Pullman Company

Uncommon card · No. 136435

The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century development of mass production and takeover of rivals, the company developed a virtual monopoly on production and ownership of sleeping cars. At the company's peak in the early 20th century, its cars accommodated 26 million people a year, and it in effect operated "the largest hotel in the world". Its production workers initially lived in a planned worker community, known as a company town, named Pullman, Chicago. In response to a downturn in business as a result of the Panic of 1893, the Pullman Company cut wages by 25% without reducing rents on company-mandated housing. This resulted in the Pullman Strike, one of the most consequential strikes in United States labor history. Pullman developed the sleeping car, which carried his name into the 1980s...

Read on Wikipedia · Image In The Story of Pullman, 1893., Public domain