1880s to 1950s specialized American History which impinged on much else in the history of our West. This book is full of photos and memoirs (with the surrounding history of that era and anecdotes of famous people)from the Atchekin, Topeka and the Santa Fe hotel/restaurants The Harvey Houses. Really interesting to read.

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The beginning of the book is slow, but about chapter 3 it really picked up. Book is full of personal stories from the Harvey Girls. Photos are wonderful. If you have any interest in rail travel or womans history, you will enjoy this book.

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I read this in a weekend. Very interesting book about the Harvey Girls. They were waitress for Fred Harvey restaurants. Alot of them traveled from the east to the wild west.

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I always wanted to know more about the Harvey restaurants and the people who worked in them. So I was glad to find this book posted here. While the history of the chain was often in chronological order, the personal reminiscences of the people who worked were often jumbled.

The thing I found most interesting was the contract between the Harvey chain chain and the Santa Fe railroad, in respect to what they were to do to support each other, was a simple handshake. It is amazing how well that worked.

I've often thought letting our extensive railroad system go to pot was one of the worst business decisions our country ever made. Just energy-wise, railroads are one of the most efficient transportation systems ever developed.

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A history of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, interspersed with fascinating first-person anecdotes from Harvey Girls, waitresses in Fred Harvey's Harvey Houses, which provided hotel and restaurant service along the line.

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