When did the Chessie Cat come about ?

[fifedog]

Buckeye, I've got to agree with you.  Hey CSX, put the cat back in the "C".  The puney lettering on their SD70Ace's looks pathetic.  I actually give NS higher marks with it's latest Thoroughbred/white face scheme.

[Andrew Falconer]

The Gray with Blue Lettering paint scheme used for CSX in the 5 years following the merger looked more like they thought the Chessie System and Seaboard System schemes were too much fun for a serious railroad. Now that they are freight only, who can sleep like a kitten? They have to work 24 hours a day moving freight. No Time to Sleep, kitties.

Andrew

[chuck]

Chessie the Railroad Kitten by Thomas Dixon outlines the history of the kitty.  They added "Peake", Chessie's "old man" in 1937.  He was used extensively in WW2 adds. 

The Yellow, Blue and Vermillion paint scheme with the sleeping kitten inside the "C" was a beautiful paint scheme.  CSX was nuts to drop that for the primer grey with blue CSX lettering.  It looks like they couldn't even afford real paint.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Buckeye,

I believe that you refer to the Great Northern as the 3rd - the mountain goat?

- Luther

Give that man a cigar! 

 Rocky or one of his kin can be found stuffed inside the Glacier Park Hotel, just a short walk from the railroad station in West Glacier.

[luther_stanton]

Buckeye,

I believe that you refer to the Great Northern as the 3rd - the mountain goat?

- Luther

[Buckeye Riveter]

The classic original Chessie pose, where the small kitten is tucked between the sheets, her paw thrust forward and one eye barely open was the work of Guido Gruenewald, an artist in Vienna.  Gruenewald used cats and kittens in many of his etchings.

The C&O was looking for an new slogan to replace "It's Always Springtime on the C&O".  The new slogan was to be "Sleep Like a Top" , when head of public relations for the railroad saw a reproduction of Gruenewald's etching in a magazine and then asking, "Which is better? 'Sleep Like a Top' or 'Sleep Like a Kitten' ? "  

The "Sleep Like a Kitten" ad first appeared on a timetable in 1932 to promote the air conditioned George Washington.  By 1933, the C&O had put into service enough air-conditioned Pullmans and advertised in the September issue of Fortune Magazine.  Within two days of the ad, the railroad received more than 300 requests for reprints, and it was evident that an ad campaign based on the kitten was a good idea.

In 1934, the C&O printed 40,000 calenders featuring the kitten.  An ad in January 1935 is the first time the kitten was given the name, Chessie.  http://www.tlcrailroadbooks.com/cgi-bin/tlcstore.pl?user_action=detail&catalogno=101T

 

When you visit the Baltimore, Ohio and Wabash Railroad at Roger's Corners, Ohio, make sure you see the 1954 C&O calender commemorating Chessie's 21st birthday.

I personally thought it was the dumbest move to drop the kitten as a corporate symbol by the CSX. 

Now for the trivia question.  There are three major railroads that have used animals as logo?  C&O had the cat and NS has the horse.  Who is the third?

 

Now that is a paint scheme.

[Anonymous]

I heard it had something to do with a litter of cats being born on a passenger train. I may be way off but I believe I heard this on "Trains Unlimited: on the History Channel.

[Andrew Falconer]

I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29

Thanks, John

1972 was when the Chessie System and logo came to be. Rats! My layout is set in the late 50's... I guess I'll have to throw that boxcar away.

Jim 

The fully illustrated Chessie the Kitten appeared on a series of special boxcars in the 1950's. The paint scheme had the slogan "The Chessie Route" under many of the portraits of the kitten sleeping on a pillow.

Andrew

[magicman710]

I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.

- Luther 

Actually, I beleive the X the multiplcation simple. It means that "We are so much more together" (Seaboard and Chessie).

 

 

[magicman710]

I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.

- Luther 

Actually, I beleive the X the multiplcation simple. It means that "We are so much more together" (Seaboard and Chessie).

 

 

[luther_stanton]

Great question John!

And part of Chessie still lives on today as the C in CSX.  S represents the Seaboard Coast Line (which is the merger of Atlantic Coast Line and Searboard Air Line) and I have heard the X is for the inclusion of future mergers.

- Luther 

[Anonymous]

Nah - don't kick it across the room after you repaint it - just box it up and send it to me.  I will take very good care of it.  Some people take in unwanted animals - I'll take your unwanted NS boxcars!

Lisa

[Jumijo]

The boxcar looks too modern for the 50's. Lionel # 9740. It has Chessie System logo, and C&O and MEC reporting marks. Maybe I'll re-paint it as a NS and kick it across the room!

[Anonymous]

Ah - I have info - got it last week while we were in Clifton Forge Va - Anything you ever wanted to know about the C&O can be found at www.cohs.org

This is their link to the story of "Chessie"

http://www.cohs.org/history/chessie.htm

Jim - Your timeframe is still cool! 

Lisa

[magicman710]

I personally have heard 2 rumors. 1, it was a slogan reffering to "the confort of the sleeping passnegers" and an equivilent was a kitten. The other is that a crew found a kitten beside the tracks and named the railroad after it.

We report, you decide- Fox News

[Jumijo]

I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29

Thanks, John

1972 was when the Chessie System and logo came to be. Rats! My layout is set in the late 50's... I guess I'll have to throw that boxcar away.

Jim 

[IRONROOSTER]

The kitten appeared as part of a promotion for passenger trains on the C&O railroad, IIRC in the 30's.  The idea was that the C&O sleepers were so comfortable that even a kitten would get a good night's rest.  There is a book available on the subject - I am at work and don't have the title.  Don't know off hand if the story you heard fits in or not.

Enjoy

Paul 

[csxt30]

I think I have it now, Jim !! Around 1933 they started using it !!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_%28railroad_mascot%29

Thanks, John

[Jumijo]

I'd like to know too, as I have a C&O boxcar with the cat logo on it.

Jim 

[csxt30]

I heard a nice little story on our radio staion that said it came about when the president of the C&O, Walter Touey, (sp?) recieved a letter from a little girl that lost her dog, due to one of the trains running it over. His office was in the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Oh. This was I believe, they said in the 1920s !  He had someone get that little girl a new puppy & in his letter back to her, he said they also had a pet cat named Chessie !!

Thanks for any info !!

John