Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls

Fred Harvey

Born in England 1835, Fred Harvey immigrated to the United States in 1850 at the age of 15. His first job was washing dishes in New York City. Soon after he moved to New Orleans and again gained employment in a restaurant, learning the ins and outs of the restaurant business. In 1853 he moved to St. Louis and six years later, he and a business partner opened a restaurant at the start of the Civil War. Unfortunately, his partner joined the war and not too long after, Harvey was broke for lack of customers. Harvey gained employment working on a riverboat and as a mail clerk for the railroad. It was during this time that he noticed trains did not provide dining cars, especially on long journeys, and the few eateries along the train route were deplorable. He concocted an idea to build a chain of restaurants along the AT&SF train route, but his idea was denied by his supervisor. A spur-of-the-moment meeting the AT&SF owner and gourmet, Charles Morse changed that. Morse liked Harvey’s idea and the first Harvey House restaurant opened in Topeka, Kansas in 1876.

Dining Room, Topeka, KS

Harvey leased a lunch counter at the Santa Fe Topeka depot. His focal points for running the counter were cleanliness, good food and reasonable prices. He was an immediate success, catching the attention of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe line. They turned their food service over to Harvey and The Harvey Houses became the first chain of restaurants in the United States, with Harvey using the depot in Topeka as a training base. Harvey bought a hotel in Florence in 1877 and created an upscale establishment, featuring juicy steaks and crisp hash browns. Tables were set with imported linens, silver and china. He required male patrons to wear a jacket and always kept a supply of alpaca coats on hand for those who didn’t have one, ensuring no one was turned away. Eventually, Harvey extended his restaurants all the way to California.

Harvey Girls

Originally, Harvey hired males to work in his establishments. He soon found that many of them were as wild as the west and came up with another idea to hire women. He recruited women in newspaper ads, requiring them to have an 8^th grade education, be of good manners and moral, and have a cleanly appearance. He paid them a good wage, with free room and board, and upon hiring a girl, he offered her the establishment of her choice along the train route. The girls were outfitted in black shirtwaist dresses, black bows and starched white aprons. In exchange for this, the girls had to agree to six months of employment, that they wouldn’t marry, and that they would obey company rules. With little opportunity for women in this era, the position as a Harvey Girl rose to popularity instantly. 

   

Harvey House Santa Fe (La Fonda)

Harvey’s success didn’t stop with his chain of restaurants. In the southwest, he hired architect Mary Colter to design hotels in Santa Fe (La Fonda) and Gallop New Mexico and in Winslow, Arizona, and at the south rim and at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. At the peak of the Harvey Houses, there were 84 restaurants in operation. Harvey continued to improve his businesses before he passed away in 1901. His sons and grandsons took over and kept the company profitable as long as possible. The inventions of cars and airplanes made that difficult, as most folks no longer traveled by train. The company was bought out by Hawaiian based Amfac in 1968. Amfac has hotels worldwide and adopted Harvey’s strategy for business and his standards. 

PS: If you ever get the chance, spend the night at La Fonda. I have and it's beautiful.

Inside La Fonda

History of Courting

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Courting has undergone changes through the years.  Couples have traditionally met at barn dances, church socials,  in bars, at dances, on blind dates, and a myriad of other ways.  In some foreign countries, arranged marriages are common to this day.  A girl child is traditionally promised to a young man and is obligated  to honor her parents' word.  There may be a dowry involved to sweeten the deal.

Prior to the 20th century, one man and one woman met under the chaperoning eye of the woman's family specifically for the purpose of getting to know one another and assess suitability for marriage. The two 'daters' usually were from families of the same social status, wealth, and standing in the community.  While it may not have been ideal for either of the couple, it was the norm of the age.

google images

In the 1800s, things radically changed because of the Civil War.  With so many women widowed by the battle between the North and the South, marriage between complete strangers became a popular way to meet and wed.  Can you imagine answering an ad in a local newspaper, placed by a complete stranger who is seeking a bride? I can't, but many women did.  Thus began the popularity of the "mail-order" bride.

Women often left their families to travel sometimes hundreds of miles to wed the person who placed a want ad for a wife. They walked into unknown situations, homes that may have been much less than  they were used to and living conditions that required major adjustments,  I've always been told there has to be some sort of chemistry between two people to aid in an attraction, but I guess if you never saw the person until the day you stepped off a  stage coach or train, you found yourself settling for whatever came your way.

Of course, marriage among virtual strangers had been the norm for years among the American Indian population.  A bride payment often swayed the maiden's father to choose whichever brave offered the most for his daughter.  I wonder how many horses and blankets I would have been worth.

The coming of the railroad played an important role in courting.  In 1882, a businessman by the name of Fred Harvey searched rural areas for unwed young women, especially those of good character, with suitable looks and fair intelligence, to serve as waitresses in cafes along the Santa Fe Trail.  I believe these establishments began the term "whistlestops."  The women who responded to Mr Harvey were required to remain single for a year, live under chaperoned circumstances and respond to callers in "courting parlors."  Nearly 5,000 of these "Harvey girls" were married by the beginning of the new century.  You can bet he pocketed a good sum for providing brides for many lonely men.

www.oldtrailsmuseum.org

We've come a long way.  Now people meet on the Internet, correspond by email and chat on the phone as a means of getting to know one another.  Problems arise when dishonest folks see an opportunity to take advantage by posting fake profiles and photos to entice interest.  It would seem we've taken a step back to mail-order by not meeting face-to-face, asking questions, and truly discovering flaws and habits that may inhibit a happy relationship.  In fact, if I may step out of the western genre for a second, I wrote a book based on my sister's "luck" with Internet dating, entitled, "Betrayed."




I've touched a little on paying a bride price in Yellow Moon.