THE RISE OF A GREAT INDUSTRY
The "Pioneer" had cost Mr. Pullman $20,000. Compared with the finest
sleeping cars previously in use, it was clearly evident that a new
development in luxurious travel had been accomplished. The best ordinary
sleeping cars were considered expensive at $4,000. There was no more
comparison between the "Pioneer" and its predecessors in comfort than
in cost. But it remained to be seen what the public would think of it;
whether they preferred luxury, comfort, and real service, to hardship,
discomfort, and no service at a lower cost.
The new cars were larger, heavier, and more substantial than any
previously constructed. Increased safety was one of their advantages.
Moreover, they were far more beautiful from every aspect--artistically
painted, richly decorated, and furnished with fittings for that day
remarkable for their elaborate nature. They were universally admired,
and quickly became the topic of interest among the traveling public. It
is remarkable that at this early date the two features of the
Pullman car which characterize it today--the features of safety and
luxury--should have been so clearly defined.
It is human nature to accept each step forward as a new standard and it
is characteristically American to refuse to accept an inferior article
as soon as one superior is available, even if at greater cost.
The "Pioneer" and its successors established such a standard, and
immediately those accustomed and able to afford the increased rate
required by the greater investment in the car, gladly and thankfully
accepted it; while those whose nature usually inclines to haggling when
the purse is touched, were convinced of the worth of the innovation
by the assurance against disaster which the weight and strength of the
Pullman cars assured.
The next car constructed by Mr. Pullman, after the "Pioneer" cost
$24,000. And very soon after several additional cars were built at
approximately the same cost, and were put in operation on the Michigan
Central Railroad. Here was the great test. In these luxurious carriages
and in the verdict of the traveling public rested the future of Mr.
Pullman's project. The question simply resolved itself to this: Did the
public want them? In the old sleeping cars a berth had cost considerably
less than it was necessary to charge for one in the new Pullman cars.
In the mind of the inventor there was no question as to the verdict. The
railroad authorities were equally certain the other way. They did not
think the public would pay the extra sum.
There was but one way to decide, and Mr. Pullman made the suggestion
that both Pullman cars and old style sleeping cars be operated on the
same train at their respective prices. The results would show.
What happened is best described in the words of a contemporary writer.
Mr. Pullman suggested that the matter be submitted to the decision
of the traveling public. He proposed that the new cars, with their
increased rate, be put on trains with the old cars at the cheaper
rate. If the traveling public thought the beauty of finish, the
increased comfort, and the safety of the new cars worth $2 per
night, there were the $24,000 cars; if, on the other hand, they were
satisfied with less attractive surroundings at a saving of 50 cents,
the cheaper cars were at their disposal. It was a simple submission
without argument of the plain facts on both sides of the issue--in
other words, an application of the good American doctrine of
appealing to the people as the court of highest resort.
The decision came instantly and in terms which left no opening for
discussion. The only travelers who rode in the old cars were those
who were grumbling because they could not get berths in the new
ones. After running practically empty for a few days, the cars in
which the price for a berth was $1.50 were withdrawn from service,
and Pullmans, wherein the two-dollar tariff prevailed, were
substituted in their places, and this for the very potent reason,
that the public insisted upon it. Nor did the results stop there.
The Michigan Central Railway, charging an extra tariff of fifty
cents per night as compared with other eastern lines, proved an
aggressive competitor of those lines, not in spite of the extra
charge, but because of it, and of the higher order of comfort and
beauty it represented. Then followed a curious reversal of the usual
results of competition. Instead of a levelling down to the cheaper
basis on which all opposition was united, there was a levelling
up to the standard on which the Pullman service was planted and on
which it stood out single-handed and alone.
Within comparatively a short period all the Michigan Central's rival
lines were forced by sheer pressure from the traveling public
to withdraw the inferior and cheaper cars and meet the superior
accommodations and the necessarily higher tariff. In other words,
the inspiration of that key-note of vigorous ambition for excellence
of the product itself, irrespective of immediate financial
returns, which was struck with such emphasis in the building of the
"Pioneer," and which ever since has rung through all the Pullman
work, was felt in the railroad world of the United States at that
early date, just as it is even more commonly felt at the present
time. At one bound it put the American railway passenger service in
the leadership of all nations in that particular branch of progress,
and has held it there ever since as an object lesson in the
illustration of a broad and far-reaching principle.[1]
[1]: _Contemporary American Biography_, p. 260.
