FRED HARVEY JEWELRY

Fred Harvey Era green turquoise thunderbird bracelet

Fred Harvey was an English entrepreneur who is responsible for creating the first chain restaurants and hotels in America.  These "Harvey Houses" were located along the Santa Fe railroad lines.

Fred Harvey began marketing machine-made jewelry to tourists that were inspired by Southwestern Navajo jewelry pieces.  Genuine Navajo pieces were much heavier, handmade silver jewelry set with large gemstones while Fred Harvey's "Navajo inspired" pieces were created using thin, machine milled silver sheets and smaller gemstones.  While some Fred Harvey jewelry was made by Native American artists, they were often produced outside of the Southwestern region in places like New York.  Fred Harvey jewelry would feature stampings of Native American symbols and embellished with designs such as thunderbirds, lightning bolts, arrowheads, etc.

Fred Harvey Era jewelry spanned the first half of the 20th Century (circa 1901-1955).