History of the Harvey Girls by Donna Schlachter

Outside a typical Harvey House c.1900

 

While Fred Harvey and his company changed how folks traveled the west from 1876 until the mid-1950s, perhaps the thing most folks recall are the waitresses in his restaurants, who came to be known as The Harvey Girls.

Dining cars were implemented in the 1880s, but food was expensive, and most passengers opted to purchase their meals at the train depots, which usually provided only sandwiches and coffee. Mr. Harvey felt there had to be a better way.


After building a string of hotels along the rail lines to serve for passengers who
were stopping over, he soon added dining rooms with full service guaranteed in half an hour.

Originally, Mr. Harvey hired only men to serve the meals, but in 1883, he had to fire his entire staff at one of his houses in New Mexico. His manager recommended he hire women because they were less likely to get into drunken brawls.

However, a ready supply of young, reputable women was in short supply west of the Mississippi, so he advertised in the east for women willing to train in Kansas City then travel west to their new home for at least the next six months.

Each Harvey Girl signed a contract and affirmed she wouldn’t date other employees, would observe the dress and conduct codes, would wear and maintain her uniform, and would generally do as she was told. In exchange, she received room and board, was introduced to a better class of patrons, and was paid an above-average salary while living in a part of the country she’d unlikely have had the opportunity to ever see otherwise.

The classic Harvey Girl uniform c. 1900

 

At first, the concept of a woman working outside the house engendered criticism, mostly because of past experience with employers and situations of low repute, including saloons and brothels. Mr. Harvey countered this disapproval by using stark uniforms reminiscent of a nun’s habit, forbidding makeup, enforcing curfews, and hiring women with good references.

The Harvey Girls worked six or seven days a week, often twelve or more hours a day, serving meals to train passengers. Food orders were telegraphed ahead so meals were ready when the train pulled in, since the stopover was most often only thirty minutes. In those days, other restaurants and dining rooms served bad food at exorbitant prices, so the Harvey House standards were much appreciated.

In fact, Mr. Harvey insisted that his chefs be professionally trained, and he limited the number of dishes available to customers to streamline both the ordering and the preparation of the meals.

Many young women replied to his ads, and records indicate that more than 100,000 women worked for him over the eighty years of business until the private automobile spelled the decline in train travel.

Harvey Girls taking a sun break c. 1900

Perhaps one of the most endearing facts about the Harvey House and its “Girls” is that many of them started working for Mr. Harvey in hopes of meeting a rich passenger from a train who would marry them and take them elsewhere. However, most ended up renewing their contracts many times. And even when their contract was done, more than half of the women stayed in the area, married and having families, helping to settle the Wild West. One of the longest-serving Harvey Girls worked for the company in excess of 40 years.


Resources:

https://truewestmagazine.com/harvey-girls/

https://cowgirlmagazine.com/wild-women-of-the-west-the-harvey-girls/

About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, and non-fiction books. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, and CAN; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com

On the Atchinson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Last month, I began a series highlighting Colorado Springs history. If you missed that post, you can read it here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2020/03/grand-opening-colorado-springs-take-2.html. Upon further reflection, I'll be expanding my focus on history throughout the state, not just one city, although Colorado Springs will be in the limelight more often than not. :)

This month, I'm going to shine the spotlight on the 10 stations in the state of Colorado which featured a Harvey House at their depots, and thereby also had Harvey Girls.

COLORADO's HARVEY GIRLS

Ever since I read Tracie Peterson's Westward Chronicles trilogy with the heroines working as Harvey Girls, I've been fascinated by their stories and the rich history that has come with this small bit of America's western past. For many years, I got excited every time I found a story about a Harvey Girl or learned something about the restaurant chain that once existed. I always wanted to visit one, but none of them are open and active anymore.

However, many of them have been re-purposed into other useful buildings or businesses. Unfortunately, they were all along the train routes that ran from Kansas into Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Or, so I thought!

Imagine my surprise when I was driving downtown in Colorado Springs and saw an older building that didn't fit with the rest of the buildings around it. My curiosity piqued, I crossed the road and pulled into the parking lot to investigate. What I discovered both thrilled and surprised me.

