Vintage123

In the first 20 years of this century, magazines are filled with ads enticing the reader to take a trip to California.

The weather was wonderful all year round, they explained, and the state was full of scenic wonders and lots of outdoor activities. The ad above comes from the January 1910 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, and it featured a New Orleans to San Francisco train trip. “Thousands of Attractions for Tourist and Settler,” it boasts, along with more claims about both the wonders of California and about the train itself. The Southern Pacific Sunset Route was actually run by Southern Pacific Railroads. According to this very informative website,

“The Southern Pacific was one of the first coast to coast railroads and played a major role in attracting tourists from all over the world. Their coast to coast train ride cost $360 per person, round trip.” (from SunsetRoute.com)

On the right is an ad for trains to California, found in the December 1917 issue of McCall’s magazine.

According to Wikipedia, the California Limited was billed as “The Finest Train West of Chicago,” and “made its first run on November 27, 1892, with five separate trainsets making continuous round trips on a 2½-day schedule (each way).” (from the Wikipedia article ‘California Limited’). The Wikipedia goes on to say that in 1911, “The Limited loses some of its prestige to the Santa Fe’s new, more opulent de Luxe service.” As you can see in this ad, the Santa Fe de Luxe service is also being offered.

One more thing I found very interesting was the mention in the ad for “Fred Harvey meals”. If you have time, I recommend reading up on this. A quick read of the Wikipedia article on the Fred Harvey company shows that they were well known for offering good food with large portions during a time when train travelers typically had to put up with less than desirable food choices. So the chance to boast about serving these meals was a big advantage to the train line.

Finally, here is one last ad, taken from the November 1907 issue of Home magazine.

This ad is for the Overland Limited, “by far the most luxurious and exclusive of transcontinental trains.” The ad explains that the train leaves from Chicago, and arrives in California in less than three days. Just as in the first ad above, the ad splits into two halves, advertising both the treasures of California as well as the wonders of the train itself. I actually found a video of the Overland Limited, taken in 1902 as it traveled towards the camera. The film is short, and if you can wait until the last 15 or so seconds, you can enjoy a good view of the train as it zooms by, and imagine how many of the people on board were travelers enticed into taking the trip by an ad they had seen in a magazine…