Fredrick Henry
Harvey was born on June 27th, 1835 in London, England. Harvey moved to
New York City in 1853 to start a new life. He worked as a pot scrubber
and busboy at Smith and McNell's Restaurant. He eventually moved up to a waiter
and finally a line cook. He learned the restaurant business inside and
out. He also worked as a freight agent, traveling throughout the Great
Plains. He traveled on trains, as most people did at that time.
Everyone had to bring their own food when they traveled by train because
if you were even lucky enough to find some food available somewhere, the
quality was extremely poor. Having lived with this problem for far too
long, Fred Harvey made an agreement with the Santa Fe railroad in 1876 to open
an eatery in Topeka, Kansas. Travelers were very happy to eat in a clean
room with very well prepared meals. It became so popular that Harvey
eventually opened 47 Harvey House eateries, 30 Dining cars and 15 Hotels.
There was a Fred Harvey eatery every 100 miles along the Santa Fe line.
Fred Harvey died in Leavenworth, Kansas, February 9, 1901.
Come to The Fred
Harvey Museum to learn more about his exciting life.
Harvey Houses
The Fred Harvey Company
had many operations from 1875 to 1970. There is a list of the Harvey eating
establishments that we believe employed Harvey Girls in the museum.
The Fred Harvey
Company employed male waiters up until 1883. Many waiters came in late and hung
over and fought during working hours. Having witnessed such bad behavior,
Fred Harvey reportedly fired his entire staff of waiters in 1883 in Raton, New
Mexico.
From 1883 on, Fred
Harvey only employed women as waitresses. He called them Harvey Girls.
He put ads in newspapers across the East Coast and Midwest saying:
"White, young women, 18 - 30 years of age, of good character, attractive
and intelligent. $17.50 a month plus room, board, gratuity and
transportation." That was a good wage at the time.
Come visit The Fred
Harvey Museum for more information about The Harvey Girls.
In the early 1870s traveling by train was common method of transportation.
Many Americans bundled onto the trains, heading out west. Along the way they
would often become hungry. At that time if you wished to eat you had to wait
for the train to stop then had exactly one hour to find a restaurant, order
your food, and eat. Many passengers failed to make the time limit and were left
stranded at the train station. Even those who succeeded found the fare
available at the train stops less than appetizing. Fred Harvey, a young entrepreneur
working for the railroad, noticed this lack in decent food and wanted to offer
good food to travelers. He pitched the idea to Burlington Railroad Company
originally, but was turned down. Next he presented the idea to Santa Fe Railway
president Charles F. Morse who loved it. In 1876 Harvey opened a dining room in
the Santa Fe Topeka train depot.
Soon Harvey House restaurants spread up and down the line, providing fine
dining to railway costumers. By the early 1880s Harvey was operating 17
restaurants along Santa Fe's main line and by 1891 he had 15 Harvey House
restaurants in operation. Harvey believed in giving perfect service, complete
with linen and silverware, excellent food, and reasonable prices. In 1877
Harvey decided to open his first hotel and purchased a hotel in Peabody, adding
fine accommodations. In 1881, noticing that the all male staff was often given
trouble while trying to serve Harvey decided to replace them with the
"Harvey girls." These were young women of good character and morals
who would contract for a year’s service. They became known for their good
looks, fine manners, and efficiency.
Harvey House establishments provided a clean, safe place to relax and enjoy
a good meal in a polished and sophisticated surrounding. Where beans and
biscuits had been the norm, diners could dine on thick, juicy steaks and hot,
crispy hash browns. Meals were served on tables outfitted with imported linens,
silver table service, and fine china, many personalized with the Fred Harvey
name. To add to the sense of gentility, Harvey mandated that all men in the
dining room must wear coats. To make sure that no one would be turned away, a
supply of dark alpaca coats was always kept on hand.
Harvey girls wore the iconic black shirtwaist dress and perfectly starched
white apron and cap. Thanks to the 1946 MGM musical The Harvey Girls
(featuring Judy Garland), these young women were immortalized as a part of
American railroad history.
When Harvey died in 1901, his empire included 45 restaurants and 20 dining
cars in 12 states. Harvey’s sons and grandsons continued to run the restaurant
business. The largest challenge they faced was the decline in railroad traffic
and the mass production of automobiles and airplanes. Since the Harvey House
restaurants were located on the rail lines, their business slowed. However the
Fred Harvey Company expanded to meet this new demand, offering restaurants
along many scenic highways, so as to catch the automobile traffic.
In 1968 the Hawaii-based Amfac (now called Xanterra) Corporation bought the
Fred Harvey Company. The Amfac hotels and resorts throughout the world proudly
adopted the Harvey quality standard.
When English immigrant Fred Harvey opened the first of more than 80 restaurants serving
rail stops from the Midwest to California, he could not have imagined the
contribution he was making to a social movement that would outlive the
restaurants themselves. Nor could he have understood how those restaurants
would influence the character of the West.
But Harvey waitresses — made famous by the 1946 Judy
Garland movie “The Harvey Girls” — contributed more than labor to what some
call the first restaurant chain in America. They helped gentrify the West and
took part in a movement of young women away from the home and into
self-sufficient employment.
“The Harvey Girls:
Opportunity Bound” — a terrific
documentary by L.A. filmmaker Katrina Parks — tells the story of the women who
worked as wait staff for Harvey House restaurants, including the one at Union
Station, beginning in the 1870s.