Santa Fe Depot, Colorado Springs, CO

There was a Harvey House restaurant at that very spot! One problem, though. There wasn't any railroad, and the building was situated in the middle of dozens of other buildings in all directions. Well, since I rarely let historical gems like this get away without further research, I went home and did some research.

As it turns out, there WAS once a railroad station there, and the track ran right out front. At the time, that station (called the Santa Fe station, oddly enough) was the easternmost point of Colorado Springs. Years passed, and the city expanded. With that expansion came the shifting of the railroad route to another track, thereby ending the need for a restaurant at a station that had been shut down. Eventually, the station and buildings became offices and warehouses for storage, but I can just see that area during its heyday in my mind.

Santa Fe Depot, Trinidad, CO

I have started and sketched out a few stories where that station will be the focal point, but I also plan to feature the other locations throughout Colorado once I can sell at least 1 of the books set right here in my hometown. One story is about a secret admirer and involves a combination of a Harvey Girl and what *would* have been a Pony Express rider, only that service only lasted from 1860-1861. So, I changed it to a mail delivery stagecoach driver. *grins* My second story features the daughter of a prominent family who is tired of her life being scheduled, so she rebels and takes a job as a Harvey Girl to gain some independence. The work proves much harder than she anticipates, and she finds an ally in the chef, a man with a secret identity of his own.

That's Colorado Springs.

Here are the other locations throughout the state:

El Otero Hotel, La Junta, CO

• Cascade (eventually moved to Woodland Park)
• Idyllwild
• Leadville
• Hugo
• La Junta
• Pueblo
• Trinidad
• Palmer Lake
• Colorado Springs

The restaurants or lunchrooms operated at train platforms or inside hotels starting in 1879, with the most active time from 1895-1920. The last Colorado Harvey House, El Otero Hotel in La Junta, closed in 1948.

If you want to read a great blog post briefly summarizing the Harvey House restaurants and their impact on American history, check out The Restless Native.


NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Have you ever eaten at a Harvey House? If so, where?

* What little known gems exist where YOU live that many might not know exist?

* What did you like the most about today's post? What topics would you like to see covered in future posts?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments you have on the post below. Come back on the 9th of May for my next appearance.

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker who is also an advocate for literacy as an educational consultant with Usborne Books. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help better their lives.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children and two dogs in Colorado. She has sold twenty (23) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Powell's Colorado River Expedition and a Giveaway

Nancy J. Farrier filling in for Naomi Rawlings

Major John Wesley Powell

Major John Wesley Powell holds the distinction of being the first to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In 1869, Powell commissioned four boats, built in Chicago, and transported to Green River City, Wyoming, where he would start his expedition. On May 24, Powell and nine other men, including his brother, departed on their journey into mostly uncharted territories. They would navigate some of the most difficult rapids and see some of the most beautiful country they had ever seen.

On June 9^th, before they reached the Grand Canyon, the

Grand Canyon and Colorado River

Powell expedition experienced their first calamity. While Major Powell scouted a rapids, one of the boats was sucked into the rapids before the crew could make shore. The crew all ended up on an island in the middle of the river and were rescued. The boat broke in half, and they found part half a mile downstream. One-third of their provisions and instruments were lost early in the trip.

When Major Powell realized all his barometers, used for determining the altitude

Camp at Night

of the river, were lost, he decided they needed to try to recover them. They spent the next day portaging boats while two of the men attempted to find the barometers. They were successful in recovering the instruments and a keg of whiskey.

Major Powell wrote of the Lodore Canyon, "This has been a chapter of disasters and toils, notwithstanding which the Canyon of the Lodore was not devoid of scenic interest, even beyond the power of pen to tell. The roar of its waters was heard unceasingly from the hour we entered it until we landed here. No quiet in all that time. But its walls and cliffs, its peaks and crags, its amphitheatres and alcoves tell a story of beauty and grandeur that I hear yet - and shall hear."

Cliff Rescue

The adventures continue as they encounter rapids, difficult portages, and at one point, Major Powell being rescued from a cliff face. One of the crew had to take off his pants and lower them to the Major in order to pull him to the top of the cliff. By the time they reach Marble Canyon, the walls are over 2,000 feet high and the rapids are difficult to navigate. In August, Major Powell wrote in his journal, "We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly."

