Fred Harvey, Topeka & the invention of fast food

In the late 1800s America was in the grips of “railroad mania.” Railroads increased the speed of travel for both people and products, and it aided in the expansion of white settlement in the West. By the 1870s many Americans regularly rode the rails for business and pleasure. Travelers were often encouraged to pack their own meals and drinks, since western rail routes were plagued by poor food and sorry accommodations.

One man hoped to change all of that. In 1876 Fred Harvey opened his first restaurant at the Santa Fe depot in Topeka. He was determined to bring good food, superior service and a touch of class to anyone riding on the Santa Fe line.

“The Civilizer of the West”

Fred Harvey, founder of the Harvey House restaurants, 1901 (Image courtesy of kansasmemory.org, Kansas State Historical Society, Copy and Reuse Restrictions apply)

Fred Harvey, born in England in 1835, came to the U.S. at age 15. He worked in several restaurants in New York, New Orleans and St. Louis. Harvey even opened his own restaurant, but it failed during the Civil War. He then went to work for the railroads, was transferred to Leavenworth and often traveled by train for work. Like his fellow travelers, Harvey was disgusted by the “horrible food, the filth and the racketeering” he observed in the few restaurants along the rail lines.

The American traveler deserved better and Fred Harvey – with his background in the restaurant business – knew he could give it to them. In 1876 Harvey entered into a handshake agreement with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad to take over operation of their dining room in Topeka. The Santa Fe Railroad had opened a restaurant on the second floor of the depot for its passengers and workers, because its complex was located too far from the restaurants in downtown Topeka.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad depot in Topeka, 1880. Note the dining room sign toward the end of the depot. (TSCPL)

Harvey immediately went to work overhauling the restaurant, which became known as the Fred Harvey House. Travelers quickly noticed the change in quality. The coffee was fresh, the meat and produce was locally sourced, and the pie crusts were feather light. One newspaper of the day stated that travelers “began planning their itineraries so as to be in Topeka at mealtime.”

Branching Out

Harvey’s success with the dining room at the Topeka depot led Santa Fe general superintendent C.F. Morse to request Harvey take over operations at another railroad restaurant. The lunchroom at Florence, Kansas, was failing and Morse hoped Harvey could turn it around like he had done in Topeka. Once again the change in management was quickly noticed and soon the newspapers were touting the “fish and game breakfast, dinners and suppers […] each one marvels of luxury and neatness.”

With yet another successful Harvey House opened along the railroad line, the Santa Fe directors knew Fred Harvey was the cure for poor railroad food. They reached a new agreement that every new eating house established along the Santa Fe rail lines would automatically be supervised by Harvey. Other restaurants that had previously been established would, in time, come under his management as well.

This 1937 lunch room menu for the Topeka Harvey House restaurant shows that you could get a high quality meal for a decent price. (TSCPL)

As passenger rail travel increased the Fred Harvey Company began to also operate hotels along the route. He opened the first Harvey House Hotel in Peabody, Kansas, in 1877. When dining cars began to become more common, those too fell under the supervision of the Harvey Company. By the time Fred Harvey died in 1901 he oversaw the food service in 45 restaurants and 20 dining cars. Eventually the company served more than 13,000 miles of railroads, either through restaurants and hotels, or with dining car services.

“The Harvey System”

What set Harvey House restaurants and hotels apart from all the rest was Fred Harvey’s incredibly high standards. The tables in Harvey dining rooms were set with imported linen tablecloths and napkins, and silver tableware. Meals were served on fine china.

Harvey’s standards also extended to his diners. Any man who wanted to eat in the dining room at a Harvey House had to wear a suit jacket or coat. Any “shirt-sleeved customer” would be seated in the lunchroom, where the standard for dress was laxer. Those with their hearts set on eating in the dining room could borrow one of the jackets the restaurant kept on hand for just such an occasion.

The lunch room at the Topeka Harvey House could seat up to 46 diners at a time and was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (TSCPL)

What came to be known as the “Harvey System” also tackled the problem of how to serve so many people so quickly but still maintain Harvey’s rigorous standards of service. Trains only stopped at depots for 30 minutes, which normally wouldn’t give passengers enough time to eat a decent meal. The process Harvey came up with was designed “to make the service fast and smooth yet avoid any suggestion of haste or hurry.” About an hour out from the Harvey House, the brakemen on the train would go through the cars asking passengers if they planned to eat at the next stop. That number was telegraphed to the restaurant, where the staff began to prepare. Five minutes from the station, the engineer would sound the whistle to alert the waitstaff to get the first course on the tables. When the train arrived, a member of the waitstaff would beat a brass gong to show passengers where the dining room door was located. This became known as the “come-and-get-it” gong. This process allowed diners to eat without feeling hurried, and to get back on their train with plenty of time to spare.

Working for the Fred Harvey Company was not easy. The lunchrooms were open 24/7 and the dining rooms were open anytime a train arrived, day or night. The company also frequently performed unexpected and rigorous inspections.

The Harvey Girls

"The Pretty Harvey Girl Beside My Chair" from the Santa Fe Employee Magazine, January 1907 (TSCPL)

One of the most enduring symbols of the Fred Harvey Company were the Harvey Girls. These young women served as waitresses at all the Harvey House locations and were as much a part of the “Harvey experience” as the food and hotels. These “belles of the West” became so iconic in the American zeitgeist that they inspired the 1946 movie The Harvey Girls starring Judy Garland.

Harvey Girls were required to be between 18 and 30 years old, unmarried, of good character and – according to recruitment ads – “attractive and intelligent.” Each went through meticulous training before shipping off for any of the many Harvey Houses along the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. Harvey Girls were paid about $20 a month, with room and board included, which was better pay than most teachers made at the time. Their standard uniform of a black shirtwaist dress, and a well starched white apron and cap became a symbol of civility and hospitality across the Southwest.

The employees of the Topeka Santa Fe Depot Harvey House restaurant, ca. 1925 (TSCPL)

Fred Harvey’s Legacy

As trains and tracks gave way to automobiles and highways, the Fred Harvey Company adapted to continue serving the American traveler. Several of the restaurants located in railroad depots were closed, while Harvey House restaurants and rest stops popped up along the newly opened highways. The original Harvey House in the Santa Fe depot in Topeka closed in January 1940 after 64 years of serving rail passengers.

The Harvey Company maintained a presence in Topeka even after its depot restaurant closed. In the 1960s this Fred Harvey House Highway restaurant at the Gage Blvd exit of I-70 opened to cater to automobile travelers (TSCPL).

In 1968 the Fred Harvey Company was purchased by the Hawaii-based Amfac Corporation which continues (now under the name Xanterra) to operate several hotels and resorts in the Southwest according to the “Harvey quality standard,” including several of the hotels and restaurants located in Grand Canyon National Park.

Fred Harvey’s legacy lives on beyond the Company’s hotels and restaurants still in operation. Harvey’s business model of having a uniform standard of hospitality and food served to travelers quickly and efficiently makes him one of the earliest, if not the first, purveyor of “fast food.”

Learn more

To learn more about the Harvey Girls and the role they played in the economic and cultural history of Kansas and the American Southwest, join us Sat, March 22, 10am for a program presented by Dr. Michaeline Chance-Reay, professor emeritus of Women's Studies and Education at Kansas State University. This program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.