This beautiful reproduction poster has been re-mastered from an original Fred Harvey / Santa Fe Railroad “Indian Detour” brochure from 1937.
The vibrant colors and detail of this classic image have been painstakingly brought back to life to preserve a great piece of history.
The high-resolution image is printed on heavy archival photo paper, on a large-format, professional giclée process printer. The poster is shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, and is ready for framing.
The 13"x19" format is an excellent image size that looks great as a stand-alone piece of art, or as a grouped visual statement. These posters require no cutting, trimming, or custom framing, and a wide variety of these frames are readily available at your local craft or hobby retailer, and online.
A great vintage print for your home, shop, or business!
HISTORY OF THE FRED HARVEY “INDIAN DETOUR”
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached the Pacific coast in 1885, making the entire continent between the Atlantic and Pacific accessible by rail. With the invention of the motor car, accessibility to out-of-the-way places from all stopping points along the railway became possible. Major R. Hunter Clarkson was one of the first entrepreneurs to commercialize the romantic idea of the Southwest. His words, "There is more of historic, prehistoric, human and scenic interest ... than in any similar area of the world, not excepting India, Egypt, Europe or Asia.... The big idea is not only to let people know what is in Northern New Mexico but to tell them what it is when they see it," spoken on August 25, 1925. This was the start of the Fred Harvey Company's "Grand Tour" era.
Tours to the Indian country known as Indian Detours and Off the Beaten Path, were chauffeured and guided motor car tours which swept people away from the familiarity of the train into remote places of New Mexico and Arizona. These tours were offered as side trips on the major routes from the Midwest to Southern California. Tourists -- called "detourists" and "dudes" -- were met at the railroad stations by women dressed in Southwestern attire and accompanied by a cowboy driven Harvey car. Iconic Southwest locations such as the Grand Canyon, Rainbow Arch, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert and other American Indian lands were offered for the adventurous and curious, all within the comfort of the motor car!
