Fred Harvey was an English entrepreneur responsible for America’s first chain restaurants known as “Harvey Houses.” These establishments were placed along new Santa Fe Railroad routes through the American Southwest. By 1885, there were seventeen Harvey House locations staffed by “Harvey Girls” who served hungry patrons. 

Each Harvey House location also sold souvenirs, including jewelry, to tourists. Many of the jewelry items featured Southwestern themes and turquoise. In 1899, Fred Harvey Company’s “Indian Goods” manager, Herman Schweizer, began supplying turquoise stones and pre-formed silver blanks to traders to make “railroad jewelry.”

Although Fred Harvey died in 1901, his son Ford Harvey continued the business. Among the popular items marketed by the company during this period were brooches and bracelets decorated with thunderbird symbols, which the company copyrighted in 1909, along with others. Schweizer devised many of the “Native American” emblems found on this type of jewelry. The images were based on tourists’ perceptions rather than genuine indigenous culture.

Demand for Fred Harvey Company’s jewelry was high between 1900 and 1930, while the railroad lunchrooms remained open. Even after that peak, the company still marketed this souvenir jewelry for another decade or so. 

While many pieces of Native American-style jewelry are marketed as “Fred Harvey era” today, only some of them were crafted by tribe members. The railroad jewelry is quite collectible. 

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