Union Station, a Visitor and a History Lesson
Mike and I met our friend Patty Wolfe at Union Station in St. Louis last week. She was visiting from Houston Texas and had called us to arrange a get together. Patty suggested meeting at Union Station as she had heard a lot about the new attractions there.
Right next to our restaurant was a new Aquarium and above that on the next floor was a ropes course and a mirror maze. Outside we could see a ferris wheel with enclosed cars, a merry go round and a Soda Fountain. As most of the employees were outside spreading salt on the ground, we decided to forgo actually checking out any of the attractions.
Since Union Station was once an actual train station, Mike and I were expecting to pick up a bit of history during our visit. What we did not expect was what we learned. It turns out that Patty's mom, Frances Menown, was a nurse-stewardess on the B&O railroad that ran through this station. Her train ran from St. Louis to Washington DC to New York. Patty thinks it slowed down her parents courtship as Frances was often out of town!
I did some research on the Internet. Nurse-stewardesses were first hired by the railroads in the late 1930's. Passenger service on the trains was declining at that time as people drove cars for short trips and the roads became better. One way to draw passengers back to the trains was better service. Registered women nurses in their 20's were hired 'to look after the comfort of the passengers' according to the Historic Engineering Record of the National Park Service.
Frances worked as a nurse-stewardess for four or five years probably from 1949 to 1953. She had to quit when she got married. One of her repeat passengers was President Harry Truman and his wife and daughter.
Mike and I had a great time visiting with Patty and are already looking forward to her next visit. Although next time, Patty is thinking of visiting the farm. I can only hope it will be just as informative.
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