[Illustration: One of the first cars built by George M. Pullman]
[Illustration: Interior of the car. (1) the car in the daytime showing
wood stove and fuel box; (2) making up the berths. There were no end
divisions, and a thin curtain only separated the berths]
[Illustration]
It will probably be interesting at this point to describe with some
detail the Pullman car of this early period. In the _Daily Illinois
State Register_, Springfield, May 26, 1865, appears an interesting
description of one of the new Pioneer type of cars just installed on the
Chicago & Alton Railroad.
To the train on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, which
passed up at noon today, was attached one of Pullman's improved and
beautiful sleeping carriages, containing a party of excursionists
from the Garden City [Chicago], to whom the trip was complimentarily
extended by the company of the road, and among whom was George M.
Pullman, Esq., of Chicago, the patentee of the car. This carriage,
which we had the pleasure of inspecting during the stay of the train
at our depot, we found to be the most comfortable and complete in
all its appurtenances, and decidedly superior in many respects to
any similar carriage we have ever seen. It is fifty-four feet in
length by ten in width, and was built at a cost of $18,000,
the painting alone costing upwards of $500. Besides the berths,
sufficient in number to accommodate upwards of a hundred passengers,
there are four state rooms formed by folding doors, and so
constructed with the berths that the whole can easily be thrown into
one apartment. When the car is not used for sleeping purposes, as in
the day, every appearance of a berth or a bed is concealed, and in
their stead appear the most comfortable of seats.
Westlake's patent heating and ventilating apparatus is applied
so that a constant current of pure and pleasant air is kept in
circulation through the car. In fact, it was useless to attempt to
enumerate, in so brief a notice, even a few of the many improvements
which have been introduced by the patentees into the carriage,
rendering it as they have, superior to any that we have ever
inspected. To one fact, however, we will refer in this connection,
as especially conducive to the comfort of the traveling public,
viz., that a daily change of linen is made in the berths of this new
carriage, thereby keeping them constantly clean and comfortable, and
rendering the car much more attractive than are similar carriages
where this is neglected. As we are informed by Mr. Pullman that
these cars will hereafter be run on the St. Louis and Chicago line,
we would especially direct the attention of travelers to the fact,
and recommend them to investigate the matter of our notice for
themselves.
Exactly how "upwards of a hundred passengers" could have been
accommodated is hardly clear, but the enthusiasm of the reporter,
fired perhaps by the luxury of clean linen for each berth each day,
may account for this apparent exaggeration. In the _Illinois Journal_,
another Springfield paper, of May 30, the reporter reduces the estimate
of the capacity to fifty-two and comments with perhaps more detail on
the decorative features of the car.
We are reminded by a prophecy which we heard some three years
since--that the time was not far distant when a radical change
would be introduced in the manner of constructing railroad cars; the
public would travel upon them with as much ease as though sitting in
their parlors, and sleep and eat on board of them with more ease and
comfort than it would be possible to do on a first-class steamer. We
believed the words of the seer at the time, but did not think they
were so near fulfillment until Friday last, when we were invited
to the Chicago & Alton depot in this city to examine an improved
sleeping-car, manufactured by Messrs. Field & Pullman, patentees,
after a design by George M. Pullman, Esq., Chicago.
The writer describes his impressions of the interior. The absence of
"mattresses or dingy curtains" by day, the beauty of the window curtains
"looped in heavy folds," the "French plate mirrors suspended from the
walls," as well as the "several beautiful chandeliers, with exquisitely
ground shades" hanging from a ceiling "painted with chaste and elaborate
design upon a delicately tinted azure ground," while the black walnut
woodwork and "richest Brussels carpeting" make the picture complete. It
is small wonder that the Pullman car excited admiration, and that its
first appearance in the Illinois towns was probably recorded by similar
editorial appreciation.
[Illustration: George M. Pullman explaining details of car construction]
But perhaps one of the most interesting insights into the condition
which the new Pullman cars were so quick to remedy, is found in the
_Chicago Tribune_, June 20, 1865. After a veritable eulogy on the
elegance and comfort of the Pullman car, the writer draws the following
enviable contrast.
