Old West & Native American Auction
Lot 1457:
Description
Collection of ten vintage American Indian themed postcards associated w/ the Fred Harvey Company. All centered on the iconic “Indian Detour” and the romanticized Southwest traveler experience of the early 20th century. The collection vividly illustrates the Harvey Company’s marketing prowess, pairing luxury rail travel and hotels (like the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon) with staged, curated interactions with Native American culture, particularly of the Pueblo and Navajo peoples. The postcards themselves are a mix of real photo postcards and chromolithographs, featuring scenes of Native Americans weaving, potting, a portrait of a chief in full headdress, and images of the famous Harvey Houses. The included exhibit label provides an excellent historical summary of the company’s founder, Fred Harvey (1835-1901), and the “Indian Detour” excursion, which covered the Santa Fe Railroad territory in the Southwest. The materials are paper stock, typical of early 20th-century postcards, with various messages, stamps, and postmarks visible on the backs of some cards, adding to their historical charm. Condition is generally good to very good for vintage ephemera; some cards show light toning, minor corner bumps, and one or two exhibit pencil notations, but the colors remain relatively bright and the images clear. Each postcard H 5.5”, W 3.5” From the Native American display in Donley’s Wild West Town.
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