Saturday, February 07, 2015

Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls













Look closely and you can see a sliver of a vertical shadow on the right side on this image.


Ever heard of Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls? I think it's safe to say that Fred Harvey put 'civilization' or, being civilized into the Wild West:

"In 1878, Harvey started the first of his eating house-hotel establishments along the AT&SF tracks in Florence, Kansas.[1][2] The rapid growth of the Harvey House chain soon followed.

Fred Harvey is credited with creating the first restaurant chain in the U.S. Harvey and his company also became leaders in promoting tourism in the American Southwest in the late 19th century. The company and its employees, including the famous waitresses who came to be known as "Harvey Girls", successfully brought new higher standards of both civility and dining to a region widely regarded in the era as "the Wild West". The popularity of the Harvey Girls grew even stronger in 1946, when Judy Garland starred in the film version of Samuel Hopkins Adams’ novel The Harvey Girls.[3]"    ~from Wikipedia

I took these images in the New Mexico History Museum. Until I  moved here to NM, I had never heard of Fred Harvey, his stores and the Harvey Girls. A pretty interesting slice of American History that you don't get in school (I didn't). If you find yourself in Santa Fe you can see these items along with other memorabilia at the New Mexico History Museum.

Join us as a group of us (yes-there are many of us!) from around the world post our shadow shots over at Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Entertain your muse and be amused by stopping by to see what others have posted!

8 comments:

Ralph said...

It would seem that any sort of courtesy these days has devolved somewhat since 1960. But it remains a noble goal still :)

Great artifacts with equally great shadows too!

Angie said...

Very interesting. Love the story & the photos are great.

EG CameraGirl said...

Interesting history about the Harvey Girls. I think we need MORE Fred Harveys out there promoting civility!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I saw this exhibit last summer. Enlightening!

Cemetery Shadows

namaki said...

This is History !!

Kathe W. said...

I enjoyed your photos and the history behind them.....good manners are sorely lacking these days...bring them back!

Kathe W. said...

good manners are sorely lacking these days- thanks for the pics and history!

Leovi said...

An interesting piece of history, would have liked to know The Harvey Girls!

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