SANTA FE ANTIQUES co-owner Everet Apodaca’s lifelong fascination with Fred Harvey and Santa Fe Railway hospitality is on full display at his expansive indoor antique mall. Several glass cases are filled with Harvey ephemera: lunchroom menus, matchbooks, postcards, and railroad advertisements stumping the splendor of New Mexico; a treasure trove of exquisite Fred Harvey silver-and-turquoise jewelry; and sets of sterling silver or ceramic Harvey House dinnerware, platters, coffeepots, cutlery, and creamers. “Many of the pieces are from my personal collection,” the Las Vegas native says. “It’s a sickness.”
Each Harvey Weekend, since 2017, the store holds a Fred Harvey Meet and Greet party, with mariachi music, food, and plenty of Fred Harvey fanfare. “The famous La Fonda twins are always a big hit!” Apodaca says of former Harvey Girls Bernette Jarvis and Beverly Ireland.
Want Harvey wares you can take off the shelf? Find reproduction Fred Harvey china at La Fonda on the Plaza’s gift shop, Detours. The ceramic series by Tucson company HF Coors re-creates Harvey architect and interior designer Mary Colter’s Mimbreño china line, which was exclusively used in the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway’s Super Chief dining cars beginning in 1937. The red Mimbres-culture-inspired designs depict floating rabbits, quail, and turtles, as well as Colter’s take on traditional Native patterns—on dishwasher- and microwave-safe plates, bowls, teapots, and mugs. The former Harvey hotel’s gift shop also stocks replicas of Colter’s prized copper-blade Mimbreño letter opener.