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Pullman magazine advertisement, "Go by train!",
1946 |
George M. Pullman was a master at advertising and marketing his services
and train accommodations. Beginning with his earliest efforts at creating
sleeping cars during the 1860s, he realized the marketing potential of
"leasing" rather than selling his cars. By leasing them rather than
selling them he was assured of their use by the greatest number of train
lines, rather than just a few who could afford his more costly, elegant
cars. As train lines expanded their services and ridership grew, so could
the number of cars they leased from Pullman.
Once Pullman's Palace Car Company was created and headquartered at
Pullman, Illinois in 1881, marketing began in earnest with Pullman Palace
Car Company descriptive circulars (1886) describing hotel, sleeping,
excursion and hunting cars, the railroad companies leasing his cars
advertised their advantages, and passes were issued allowing guests to
travel during specified times. Publicity about the Town of Pullman and its
famous train cars appeared in newspapers and journals across the country
and overseas and for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, George Pullman
created special "Market Square" apartment accommodations in the Town of
Pullman for guests to stay and ran trains from the Exposition directly to
Pullman. By the time of his death, Pullman had succeeded in making his
name a household word.
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