The Town of Pullman: Success or Failure? The invention of the railroad was probably the most important occurrence in the nineteenth century. The United States became a unified front and interstate travel become safe, cheap and efficient. Industries related to the railroad began to prosper, fueling much of the American economy. Entrepreneurs quickly began to take advantage of this boom and thus “American Big Business” was born. George Pullman was one of the many prominent tycoons of this “Railroad Era.” Through the use of his talented ingenuity and high organizational skills, he acquired a vast fortune and immense power. George Pullman is most notably credited for the creation of the Pullman Sleeping Car.
Its invention enhanced the pleasure of railroad travel by making it more comfortable, clean and exciting. As George Pullman’s invention gained quick public approval, his company began to expand at an enormous rate. This presented a great deal of problems to Pullman. “The company wanted to increase efficiency and economy in servicing and providing cars by spreading facilities. He [Pullman] wanted several hundred acres adjacent to railroad and water transportation.” In 1868, Pullman decided on the Calumet region in southern Chicago. Pullman selected the Calumet region because it offered “cheap land, low taxes, and excellent transportation.” Few people knew his second and main intention was to build a model town adjacent to the new factory, which he hoped would improve his business enterprise.
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Pullman was deeply troubled by the social problems of the mid- nineteenth century. He believed that they were the root of the labor unrest his company was experiencing. “The period showed a dramatic intensification in the numbers of the urban poor, as people with little capital and few useful skills came to the cities in search for employment.” Living conditions were terrible and congestion, dirt, and poor sanitation were held responsible for diseases. Crime, prostitution and violence were blamed on poor housing while alcoholism became synonymous with the slum. Many attributed the poverty and the poor living conditions of the working class to “the lack of such virtues such as frugality, industriousness and temperateness.” It was believed that the general solution to the problem of the workingman and his family was to elevate their character. Through Pullman’s experience in building luxury sleeping cars he knew that “beauty improved the individual.” Pullman intended to create a model town for workers, which would “attract and retain a superior type of workingman who could in turn be elevated and refined by the physical setting.” In Pullman’s heart, this would result in happy employees and a consequent “reduction in absenteeism, drinking and shirking on the job.” Essentially, the town would protect the company from labor unrest and strikes.
The town of Pullman began to quickly populate as an industrial and residential center. Pullman’s intention of improving living conditions was an immediate success. Outside visitors frequently commented on the clean streets, beautiful foliage and newly erected tenements and houses. They were more spacious and comfortable than those of the inner city. However, it must be noted that even though the new residences were quite remarkable they could not be purchased.
Instead, they were rented out to Pullman in advance who received a reasonable 6 percent profit. Many historians believe that the inability to own property was one of the main flaws of Pullman. “The average length of residence in 1892 was four and a quarter years. Many residents later purchased homes in neighboring towns. Asked why he had bought a home, an ex-resident answered that he felt a greater freedom in his own place.” The company did nothing to stop the residents from moving out.
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It was their belief that the town’s moral environment had prepared the men for the “symbol of middle-class respectability.” The behavior of the workingmen showed a great improvement as well. With the prohibition of alcohol in the town, men would bring a more substantial amount of their paycheck home and usually deposit it in the Pullman Savings Bank. In the short run, Pullman was satisfied with how the improvement of living conditions increased productivity in his factory and content with the workers. However, this was short-lived. By 1893, it was generally accepted that many men in Pullman had two grievances. “One concerned what was believed to be the company’s efforts to exploit its tenants through overcharging them for rents and utilities.
The other was the fact that the company deliberately interfered with private life by ringing the residents in red tape and hiring “spotters” to spy on men after working hours.” Pullman believed in total control of his company and strongly objected to unions. Because he believed the car factory was his own, it was his intention to manage the business in the best interest of the shareholders. When Pullman planned his model town his chief concerns were for elevating business productivity. His emphasis on social conditions in the town was unrealistic with the true intentions of the workingmen. Even though the town was equipped with a library, theater, church and hotel bar they were ill matched to the simple bred workers. The library’s facilities were very vast, yet membership never exceeded two hundred.
“Some believed it too expensive, while others found the luxuriousness forbidding.” The Arcade Theater was also marvel architecture, yet it was under the total control of Pullman. “He wanted to pick only such plays as he could invite his family to enjoy with the utmost propriety.” This signifies Pullman’s control of the town and the lack of democracy it had. When Richard Ely visited the town (writing for Harper’s magazine) he said: “The town’s weakness was the total power of the company and the absence of self-government. In consequence, the resident had everything done for him, nothing by him…
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the benefits resulting from Pullman’s superior environment would be more than nullified by its lack of democracy.” Many of the residents of Pullman felt they lacked an identity within the town. The company controlled many minute aspects of living and demanded for residents to uphold certain social rules. Many even went on to publicly admit that they “were on public display and must act so as not to shame the company.” Families lacked a sense of privacy. If a family would be seen in the evening lounging on their doorsteps, “the husband in his shirtsleeves smoking a pipe, his untidy wife darning, and half-dressed children playing about them” the company inspectors would visit to threaten fines unless proper care was taken. The construction of the Greenstone church also proved to be unsuccessful.
The town’s first settlers organized congregations and improvised their own accommodations. By 1882, the Roman Catholics, Methodists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians were holding Sunday services. When Pullman attempted to gather these denominations into one Union Church he was unsuccessful. The various religious groups wished to uphold their traditions and culture. Assimilation was out of the question. The church remained unoccupied for a number of years.
Likewise, the Florence Hotel, the only place to consume liquor in the town was also a failure. “A workingman wrote in 1893 that he frequently walked by and looked at but dared not enter Pullman’s hotel with its private bar.” Most of the workingman found the prices too high while others were intimidated by the hotel’s decor. The town might have improved living conditions, yet it failed to meet the social consideration of its most dense population: the workers. It’s arguable whether Pullman’s town was either a complete success or failure. In my opinion, it was more of a failure than a success.
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The beneficial living conditions and short-lived business productivity were greatly outweighed by its inconsistencies in social planning and happiness for the individual. A town is recognized for the individuals who live in it, not the business it seems to incorporate. Pullman had a disillusioned, egotistical regard for his workers. When asked about his intentions on building the model town, he commented: “Capital will not invest in sentiment, nor for sentimental considerations for the laboring class. But let it once be proved that enterprises of this kind are safe and profitable and we shall see great manufacturing corporations developing similar enterprises and thus a new era will be introduced in the history of labor.” Pullman never seemed to grasp how a workingman’s happiness must be fulfilled on a much deeper level than his mere physical settings. The leisurely enjoyment of oneself as well as an overall establishment of identity was the key.
When Pullman planned his model town, it was a dream which he envisioned for himself. A dream which would increase his wealth, improve his business and make him renowned. In his heart, he might have never intentionally wanted to socially deprive his work force; it just so happened that the planning of the town did not take this into proper consideration.
