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The Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company was a business founded by the Van Noy Brothers of Kansas City, Missouri, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century to provide services to travelers aboard passenger trains. At a time when most passenger trains carried neither dining cars nor lounge cars, private businessmen such as the Van Noy's recognized a profit opportunity by operating eating houses at railroad junction points and selling snacks and novelties aboard the trains. ==History== In 1893, Ira Clinton Van Noy formed a retail cigar and news business at No. 1076 Union Avenue, in Kansas City, Missouri. Four years later, on July 26, 1897, he joined with two of his brothers, Charles S. Van Noy and J.L. Van Noy, along with G.W. Krebs of St. Louis, to incorporate the Van Noy Railroad News Company. Railroad 'news services' generally sold magazines, newspapers, books, tobacco products, fruits, nuts and novelties from newsstands located in train stations and by the use of a 'news butch', a railroad news service employee who walked through the train making sales. As the business flourished, the Van Noy brothers became prominent members of local Kansas City society. I.C. Van Noy, the eldest brother, served as president of the company, and the youngest brother, Henry Clay Van Noy, also joined the company when he came of age. The Van Noy Railroad News Company grew rapidly after securing large contracts with Missouri Pacific Railway and its subsidiary, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. In the era before dining cars were carried on trains, Van Noy eating houses were established at points along the Missouri Pacific system to feed passengers. Later, at important terminals and train crew division points, Van Noy hotels were constructed to house both travelers and railroad train crews laying over between trips. Reflecting the success of the company, in 1909 both I.C. Van Noy and C.S. Van Noy constructed large homes on land at 6700-6800 Elmwood in Kansas City. The two homes were added the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. By 1910, the Van Noy Railroad News Company controlled sales distribution along of railroad. The Company also had 52 hotels and restaurants, 20 concession stores, and 21 distribution offices. The employee count at this time was about 1,600. In 1912, the company name was changed to the Van Noy Railway Hotel and News Company, reflecting the company's increased emphasis on the hotel side of the business. In 1916, when he was 15 years old, Walt Disney spent a summer working for the Van Noy Interstate Company as a news butch, selling merchandise on various rail lines radiating out of Kansas City. His first run was from Kansas City to Jefferson City on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, but he also made runs on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway, according to an article that Disney wrote years later for Railroad Magazine. Van Noy Railway Hotel and News began a series of mergers and acquisitions in 1914, starting with the Brown News Company (also headquartered in Kansas City) which was acquired on October 1, 1914. In 1915, the company began consolidating operations with the New York City based Interstate News Company. The company name was changed to Van Noy Interstate News Company in 1917, but the company headquarters remained in Kansas City under the leadership of Ira C. Van Noy. In 1922, the company owned distribution avenues covering of railroad, and had accumulated a massive portfolio of concession stands, stores, restaurants and hotels. However, the need for railroad news services and en route eating houses was declining as railroads added dining cars to more trains. In early 1923, Missouri Pacific Railroad ended their long standing affiliation with Van Noy Interstate, although Van Noy continued to operate hotels at some smaller terminals where train crews ended their runs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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