Maps on endpapers.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [439]-488) and index.

The legendary life and entrepreneurial vision of Fred Harvey helped shape American culture and history for three generations-from the 1880s all the way through World War II-and still influence our lives today in surprising and fascinating ways. Now award-winning journalist Stephen Fried re-creates the life of this unlikely American hero, the founding father of the nations service industry, whose remarkable family business civilized the West and introduced America to Americans. Appetite for America is the incredible real-life story of Fred Harvey-told in depth for the first time ever-as well as the story of this countrys expansion into the Wild West of Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid, of the great days of the railroad, of a time when a deal could still be made with a handshake and the United States was still uniting. As a young immigrant, Fred Harvey worked his way up from dishwasher to household name. His eating houses and hotels along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad (including historic lodges still in use at the Grand Canyon) were patronized by princes, presidents, and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best cup of coffee in the country. Harveys staff of carefully screened single young women-the celebrated Harvey Girls-were the countrys first female workforce and became genuine Americana, even inspiring an MGM musical starring Judy Garland.