Emil J. Grebs advertising art collection
Finding aid created by California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
2020
111 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
http://csrmf.org/visit/library
Title: Emil J. Grebs advertising art collection
Dates: Circa 1925
Collection Number: MS 499
Creator/Collector:
Grebs, Emil J.
Extent: 1 oversize box + 1 folder
Repository:
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: The collection consists of sketches, many signed by Emil Grebs, prepared for the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway and the
San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad. Several pieces have a Foster and Kleiser label on the back of the board.
Language of Material: English
This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff
to arrange for access.
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Emil J. Grebs advertising art collection. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Gift of Brian Thompson (from the collection of Charles Baird)
Biography/Administrative History
The Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway, a standard gauge electric line, was incorporated March 28, 1911. It opened for traffic
to Sacramento on September 3, 1913. The OA&E was sold to the San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad Company on January 26, 1920,
and on January 1, 1929 to the Sacramento Northern Railroad.
•The San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad, a standard gauge electric line, was incorporated January 2, 1920 as an amalgamation
of the Oakland & Antioch, the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern, and the San Ramon Valley Railroads. It ran 93.10 miles between
San Francisco and Sacramento. It was conveyed to the Sacramento Northern Railway December 31, 1928.
•Emil J. Grebs, born June 11, 1877, in Germany, attended San Francisco's Mark Hopkins Institute of Art between 1896 and 1898,
at which time he was living in Berkeley. He exhibited Bay Area landscape scenes and marines at the First and Second Exhibition
of Painting and Sculpture held at Golden Gate Park in 1915 and 1916. For many years he was the art director for the Foster
& Kleiser Company. The artist also taught classes at Stanford University and the San Francisco Art Institute. He died on
June 24, 1964 in Alameda County.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of sketches, many signed by Emil Grebs, prepared for the Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway and the
San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad. Several pieces have a Foster and Kleiser label on the back of the board.