Unlike
other diners near rail, Harvey House restaurants were clean and sold good,
reasonably priced food on table linen and china. For 75 cents (in a 1943 menu)
customers could dine on broiled fish almandine, potatoes O’Brien and Hawaiian
slaw. A slice of apple pie was 15 cents. And the restaurants guaranteed that
patrons would complete their meals before their trains — often loading up on
water and passengers — were scheduled to depart.
At
first, the Harvey company hired men to serve as waiters, since women were in
short supply in the West. But the men — both customers and waiters — could be
rowdy. So Harvey began advertising in Eastern and Midwest newspapers, offering
employment to clean-cut, well-mannered and attractive women between 18 and 30.
The pay was $17.50 a month plus tips. Room and board were free. The Harvey
Girls wore distinctive black-and-white uniforms, worked long hours and had to
abide by strict rules, including curfews. But for many, it was the first taste
of freedom and freedom can be delicious, as the above clip suggests.
In addition, the film explores the life of Fred Harvey and his company which left its mark
by not only providing work opportunities for women, but by being among the
first companies to promote cultural diversity in the workplace by hiring
Hispanic and Native American women to be waitresses along with their Anglo
peers. The Harvey Girls, whose workforce continued to flourish until the 1960s,
were true pioneers and set a new standard of excellence for women in the
workplace, paving the way for generations of independent young women to
come. This is their story!
Joyce
Ann Brown owns rental properties in Kansas City with her husband.
Her Psycho Cat and the
Landlady Mysteries happen in rental properties. However,
none of her tenants has been involved in theft, kidnapping, or murder, and her
two cats, Moose and Chloe, are cuddly, not psycho.
Besides being a landlady, Joyce has worked as a story teller, a library media
specialist, a Realtor, and a freelance writer. Her writing appears in local and
national publications.
Catch a glimpse of Joyce Ann’s writing about all
cozy subjects on her Cozy Mystery Journey Blog. Read about trails she walks in
Kansas City on Hiking K.C. Trails.
Visit Joyce Ann
Brown here: http://www.joyceannbrown.com
and everyone who visits gets a free Ebook-directions on her site for that.
Please leave a comment for a chance to win your choice
of one of Joyce Ann Brown's e-books or her audio book.
(Info Provided by Author)
Since I hadn’t been to Abilene for years, I
was so young traveling with my grandparents that direction, I wasn’t aware
there was a presidential library so near.
I was pretty excited to discover a place like that to take my kids. Not all kids get to see that sort of
thing…which really highlights my geekness.
More info on Old Abilene Town here: http://oldabilenecowtown.com/ I was excited to see its still running to a degree. I can still hear my Grampa telling us we were going to go to Old Abilene. He didn't let me get anything from the gift shop often...except for once. I still have that...wish I still had my Grampa! Hallelujah he would say! 
Fredrick Henry
Harvey was born on June 27th, 1835 in London, England. Harvey moved to
New York City in 1853 to start a new life. He worked as a pot scrubber
and busboy at Smith and McNell's Restaurant. He eventually moved up to a waiter
and finally a line cook. He learned the restaurant business inside and
out. He also worked as a freight agent, traveling throughout the Great
Plains. He traveled on trains, as most people did at that time.
Everyone had to bring their own food when they traveled by train because
if you were even lucky enough to find some food available somewhere, the
quality was extremely poor. Having lived with this problem for far too
long, Fred Harvey made an agreement with the Santa Fe railroad in 1876 to open
an eatery in Topeka, Kansas. Travelers were very happy to eat in a clean
room with very well prepared meals. It became so popular that Harvey
eventually opened 47 Harvey House eateries, 30 Dining cars and 15 Hotels.
There was a Fred Harvey eatery every 100 miles along the Santa Fe line.
Fred Harvey died in Leavenworth, Kansas, February 9, 1901.
Come visit The Fred
Harvey Museum for more information about The Harvey Girls.
Besides being a landlady, Joyce has worked as a story teller, a library media
specialist, a Realtor, and a freelance writer. Her writing appears in local and
national publications.
Kansas City offers great shopping at the Plaza, wonderful
shows at Starlight Theatre, Royals baseball, and Chiefs football.
But only fifteen minutes south is my little corner of the
world, Overland Park. I love my wonderful town. It’s close enough to the city
to enjoy all it has to offer, but in the beautiful suburban area that’s a lot
less crowded. Overland Park has some wonderful sites of its own.
A newer area of Overland Park I’ve recently discovered is Cinetopia, a unique
movie complex with various theaters sporting a variety of themes. My favorite
is the Living Room theater, where I can recline and put my feet up while
enjoying the movie, and even order concessions to be delivered right to my
seat. Prairiefire, a unique shopping center
with a variety of stores, restaurants, and entertainment complexes. There’s a
huge bowling alley and even a museum. It’s a great place to spend the day.
My third favorite place is the Louisburg Cider Mill, located
about an hour south of Overland Park. The drive itself on US 69 is incredible,
as you pass by beautiful farmlands. The cider mill provides a unique experience
of watching the entire process of the cider being made, from the apples being
rinsed and deposited into the mill, to the grinding and dispensing of the
cider. There’s a wonderful country store where you can buy the delicious cider,
along with other novelty items. I love stopping for fresh cider on days we want
to go on long rides.
I might not have discovered a lot of Overland Park in the
three years I’ve been here, but the areas I have discovered have been wonderful
and unique. I’ve published two books since moving here, Fate and Striker’s Apprentice, and am
currently writing my seventh book. I still have plenty of places I want to
check out, including the rest of Prairiefire and the Farmer’s Market. I can’t
wait to share my new experiences with you next year.
