I have seen this most of my childhood through teens years, and never realized that the cat's head was on a pillow... I got the impression it was a bad artistic representation of a cat running (makes more sense for a transportation company to have a moving symbol than a sleeping symbol)
“Chessie System” was not a new name for the C&O. During the Great Depression the railroad’s management sought ways to boost the railroad’s declining passenger business. The C&O’s public relations officer in the 1930s saw a newspaper advertisement that featured “a cuddly sleeping kitten" as a symbol to promote the C&O’s new air-conditioned sleeping cars and to revive the declining passenger count. He purchased the artist’s sleeping kitten artwork for $5; then developed the slogan “Sleep Like a Kitten and Wake Up Fresh as a Daisy in Air-Conditioned Comfort.”
Many consider “Chessie” as “the greatest marketing idea ever conceived by a railroad.” For those old enough it is remembered in advertisements with a simplified slogan – “Sleep Like A Kitten.”
After passenger rail travel declined in the years following World War II, the Chessie the kitten logo was discontinued; by the late 1960s it had been forgotten by most of the public.
Some 40 years after Chessie was first used in the railroad’s advertising, Watikins charged Howard Skidmore, a successor to Lionel Probert, to lead the effort to design a new corporate logo and paint scheme. Skidmore assigned the task to Franklyn Carr, who led the company’s creative team.
Some 40 years after Chessie was first used in the railroad’s advertising, Watikins charged Howard Skidmore, a successor to Lionel Probert, to lead the effort to design a new corporate logo and paint scheme. Skidmore assigned the task to Franklyn Carr, who led the company’s creative team.
Several factors went into Carr’s work – the Chessie System had to have a bright paint scheme to attract attention for “safety reasons,” while “bold lettering would show strength and also catch the eye.”
Using the “C&O’s famous kitten as a template,” Carr “overlaid the design within a large letter ‘C’ as a silhouette.”
Fun fact 1: C&O received thousands of letters from every state and from overseas with questions about Chessie and requests for calendars. Within one month after the 1935 kitten made her appearance, more than 20,000 letters were received requesting a calendar. At one point, the letters came to C&O at a rate of more than 1,000 per day.
Fun fact 3: Chessie merchandise appeared from various manufacturers including Sears, Roebuck and Company produced a line of Chessie blankets, bedspreads, and matching curtains for children’s rooms in the 1960’s.
Another interesting feature of the Chessie System was it's fleet of car ferries. One can see the ferry routes on the posted system map between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Kewaunee, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan. This ferry service was commenced in the late 1800s to facilitate rail traffic moving to points east by bypassing Chicago where it could take up to a week for a rail car to get through. Often cars simply went missing, especially hi value shipments...if you get the drift.
ReplyDeleteOne vessel remains in service today between Manitowoc and Ludington, the Badger which dates to 1953. She's presently operated by the Michigan Carferry Service out of Ludington, primarily as a tourist attraction. As of late 2022 the Badger was still propelled by two Uniflow coal fired steam engines, although the owner is exploring other power options.
The map itself reveals the magnitude of rail infrastructure in America. Each of the thin grey lines on the map represents a railroad route. They are literally everywhere. What we have to keep in mind is these routes were all built in the 1800s, long before trucks and roads could deliver consumer products to the smaller towns and cities across the nation. A vast majority of these branch lines are long gone now.
Thanks for posting this. I never knew about the kitten picture and how that was used for the C logo.
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