In Mid-August, the weary party comes to a slower section of the river. In the afternoon they encounter a beautiful stream emptying into the Colorado River. They stop to camp and explore. Major Powell names the creek, Bright Angel in contrast to a smelly stream they encountered previously that they named Dirty Devil. They explore the Bright Angel canyon and find many artifacts and ruins.

Toward the end of August, the party comes to some large lava rocks in the middle of the river. Farther down they see Lava Falls, a spectacular sight. Major Powell writes, "What a conflict of water and fire there must have been here! Just imagine a river of molten rock running down into a river of melted snow. What a seething and boiling of the waters; what clouds of steam rolled into the heavens."

Boat at Rest

On August 29^th, 1869, the Powell Expidition exited the Grand Canyon. Three of their party left before they reached the end. Another of their boats had to be abandoned. They accomplished an amazing feat and encountered many hardships in these few months.

Have you ever visited the Grand Canyon? Back in 1982, I hiked to the bottom of the Canyon with my parents, a wonderful experience. Have you ever hiked the Canyon, ridden the mules down to Bright Angel point, or ridden a boat in the rapids? Leave a comment and your email address to be entered in a giveaway.

My latest release, the Timeless Love Romance Collection, includes a reprint of  some stories set a the El Tovar Lodge in the Grand Canyon. Four of the stories center around the Harvey Girls. We've had some past posts written about the Harvey girls. You can read about them here: http://www.hhhistory.com/2014/04/harvey-girls-and-el-tovar-hotel-by.html

Nancy J Farrier is an award winning author who lives in Southern California in the Mojave Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. Nancy and her husband have five children and one grandson. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Karen Ball of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

What's Your State Song?

by Linda Farmer Harris

I grew up, graduated high school, and married in the Land of Enchantment-New Mexico. Even after forty-eight years of being gone, I'm still stirred by the state song, learning history we didn't have time for in school, and seeing roadrunners and horned toads.

Part of my fascination extends to the remarkable New Mexico women. Long before strong women emerged as norm in our culture, they were carving out their places as artist, potters, writers, miners, inventors, singers, cowgirls, architects, and Harvey Girls. See Cynthia Hickey's HH&H blogs for more information about the Harvey Girls. Plus, my HH&H entry on March 27, 2013 - Hospitality Southwest Style.

My mother was a New Mexico Artisan. She wasn't famous outside her little corner of southeast New Mexico, but she had a skill and talent that she honed into incredible pottery and ceramics. She had the gift of seeing liquid colors that looked clear and colorless to me and accurately knowing how much and where to put them on the pottery. She left us with an appreciation for Southwest art and music.

Do you know your state song? Who wrote it? Below is the first verse and chorus of mine. You can find the whole song at 50States.com.

     Under a sky of azure, where balmy breezes blow;
     Kissed by the golden sunshine, is Nuevo Mejico.
     Home of the Montezuma, with fiery hearts aglow,
     State of the deeds historic, is Nuevo Mejico.

Chorus
     O, fair New Mexico, we love, we love you so.
     Our hearts with pride o'verflow, no matter where we go,
     O, fair New Mexico, we love, we love you so.
     The grandest state to know, New Mexico.

Elizabeth Garrett, daughter of Sheriff Pat Garrett, penned and published O, Fair New Mexico in 1915 and, after performing the song for the New Mexico Legislature, it was voted as the official state song in 1917 (New Mexico Statutes, Chapter 12, Article 3, Section 5). Yes, her dad was the former Lincoln County Sheriff who shot Billy the Kid.

Courtesy of University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Special Collections

Elizabeth lost her eyesight due to an over-application of blue vitrol to her eyes a few hours after she was born. She graduated from Texas School for the Blind in Austin, Texas. In addition to becoming a nationally recognized soprano, she became a qualified voice and piano teacher. It's reported that eastern "audiences were appreciative of her talents and her interesting compositions about the far-west land of New Mexico." She was known as the Songbird of the Southwest. Elizabeth was a remarkable woman. There's so much more to her rich and incredible history.

I was born in Arkansas and lived there until the fourth grade. Not enough time to learn the state song in Arkansas history class. So, I looked up the 1916 song written and published by Mrs. Eva Ware Barnett and Will M. Ramsey. It was adopted by the Arkansas Senate Concurrent Resolution No, 6, in January 1917. 

