Choo choo! All aboard the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway! Destination: Fred Harvey. Today’s episode takes you on a journey across the American landscape and through time as we learn about the progenitor of fast food and franchises. We’ll also learn about the Harvey Girls, one of the first independent employment opportunities for women and who definitely all got married and nothing gay happened, don’t even sweat it, bro.
Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul
We’re on Twitter at @girlslunch and on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole is on Twitter @nicoleh262 and her website is nicolehylton.com. Julia is smarter than all of us and not on social media.
Sources:
Appetite for America, Stephen Fried
A big thank you to Special Collections and Archives at Northern Arizona University, where I did a lot of my research for this topic
“Word Portrait of a Harvey Girl,” from a Harvey Girl “contest” held by Fred Harvey Company in 1948 (courtesy of NAU Special Collections)
“The Harvey Girls—Increasing Opportunity,” The National Park Service, Jan. 8, 2023
