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[ndbprr]

Many years ago I read somwhere about a company that had two types of stationary for refferal letters. One had a crane flying with a bent neck and one had a crane flying with a straight neck. When one was used it meant the employee was a good employee and the refferal was legitimate. When the other was used it meant the employee was not to be hired and disregard whatever the letter said. Has anybody else heard this story or know where I could find it? Thank you

[AltonFan]

The late Freeman Hubbard reported on this matter in Railroad Avenue and his Encyclopedia of North American Railroading: 150 Years of Railroading in the United States and Canada .

IIRC, after a rather bitter labor dispute, part of the settlement was that employees who had participated in a strike were to be given good references when they left the railroad's service. But what the managers did was they had two types of stationery, which had a watermark of depicting a crane as you described. Workers who were not involved in the labor dispute were given their reference on the paper having the crane with the straight neck, and workers who participated in the strike were given references written on the paper with the bent ("broken") neck.

IIRC, Hubbard (who was editor of Railroad Magazine from the 1920s until the 1970s when Carstens bought the publication and merged it with Railfan), actually met workers who had been victimized by this practice. I believe Hubbard even said an old-timer showed him his letter with "the crane with the broken neck."

I wonder if any copies of these letters still exist and can be seen. AFAIK, no photos of the document have ever been published.

[ndbprr]

OK. Thank you for the info. I know I didn't read it there but will check out the source.