This is a reproduction of the Phoebe Snow advertising campaign for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (1900–1917). Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the railroad. She was one of the first advertising characters based on a live model.
Rail travel around 1900 was tough on passengers’ clothing. After a long trip on a train hauled by a bituminous coal-fired steam locomotive, travelers would often disembark covered in black soot. This was usually not the case when the locomotive burned anthracite, a cleaner-burning type of coal. The Lackawanna owned vast anthracite mines in Pennsylvania and, up until World War I, used anthracite in its passenger locomotives. As a result, the railroad could legitimately claim that passengers’ clothing would remain clean after a long journey.
To promote this, Phoebe Snow was described as a “young New York socialite” and a frequent passenger on the Lackawanna. She was always depicted wearing a white dress, which remained spotless after her journey.
The first advertisement featured an image of Phoebe Snow along with a short poem:
Says Phoebe Snow
about to go
upon a trip to Buffalo:
“My gown stays white
from morn till night
upon the Road of Anthracite.”
It’s a clever reminder of how even something as simple as clean clothing could become a powerful advertising message.
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