It leaves to others to ticket the actual transit, so many miles for
so much money, and comes in with its cars as the Ticket Agent of
Comfort, sells you coupons to rest and ease by the way. So you wish
to go through to New York or Baltimore, yourself, Belinda, Biddy
and the baby, baskets, bundles, etc? You think of changes of cars
by night, and rushes for seats for your party by day, of seats foul
with the scrapings of dirty boots, of floors flowing with saliva,
of coarse faces and coarse conversation, of seats you cannot recline
in, of the ordinary discomforts of a long journey by rail!
It is small wonder that the new Pullman cars found an appreciative
welcome!
In 1866 five Pullman sleeping cars were put in operation on the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and late in May an excursion for several
hundred invited guests was given from Chicago to Aurora, Illinois, and
return. The new cars were named, "Atlantic," "Pacific," "Aurora," "City
of Chicago," and "Omaha." Occasioned by the comforts which this new
equipment disclosed a current newspaper remarked:
Pullman is a benefactor to his kind. The dreaded journey to New York
becomes a mere holiday excursion in his delightful coaches, and, by
the way, he will soon have a through line from Chicago to New York,
in which a man need never leave his place from one city to the
other.
The year 1867 marks the incorporation of Pullman's Palace Car Company,
for the purpose of the manufacture and operation of sleeping cars. At
the time of incorporation George M. Pullman owned all of the sleeping
cars on the Michigan Central Railroad, Great Western [Canada] Railroad,
and the New York Central Railroad lines, a grand total of forty-eight
cars. In the operation of these cars he was ably assisted by his
brother, A. B. Pullman, who held the office of general superintendent.
In forming the Pullman Company, the founder aspired to establish an
organized system by which the traveling public might be enabled to
travel in luxurious cars of uniform construction, adapted to both night
and day requirements, without change between distant points, and over
various distinct lines of railroads. In addition, such a service would
provide the heretofore unknown asset of responsible employees to whose
care might be entrusted women, children, and invalids. It was a service
that was sorely needed, and indication pointed to its prompt acceptance
by the railroads and the public.
In the same year a remarkable achievement in railroad travel was
accomplished. Due to the different gauge tracks in use by the several
railroads connecting Chicago and New York, the continuous passage of
a car from one city to the other was impossible. But in 1867 the
standardization of the gauge was effected by the completion of a third
rail on the Great Western [Canada] Railroad, and to mark this opening
of through communication, an excursion was arranged from Chicago to New
York on the "Western World," the newest Pullman "hotel" sleeping car.
At this point it is interesting to note that the first "hotel car," the
"President," was put in service by the Pullman Company in 1867 on the
Great Western Railroad of Canada. The hotel car was a combination car,
in reality a sleeping car with a kitchen built in at one end. The meals
were served at tables placed in the sections. To the Pullman Company,
accordingly, must be accorded the credit of first supplying to the
public the service of meals on board a train. The success of the
"President" led to the immediate construction of the "Western World" and
its sister car "Kalamazoo." These cars, however, must not be confused
with the dining car which was later developed from the "hotel car" by
the Pullman Company, and to which the "hotel cars" rapidly gave place.
The _Detroit Commercial Advertiser_ of June 1, 1867, comments:
But the crowning glory of Mr. Pullman's invention is evinced in his
success in supplying the car with a cuisine department containing
a range where every variety of meats, vegetables and pastry may be
cooked on the car, according to the best style of culinary art.
The following bill of fare illustrates the variety of edibles provided
on this celebrated excursion.
MENU
OYSTERS
Raw 50
Fried and Roast 60
COLD
Beef Tongue, Sugar-cured Ham,
Pressed Corned Beef, Sardines 40
Chicken Salad, Lobster Salad 50
BROILED
Beefsteak, with Potatoes 60
Mutton Chops, with Potatoes 60
Ham, with Potatoes 50
EGGS
Boiled, Fried, Scrambled, Omelette
Plain 40
Omelette with Rum 50
_Chow-Chow, Pickles_
Welsh Rarebit 50
French Coffee 25
Tea 25
The excursion party left Chicago on April 8, 1867, and comfortably
established in the "Western World" arrived in Detroit the following day.
