Chessie the railroad kitten: One of many ads displaying Chessie with the slogan, “Sleep Like a Kitten.” Courtesy of the C&O Historical Society The lightbulb moment – Chessie is a natural! Chessie the railroad kitten: This is called “Starlight Chessie,” and is one of the most popular images. After just two days of circulation, the railway’s offices were swamped with more than 300 requests for reprints of the ad. With the rights in hand, “Chessie” as she became known to all, was “adopted” into her first ad campaign for the C&O appearing in the September 1933 issue of Fortune magazine with the slogan, “Sleep Like a Kitten.” The slogan replaced “Sleep Like A Top” and was used to attract business travelers to all three passenger trains with their new air-conditioned sleeping cars: The George Washington, introduced in 1932, along with The Sportsman and The Fast Flying Virginian in 1933. His original drawing was sold to the Robertson-Deschamps Gallery in New York. Gruenewald or Grünewald, a Viennese artist, specialized in drawing cats and other animals, accepted the offer. The railroad paid artist Guido Gruenewald – name spelled in a variety of ways – a mere $5 for use of his work entitled, “The Sleeping Cat,” – a price comparable to $100 today. Probert set his sights on obtaining the drawing. He unknowingly goes forth and transforms this kitten into an ingenious advertising campaign for C&O based on a love story – a story that was unexpectedly written and directed by the public.Īt first, this cute, nameless kitten was nothing more than an artist’s muse. However, when he sees this drawing, his motivation changes. Bernet, Probert is just about to settle on the slogan, “Sleep Like A Top,” for an advertising campaign that will promote C&O’s new air-conditioned sleeping cars. As the assistant to Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s President J. He immediately became enthralled with her gentle appeal. ![]() Probert stumbled upon a drawing of the kitten in the Sunday magazine section of the New York Herald Tribune. Chessie’s evolving role with the C&O Chessie the railroad kitten: This is the drawing of Chessie with her two kittens, Nip and Tuck fast asleep. was engulfed in The Great Depression, families were searching for hope, and World War II was lurking over everyone’s shoulder. Her story, as it develops, flooded the mainstream media, creeping into people’s homes during a painful and uncertain time. Born to the world in 1933, from the imagination of many, Chessie’s tale begins innocently with her asleep, one eye slightly opened, and a paw stretched out from underneath a blanket.
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