$12.00 CAD
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Receipt with letter head of The Improved Order of Red Men, a fraternal organization based on North America. 'Schoscheon Tribe #188' was in Port Morris New Jersey.
Nice color letterhead, with aboriginal smoking long pipe, arrowheads, etc.
Dated July 15th 1910 and in the fraternal calendar: 5th Sun --- Moon G.S.D. 419. GSD (Great Sun of Discovery) would be years since Columbus’ landing in 1492.
Receipt for payment to P.C. Hoffman for janitorial services. Payment of $9.75 for first 6 months of the year.
Signed at bottom by Hoffman and two others.
Dry stamp LR of ‘Schosheon Tribe #118’.
Folded in four. Some tears.
10 ⅞” x 8 ⅜”
The Improved Order of Red Men is a fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those assumed by white men of the era to be used by Native Americans. Despite the name, the order was formed solely by, and for, white men. The organization claimed a membership of about half a million in 1935, but has declined to a little more than 15,000.
In 1834, the Improved Order of Red Men (IORM) was started as a revival in Baltimore. It was focused on temperance, patriotism and American History. In 1835, with only two tribes in place, a larger IORM was organized. Unlike the original Order, the IORM uses only expanded Indian titles. Rather than the public display of Indian costumes, the IORM uses its regalia in private gatherings.
The Order has a three-tiered structure. Local units are called "Tribes" and are presided over by a "Sachem" and a board of directors. Local meeting sites are called "Wigwams". The state level is called the "Reservation" and governed by a "Great Sachem" and "Great Council" or "Board of Chiefs"…
…in CE 1865, a new system was devised and adopted, known as the "Great Sun of Discovery" (GSD). The first year of the system, known as GSD 1, was the year that Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, namely CE 1492. In this system, years were known as "great suns" and months were called "moons", each with their own epithet, e.g. "Cold Moon" for January, but the length of these years and months conformed to the conventional Gregorian calendar.
WIKIPEDIA
