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the strike had taken its toll on the support and
sympathy of the American public. When
the General Managers’ Association, the
federation of railroads that had overseen the
response to the strike, turned on its workers
and began hiring non-union employees, the
strike fizzled. Federal troops were recalled on
July 20th, and The Pullman Company
reopened on August 2, agreeing to rehire the
[non-criminal] striking workers on the
condition that they sign a pledge never to join
a union.
THE AFTERMATH
This local movement for worker rights had
Photo of the streamlined New York Central train the
20th Century Limited leaving Chicago’s LaSalle Street set off a nationwide spark that strengthened
station on a trial run June 9, 1938. The train was and emboldened unions across the country.
put into service on June 15, 1938. To heal the nation and conciliate the
organized labor, President Grover Cleveland
A New York Central 20th Century Limited Pullman Car
realized $2,640 at a Christie’s auction back in 2006. and Congress changed the designation of
Labor Day to a federal holiday. This legisla-
tion pushed through Congress just six
This All Pullman Train travel Poster sold for $50 days after the strike ended.
at an online Bradfords auction in 2020 and shows Pullman’s personal reputation was
Pullman’s international prowess. soiled after the Pullman Strike. Three
years later, in 1897, he died of a heart
poverty, he looked to build a company town attack at the age of 66, and in an
adjacent to the factory for his workers. interesting twist of historic fact, Robert
Pullman believed that the country air and Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln,
fine facilities, “without agitators, saloons, became the next company president.
and city vice districts,” would result in a The company closed its factory in the
happy, loyal workforce. He employed Pullman neighborhood of Chicago in
Architect Solon Spencer Beman and 1955. The company ceased production
Landscape Architect Nathan Barret to after the Amtrak Superliner cars were
design the buildings and layout of Pullman introduced in 1982. Its remaining
and its factories. designs were purchased in 1987 when it
The town of Pullman featured row A Famous Pullman: The Erie 400 Interior was absorbed by another company.
houses with such unique amenities as In 1925, Financier J.P. Morgan Jr. commissioned The Erie 400
indoor plumbing (flush toilets), spacious, for his personal rail car. At 85 feet long, the elegant Erie 400 PULLMAN
well-ventilated and well-lit rooms, and featured an open platform at the rear, an observation lounge,
steam heating for the executive homes, well four large bedroom suites, private baths, a large dining room, COLLECTIBLES
above the standards of the day. The company a full kitchen, and crew quarters. Pullman collectibles cover a lot of
town offered shopping areas, churches, territory. The company branded all aspects of the passenger experience,
theaters, parks, and a library. providing travelers with lots to take home as souvenirs of their journey
While designed and built as a model campus and community for his aboard a Pullman. Headrest covers, blankets, individually wrapped
employees, Pullman pulled the rug out from under his workers when soap bars, wooden coat hangers, hand towels, menus, tableware, and
manufacturing demand fell off in 1894. To cut costs, Pullman cut jobs more have now found their way on to eBay, most under $100.
and wages and increased working hours, but did not lower rents or Occasionally, Pullman items of a greater value come up for sale at
prices in the company town. As a result, many workers and their Railroadiana auctions.
families faced starvation. When a delegation of workers tried to present While branded items have more sentimental value than financial,
their grievances about low wages, poor living conditions, and 16-hour Pullman model train cars are another story for train collectors. Model
workdays directly to Pullman, he refused to meet with them and
ordered them fired. The delegation then voted to strike, and Pullman
workers walked off the job on May 11, 1894.
Early on as the news spread, a great deal of sympathy existed in
Chicago and elsewhere for the Pullman workers, who were seen as
common men and women tyrannized by an abusive employer and
landlord. Soon, other rail unions joined in solidarity. The strike and
subsequent boycott by the American Railway Union shut down much
of the nation’s freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit.
As the strike wore on, Pullman pressured President Cleveland to end
it by issuing a federal injunction that sent federal troops into Chicago
on July 3 to end the “reign of terror” driven by workers and to
undermine the boycott by getting the trains running again. Their
presence only incited more anger and violence, and on July 6 some
6,000 rioters destroyed hundreds of railcars in the South Chicago
Panhandle yards. The next day, national guardsmen, after having been
assaulted, fired into a mob, killing between 4 and 30 people and
wounding many others. MTH HO Pullman 5-Car Heavyweight Passenger Set 80-40007.
At almost three months in, the wanton and destructive violence of These HO Heavyweight passenger cars operate on 22” Radius Curves. This MTH
the Pullman workers, and the inconvenience and financial hardship of Pullman 5-Car Set includes four sleeper cars, and an observation.
The set has a MSRP of $469.95. photo: MTH Electric Trains
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