Now You See It, Now You Don't!
TellzAll's subject for May is Pullman Cars
Between the introduction of the railroad in the first half of the nineteenth century and regular travel by airplane in the late twentieth century, many Americans who had to travel long distances chose to go by train. Early trains were very basic, and passenger cars were equipped with wooden benches and did not even have glass in the windows. As a result, the experience could be uncomfortable and dirty. It was particularly difficult for someone who was traveling overnight. Thankfully, conditions rapidly improved throughout the nineteenth century, making travel by train much more comfortable. This was true particularly if you had enough money to reserve the best that the railroad companies had to offer. [insert image of George Pullman here]
Businessman George Pullman became associated with luxury in the railroad industry. Although there were many other companies that built sleeper cars for the railroads in the nineteenth century, the Pullman car was the best. Pullman experimented with building sleeping cars before the American Civil War, but it was beginning in 1864 that he founded the company that became famous for its Pullman sleeping cars. The car earned almost immediate fame because of its inclusion in President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in 1865.
Chicago, Illinois, became the headquarters for the new Pullmans Palace Car Company. His railroad cars functioned as luxurious, fully decorated living spaces during the day, but at night bunks opened up for comfortable sleeping places. Pullman also manufactured dining cars and "chair cars." By the late 1800s, the company dominated the luxury side of the passenger car industry. In addition, Pullman began to branch out into the construction of freight cars as well. The business had grown to the point that there was now a town by the same name, where the main manufacturing plants and workers' housing were located. The Pullman Company reached its peak in the 1920s, but it continued to build new cars until 1981.
Unfortunately, the number of people traveling by rail decreased dramatically in the years following World War II. Air travel became much more affordable, and a trip that could take one or two days on a train took only a few hours by airplane. Passenger train service still exists today, but there are very few sleeper cars. The days of luxurious travel in a Pullman car are history. Many people have a lot of nostalgia about train travel in the past, and they definitely have a romantic view of Pullman cars, but they do not want to give up the convenience of air travel to revisit the past.
