Paul might have them in his extensive files....?).

[hpidaves]

Thank you so much -- that article was a great find. This spoon has to be from the Athletic Association.

Dave

[Traintime]

More past documentation with team images: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sponholz ... stars.html

From a membership card listing....1926 E.R.A.A. address given as: 71 West 23rd Street New York City (atop Masonic Building).

[Traintime]

"Just the facts, mam": https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9dIA ... on&f=false

[Traintime]

Two relics of the Athletic Association:






Items related to the Masonic Hall (built on the site of the original Masonic Lodge, adjacent to the location of the replacement Lodge and with connections):







Notice the postcard image projection of a major transit complex outside the building...this remains a mystery.

[Traintime]

Atlantic Paper & Restaurant Supply Company identified (315 Bowery): https://books.google.com/books?id=9K3Qz ... rk&f=false

[Traintime]

More than anyone ever wanted to know about 315 Bowery (on restaurant suppliers row) beginning with canaries and running to the famous CBGB's club [OMFUG]: http://hatchingcatnyc.com/2018/07/19/ca ... wery-cbgb/

Bleeker Street T-bones Bowery facing the front door.

[hpidaves]

Interesting reads -- thanks!