This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.
Inspired by what must have been a less than luxurious train ride from Buffalo to New York in the early 1860s, George Pullman founded the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois in 1867. The company had a long and illustrious business cycle that spanned more than a century. Starting from humble beginnings based solely upon the vision of one man , the company rose to grandeur via the railroad boom of the early 1900s. At one point, Pullman even owned it's own "company town." The town, called Pullman, was located 14 miles south of downtown Chicago and was home to nearly 9,000 men, women, and children at its peak under the control of Pullman.
As one would expect, just when things were in high gear for Pullman, the government intervened. In the interest of antitrust laws, Pullman Inc. was ordered by the Justice Department to divest itself of either the Pullman Company (operating) or the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (manufacturing). After three years of negotiation, the Pullman Company was sold to a railroad consortium for approximately $40 million. In much the same way, the Justice Department is making trouble on the rails again today.
The Pullman Co. didn't vanish as much as it was fractured and absorbed. It began with the 1944 sell off of passenger car operating rights and continuing through until 1987 when subway car manufacturing, performed under the name Pullman Technology, was sold to Candian conglomerate, Bombardier. The merger and acquisition history of Pullman from 1981 through today reads like a who's who of transportation, oil, engineering, and associated technologies. In fact, I believe that George Pullman would be amazed to discover that the original thread of the Pullman name was still active in manufacturing as late as 2004, when Pullman is reported to have been manufacturing "rubberized" automotive parts under the control of Tenneco Automotive.
Let us know in the comments what you miss about Pullman. And be sure to check out other Companies That Have Vanished.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-06-2008 @ 11:20AM
Jack Margarella said...
Through sale of the company school. Pullman Foundation still offers college tuition assistance to decendents of Pullman.
6-08-2008 @ 11:52PM
Sally said...
Pullman is a company not well-regarded by the labor movement. Yes, George Pulllman built a company town for his workers--but that made them almost indentured servants, if not slaves. I believe that the workers were paid in "scrip" rather than cash, which could be used only in the company store, therefore giving the Pullman Company a total lock on prices. There was no alternative employer; I don't know what the education or health care system was. (I suspect company doctors cleared workers before they were really ready to go back to work; certainly the incentive to do so was there). They started in the days before the 40-hour workweek and before child labor laws. Miners were the real impetus for the beginnings of the union movement; but Pullman played its part. Amazing that the name still lived on so recently--and despite the company's history (not so unusual for its times) still somewhat gratifying for a respector of things historical
9-10-2008 @ 12:20AM
Kathy said...
Great story. It is an interesting corporate story. The company's impact was lasting, but also truly international - and that was even in 1880!
Just some points of correction/ clarification here to the posts that were left:
- Most of Sally's post is incorrect and mostly labor propoganda "history". I can discuss each point for you but suggest instead that you perhaps look at an excellent balanced source such as "Pullman:An Experiment in Industrial Order and Community" by S. Buder. It is a very interesting and complex history and am very discouraged when I see it boiled down like this and just wrong.
- And to Jack's posting, yes, there is a George M. Pullman Foundation. The original "school" he referrs to was Pullman Free School of Manual Training. This school was built with funds bequeathed by Pullman at his death. The school campus is now a Chicago Public High School. The Foundation today is the current extension of that endowment to educate the people of the town of Pullman.
http://www.pullmanfoundation.org/history.htm