In addition to operating dining cars, restaurants, and hotels, Fred Harvey sold lots of gifts, particularly Indian-themed goods in Arizona and New Mexico. Here are some postcards featuring the company’s wares on display at the Indian Building in the Albuquerque station-Alvarado Hotel complex. Most of these postcards appear to be from the immediate post-war era so I’m roughly dating them to 1950.
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The postcard calls this the Spanish Room. Some of the blankets on display may have been made by Southwest Indians, but others appear to be foreign-made, particularly the one with the dancers hanging on the wall. Apparently, the name Spanish Room was intended to convey that many of these items were made in Mexico.
Click image to download a 204-KB PDF of this postcard.
Here’s another view of the Indian Building in Albuquerque. This room seemed to have a somewhat greater emphasis on pottery while the carpets on the floor appear to be more authentically Indian made.
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This is a display of Kachina Dolls. Kachina Dolls had important religious significance to Hopi Indians, but I imagine most of the tourists just regarded them as cute.
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Native Americans all across the continent portrayed thunderbirds in their artwork. Despite claims that these are all based on the same myth, I have to wonder if they have a similar source or if Europeans simply applied the same term to different birds painted or sculpted by various native tribes. In any case, this card purportedly shows a thunderbird above the fireplace mantle along with blankets and pottery.
Click image to download a 273-KB PDF of this postcard.
The Alvarado Hotel is one of 15 Fred Harvey facilities shown on this map. We’ve previously seen a map of Fred Harvey hotels and eating houses printed in the Phostint era, i.e., before 1924, showing more than 50 different hotels and restaurants. While this card doesn’t show restaurants in Chicago or Kansas City, it makes clear that restaurants in Oklahoma and Texas were no longer operating by the time the card was issued. At least one of the restaurants in Texas continued operating until 1940, which helps confirm that these cards are from after that year.