At Detroit the river was crossed on the "great iron ferry boat," the
first company of passengers that ever passed from Chicago to Canada
without change of cars. On the new third rail of the Great Western, a
speed of forty miles was often maintained for considerable periods. "The
cars were decorated with American and British flags, symbolizing the
union which is destined to take place between the United States and
Canada. A train has just rolled by, the engine and passenger cars on
the broad gauge, and freight cars from the East on the narrow gauge." So
goes the journal of one of the passengers.
Large crowds visited the train at Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica, and
at Albany, Erastus Corning telegraphed Commodore Vanderbilt that the car
must be taken to New York, if possible, and the gauge of the Harlem road
be taken for that purpose. The party arrived in New York on April 14.
One of the purposes of sending the "Western World" to New York was that
it might transport on its return trip, Dr. J. C. Durant, vice president
of the Union Pacific Road, and a committee of directors, to examine a
portion of their new transcontinental line which the contractors were
ready to turn over. A member of the party describes the call on Dr.
Durant in his office on Nassau Street and refers to the office as
"probably the finest in New York, beautiful with paintings and statuary,
and enlivened with the singing of birds."
[Illustration: One of the first Pullman cars in which meals were served]
Following the "Western World," the "hotel cars" were promptly put in
service and regular through service was established between Chicago
and eastern points. The new "City of Boston" and "City of New York"
surpassed even the "Western World" in magnificence and were popularly
reported to have exceeded $30,000 each in cost. These cars were known as
"hotel cars" for the reason that each contained all the requirements
for a protracted journey. The main body of the car was occupied by
the berths and seats and at one end a kitchen and pantry provided
the culinary service. The dining car, devoted entirely to restaurant
purposes, was a second step which soon followed. The first dining car
personally designed by Mr. Pullman was named the "Delmonico," and was
operated on the Chicago & Alton in 1868.
But it was in 1869 that the Pullman car made perhaps its greatest
advance in the interest and confidence of the public for in that year
the Union Pacific, building westward from the Missouri River at Omaha,
met the Central Pacific, which built from San Francisco eastward.
By their union a line was established between the two coasts of the
continent, a slender thread of track which stretched for 1,848 miles
through a practically uninhabited country. Almost simultaneously with
the completion of the road there was put upon the rails one of the
most superb trains ever turned out of the Pullman shops. Its journey to
California and its reception there were in the nature of a progressive
ovation. From that time forth the great population of the Pacific coast
knew no train for long distance travel save a Pullman train, and would
hear of no other. When people from California reached Chicago on their
way eastward, the road over which Pullman cars ran got their patronage,
and roads over which other cars were operated did not. Newspapers and
magazines were awakened to studies of the Pullman cars and the Pullman
system, and scores of printed pages were filled with the marvels of a
journey to the Pacific Ocean which was nothing more than a six days'
sojourn in a luxurious hotel, past the windows of which there constantly
flowed a great panorama of the American continent, thousands of miles in
length and as wide as the eye could reach. Illustrated magazine articles
which appeared telling the story of a trip to California had as many
pictures of Pullman interiors as they had of the big trees or the
Yosemite Valley. The effect of all this was far reaching. The great
Pennsylvania line abandoned its own service and adopted the Pullman, and
many other lines made application for inclusion in the Pullman system.
In May, 1870, the first through train from the Atlantic to the Pacific
crossed the continent, engaged for a special excursion by the Boston
Board of Trade, many distinguished Bostonians being numbered among
the passengers. During the trip a daily newspaper entitled the
_Trans-Continental_ was published. In the issue of May 31, published on
the sixth day out, as the train was crossing the summit of the Sierra
Nevadas, an account is given of a meeting of the passengers in the
smoking car, and resolutions passed by them were printed. The Hon. Alex
H. Rice presided at the meeting, and the resolutions were offered by
Frank H. Peabody, a Boston banker, and seconded by Robert B. Forbes,
another Bostonian.
_Resolved_, That we, the passengers of the Boston Board of Trade
Pullman excursion train, the first through train from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, having now been a week _en route_ for San Francisco,
and having had, during this period, ample opportunity to test
the character and quality of the accommodations supplied for
our journey, hereby express our entire satisfaction with the
arrangements made by Mr. George M. Pullman, and our admiration
of the skill and energy which have resulted in the construction,
equipment and general management of this beautiful and commodious
moving hotel.
