Vintage Fred Harvey Style Bracelet, c. 1940
Navajo Jewelry
hand stamped sterling silver, turquoise stone
5.5” around x 1” opening x 1 1/8” wide
In the early 1900’s, the Southwest, and Santa Fe specifically, became a booming tourist destination. Tourists came from across America to explore the vast landscape, learn about the different cultures out West, and purchase jewelry and tokens made by Native Americans.
Over time, artisans and traders who ran trading posts learned that tourists’ taste often differed from that of the Native artisans. Tourists preferred jewelry that was lighter and had smaller embellishments and stonework, while many Native jewelry artists preferred larger stones and heavier silver styles.
To make the jewelry more attractive to tourists, artisans began designing pieces that catered to their tastes: lighter pieces with recurring design elements and symbols such as thunderbirds, crossed arrows, arrowheads, dogs, and zig zag snakes.
At the same time, an entrepreneur named Fred Harvey (1835-1901) set out to build a hospitality enterprise across the Southwest. He began his historic endeavors by first opening Harvey House restaurants, then he developed a catering business in the Santa Fe Railway cars, followed by building Fred Harvey Hotels along the rail route. It was in these hotels and eating houses that Fred Harvey decided to develop and sell a line of lightweight, lower-cost iconic jewelry that we now know as Fred Harvey Jewelry.
