This beautiful reproduction poster has been re-mastered from an original 1946 map showing the Fred Harvey Company’s famous resorts, facilities, and points of interest across the Southwest.
The vibrant colors and detail of this classic image have been painstakingly brought back to life to preserve a great piece of history.
The high-resolution image is printed on heavy archival photo paper, on a large-format, professional giclée process printer. The poster is shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, and is ready for framing.
The 13"x19" and 24”x36” formats are excellent image sizes that look great as a stand-alone piece of art, or as a grouped visual statement. These posters require no cutting, trimming, or custom framing, and a wide variety of these frames are readily available at your local craft or hobby retailer, and online. The 24”x36 size has a 1” white border.
A great vintage print for your home, shop, or business!
HISTORY OF THE FRED HARVEY COMPANY
The Harvey House facilities were known as an oasis of comfort and civilization along the railway routes of the Southwest. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who was dismayed by the often crude facilities that he encountered at railway stops. He created a business model to provide clean and welcoming lunchrooms, restaurants, and hotels as alternatives. The Harvey name became synonymous with quality accommodations -- an image fostered by clever and attractive advertising that drew tourists from around the world.
The Harvey House chain also offered tours to cultural, geological, and archeological attractions, further opening the Southwest to visitors. Harvey had close business connections with the Santa Fe Railway, contracting to provide dining services along the line. This mutually beneficial association allowed Harvey to use the railroad for free shipment of supplies, while he provided railway passengers with quality rest stops.
Fred Harvey is also famous for recruiting the Harvey Girls: young, decent, hardworking women from around the country to serve as hostesses in his lunchrooms. He advertised in the East for women 18 to 30, pleasant, competent, attractive, and willing to meet his expectations for civilized behavior. In addition to their pay, the women received room and board. Thousands applied, and the best were hired. For many of the young women, it was the first time they had left home.
The Harvey Girls became not only a famous feature of the Fred Harvey chain, but their standards for cleanliness and decorum are credited for having a civilizing effect on the often rough customers in "the territories."
The Harvey House facilities faded with decreasing passenger use of the railroads, but the left a legacy of style and expectations for Southwestern tourism which lingers to this day.