Courtesy of The Jonesboro Weekly, January, 1917

Below is the first verse and chorus. You can find the whole song at Wikipedia.

     I am thinking tonight of the Southland,
     Of the home of my childhood days,
     Where I roamed through the woods and the meadows
     By the mill and the brook that plays;
     Where the roses are in bloom
     And the sweet magnolia too,
     Where the jasmine is white
     And the fields are violet blue,
     There a welcome awaits all her children
     Who have wandered afar from home.

Chorus
     Arkansas, Arkansas, tis a name dear,
     'Tis the place I call "home, sweet home";
     Arkansas, Arkansas, I salute thee,
     From thy shelter no more I'll roam.

I'm confident you've heard Texas, Our Texas during football TV half-times, so I won't jot part of it down here.

Our new home state of Colorado adopted Where the Columbines Grow written and music by A. J. Fynn on May 8, 1915 (Senate Bill 308, Colorado Revised Statute 24-80-909). 

Below is the first verse. Read more at 50states.com.

     Where the snowy peaks gleam in the moonlight,
     above the dark forests of pine,
     And the wild foaming waters dash onward,
     toward lands where the tropic stars shine; 
     Where the scream of the bold mountain eagle,
     responds to the notes of the dove
     Is the purple robed West, the land that is best,
     the pioneer land that we love.

You can see how the state's nature and characteristics are mirrored in the songs.

Does your state have multiple state songs, anthems or historical songs?

If you don't know your state's song, visit United States State Songs. 

Before you go, I can't resist another question. Does your state have an official cookie? 

New Mexico has the Biscochito or Bizcochitos. Adopted in 1989, it was chosen to help maintain traditional home-baked cookery. 

Courtesy of Zia Diner, Santa Fe Restaurant, via quazoo.com

I can see a holiday batch coming up - complete with the Fleur de Lis cookie design that was the original preference. If you try the Biscochito let me know.

Blessings and Happy New Year,

Lin

Lin is learning to bake at high altitudes. A chef in Grand Junction shared that using flour with 4 grams of Protein is the key to reliable Colorado baking. It works. Most popular brand flours have 3 grams of protein. She's been able to bake her father's family famous dinner rolls and popovers.

CHRISTMAS, WWII AND THE HARVEY GIRLS By Cynthia Hickey

CHRISTMAS AS A HARVEY GIRL IN WWII

 

Fred Harvey, founder of the chain of hotels and restaurants along the Santa Fe, Topeka, Atchison Railroad, respected the men and women serving our country during WWII. Military personnel were served first and treated even more royally than Harvey already treated his customers.

 

At Christmas, tables were moved, allowing for a dance floor, carols were sung, and romance was in the air. It wasn’t only civilian women rushing to the altar when men came home on furlough, so did the Harvey Girls, many of them canceling their contracts in order to marry.

 

Still, Fred Harvey was determined to make Christmas a time of joy and hope for these brave men and women, wanting little more than sending them off with a smile and some Christmas spirit.

 

Despite war rationing and worn stockings, the women in Harvey’s employ made sure these brave military men had a holiday they could carry with them back to the Frontlines.

 

In my latest Harlequin Heartsong, A Doctor’s Heart, my hero is a military doctor, wounded and temporarily blinded by a German soldier impersonating an American. When he meets the heroine with whom he had been exchanging letters, he pushes her away, not wanting her pity. Not only is this a Christmas Romance, but it is about overcoming prejudice and following God’s will.

 

Leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of A Doctor’s Heart.

 

A Doctor’s Heart

Betsy Colter's Heart is On the Line 

Betrayed by her soldier fiancé, Betsy takes a job as a Harvey Girl waitress and vows to steer clear of military romance. But soon she's falling for her army pen pal, Dr. Spencer Gregory. When a wounded Spencer returns home and rebuffs her friendship and love, Betsy's deepest fears come true. 

Though he's a decorated soldier, Spencer sees himself as a burden—one he won't saddle Betsy with. But keeping her at arm's length is no longer an option when Betsy's former fiancé shows up eager to win her back. If their romance is to survive the war, Spencer must set aside his pride and win her heart.

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013, 2014, 2015 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold more than 260,000 copies of her works. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com