Image and Reality

Image and Reality. . , The Pullman Company symbolized America's pursuit of power and progress after the Civil War., In the aftermath of an 1877 railroad workers' strike, the Pullman Palace Car Company represented growing corporate power. Talented architects and engineers designed the Pullman factory, the town around it, and the signature train cars as symbols of progress. The Pullman Car Works' sprawling beauty awed visiting businessmen. Travelers paid a premium to ride in elegant Pullman cars, where uniformed conductors, porters, and waiters offered reliable comfort and style., Pullman's workforce sought their own power in this disorienting time of industrial upheaval. Skilled craftsmen fought for equality and independence against de-humanizing work rates and wage cuts. Some workers secretly joined labor unions. In 1888, woodcarvers struck against an abusive foreman and were blacklisted.,

In spite of the short time in which all this materialized, there was not a square foot of shoddy construction... walls were of brick, roofs of slate, all laid by mechanics who took pride in their work." Irving K. Pond, assistant (1881-1883) to architect Solon Beman, 1934

, [Captions:] , Left Visitors to Pullman in 1892 stepped off trains to this magnificent display of industrial power and beauty. In front of the Car Works, Lake Vista collected exhaust steam from the Corliss Engine and power system., Bottom Left This 1892 engraving of a Pullman Palace Car interior shows the exquisite craftsmanship of Pullman workers., Bottom When the US economy collapsed in 1893 many working-class people lost jobs and homes. This photo by early muckraker journalist Ray Stannard Baker shows unemployed men on Chicago's South Side just before the Pullman Strike and Boycott.