_Resolved_, That we return our cordial thanks to Mr. Pullman for the
very great pains taken by him beforehand to make the present journey
safe and pleasurable; that we recognize the complete success which
has followed all his efforts, and that we extend to him our sincere
wishes for such a degree of prosperity to attend all his operations
as will be proportionate to his merits as one of the most
public-spirited, sagacious, and liberal railroad men of the present
day.
_Resolved_, That we take pleasure in witnessing, as we journey from
point to point, through all the Western States, the many evidences
of Mr. Pullman's enterprise and the extent of his operations in the
cars which we meet belonging to the Pullman Company, attached to the
regular trains for the use of the public, or appropriated especially
to private excursion parties, and we earnestly hope that there will
be no delay in placing the elegant and homelike carriages upon the
principal routes in the New England States, and we will do all in
our power to accomplish this end.
The list of passengers on this notable excursion included:
Hon. Alex. H. Rice
Maj. Geo. P. Denny
Hon. J. M. S. Williams
James W. Bliss
Edward W. Kingsley
Frederick Allen and wife
H. S. Berry
Miss Josie W. Bliss
Hon. John B. Brown and wife
E. W. Burr and son
John L. Bremer
Geo. D. Baldwin and wife
Miss L. E. Billings
Chas. W. Brooks
M. S. Bolles
Alvah Crocker and wife
Mrs. F. Cunningham
Thomas Dana, Mrs. Thomas Dana, 2nd, Miss M. E. Dana
Mrs. Geo. P. Denny
Arthur B. Denny
Cyrus Dupee and wife
John H. Eastburn and wife
Robert B. Forbes and wife
Joshua Reed
J. S. Fogg
Mrs. E. E. Poole
Misses Farnsworth
Robert O. Fuller
J. Warren Faxon
N. W. Farwell and wife
Miss Mary E. Farwell
Miss Evelyn A. Farwell
Curtis Guild and wife
C. L. Harding and wife
Miss N. Harding
Edgar Harding
J. F. Hunnewell
J. F. Heustis
W. S. Houghton and wife
D. C. Holder and wife
Miss C. Harrington
A. L. Haskell and wife
Miss Alice J. Haley
J. M. Haskell and wife
H. O. Houghton and wife
John Humphrey
Hamilton A. Hill and wife
Benjamin James
C. F. Kittredge
Mrs. C. A. Kinglsey
Miss Addie P. Kinglsey
Miss Mary L. Kinglsey
Chas. S. Kendall
Miss M. C. Lovejoy
John Lewis
Jas. Longley and wife
Geo. Myrick and wife
Col. L. B. Marsh and wife
C. F. McClure and wife
Joseph McIntyre
Sterne Morse
Fulton Paul
F. H. Peabody, wife and servant
Miss F. Peabody
Miss L. Peabody
Master F. E. Peabody
Rev. E. G. Porter
Miss M. F. Prentiss
James W. Roberts and wife
Wm. Roberts
S. B. Rindge and wife
Master F. H. Rindge
J. M. B. Reynolds and wife
John H. Rice
Hon. Stephen Salisbury
M. S. Stetson and wife
D. R. Sortwell and wife
Alvin Sortwell
F. H. Shapleigh
T. Albert Taylor and wife
E. B. Towne
Lawson Valentine and wife
Miss Valentine
Rev. R. C. Waterston and wife
A. Williams
Dr. H. W. Williams and wife
N. D. Whitney and wife
Judge G. W. Warren
Geo. A. Wadley and wife
Henry T. Woods
Mrs. J. M. S. Williams
Miss E. M. Williams
Miss C. T. Williams
J. Bert Williams
In the next few years the Pullman Palace Car Company established
manufacturing shops in Detroit, and in 1875 a new "reclining-chair car,"
the first parlor car to be operated in the United States, was presented
by Mr. Pullman to the public. For several years parlor cars of Pullman
design and construction had been in satisfactory use on the Midland
Railway, between London and Liverpool, England. The success of these
cars promptly resulted in the construction of the "Maritana" for use in
the United States. The chairs in this new car were heavily and richly
upholstered and revolved on a swivel, on the same principle as the
chairs in the parlor car of the present day.
[Illustration: The first parlor car, 1875]