Америкалық кәсіпкер Фредерик Генри Харви өмірі мен қызметі

American businessman

Frederick Henry Harvey (June 27, 1835 – February 9, 1901) was an entrepreneur who developed the Harvey House lunch rooms, restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels, which served rail passengers on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, the Kansas Pacific Railway, the St. Louis San Francisco Railway, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. As an innovative restaurateur and marketer, Fred Harvey is credited with creating the first restaurant chain in the United States. He was also a leader in promoting tourism in the American Southwest in the late 19th century. Fred Harvey and his employees successfully brought new higher standards of both civility and dining to a region widely regarded in the era as "the Wild West." He created a legacy which was continued by his sons and remained in the family until the death of a grandson in 1965. Despite the decline of passenger train patronage in the United States in the 20th century with the advent of the automobile, portions of the Fred Harvey Company have continued to operate since 1968 as part of a larger hospitality industry conglomerate.

Frederick Henry Harvey was born to mixed Scottish and English parents, and immigrated into the United States from Liverpool, England, in 1853 at the age of 17. He took a job in New York City as a pot scrubber and busboy at Smith and McNell's restaurant, a popular New York city restaurant. There he learned the business from the establishment's quirky proprietors, Henry Smith and T. R. McNell. They taught him the importance of quality service, fresh ingredients and the handshake deal. Harvey quickly worked his way up to busboy, waiter and line cook.

Despite successful employment, Harvey felt compelled to return to the food industry. He started a Café with a partner, and the two ran a profitable business. However, the Civil War soon interfered. The partner was sympathetic to the Confederacy and left town, taking all of the money the two had earned. Harvey soon got back on his feet, working for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad which was eventually purchased by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. He ascended the corporate ladder and was transferred to Leavenworth, Kansas, which would remain his home. Harvey traveled frequently while working for the railroads and found himself deeply dissatisfied with the food served to travelers. Harvey's partnership with the Santa Fe began in 1876 when he struck a deal with an acquaintance, Charles Morse, the superintendent of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Harvey opened eating houses along the railroad, and was not charged rent by Morse. The deal was sealed only with a handshake, but it would have huge ramifications for both parties.

Harvey is also known for pioneering the art of commercial cultural tourism. His "Indian Detours" were meant to provide an authentic Native American experience by having actors stage a certain lifestyle in the desert in order to sell tickets to unwitting tourists. Fred Harvey's feats of marketing did not stop at the attraction either, as for tour guides he used attractive women in outfits becoming their figures. This tactic was adapted from his restaurants, where Harvey Girls worked as waitresses. Fred Harvey was also a postcard publisher, touted as "the best way to promote your Hotel or Restaurant." Most postcards were published in co operation with the Detroit Publishing Company. Their Arizona "Phostint" postcards are collected worldwide.

Fred Harvey, through the Fred Harvey Company, is credited with creating the first "chain" restaurants in the United States. He is viewed as the "founding father of the American service industry." A Fred Harvey Museum is located in the former Harvey residence in Leavenworth, Kansas. A movie musical entitled The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse and Angela Lansbury, and based on a near pulp novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, was made in 1946. It won the Academy Award for Best Song for "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." In the 1995 steampunk alternate history novel The Two Georges by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove, Harvey is mentioned in the first chapter as having been in the business of airships in addition to railroads.