28. attend a Chautauqua

An Evening with Fred Harvey.

Chautauqua goers braved a stormy night for tonight's program, An Evening with Fred Harvey. I have been to two of Bill Worley's daytime programs this week to learn about the Harvey House menus and the Harvey Girls, but I still managed to pick up new bits of information about what rail travel was like at the turn of the 20th century and what working for the Harvey company entailed.



After teaching us how to set the table, Fred Harvey informed us that, if we were Harvey Girls, we would have to be prepared to serve 16 people their four-course meals in 25 minutes. But it is our job to insure that the customers do not feel rushed.

Guests were seated immediately upon arrival and an order taker was right there to take the order. The guest ordered an entree and a beverage. The appetizer, dessert, and other side dishes were determined from the entree.

The beverage was poured by another Harvey Girl, so the order taker had to leave a signal to indicate the beverage. An upright coffee cup meant "coffee." An upside down coffee cup on the saucer meant hot tea and the orientation of the cup's handle indicated whether the customer requested black, green, or orange pekoe. An upside down cup propped up on the side of the saucer signaled "iced tea." An upsided down cup on the tablecloth indicated milk. This all worked well--unless the customer played with the cup. But any confusions would be quickly addressed by the beverage pourer.

The Harvey standard was to provide the finest meals with the finest service anywhere--not just on the railroad lines, but anywhere in the world. The ingredients were shipped by refrigerated freight car and were the best available from the bounty of America--the best beef from Kansas City, the best produce from California. Fresh local ingredients were also utilized. Menus varied from stop to stop all the way across the West so a traveler was offered a variety of food during his or her trip. A four-course meal in the early 1880s cost fifty cents, by the late 1880s it had gone up to seventy five cents.