Conspicuous Consumption: The Private Car “Spreckels”

Beginning in the mid-1860s, travelling was a permanent part of Claus Spreckels’ entrepreneurial activities. During the last three decades of his life, Claus Spreckels and his wife spent more time at their Aptos ranch, in Hawaii, on the East Coast, and in Europe than at their homes in San Francisco. While travel from the West Coast had been very arduous at the beginning, transcontinental railroad lines and transatlantic steamship connections made travelling a more comfortable and even a pleasant experience by the 1880s. Private train cars were regularly leased from the railroad companies by the rich, while some of the exponents of the leisure classes, for instance the Californian railroad king Leland Stanford, bought their own private cars beginning in the 1880s. Spreckels’ decision to purchase his own car was not only a concession to his age but also reflected his engagement in railroad business. In addition, it gave him and his sons John D. and Adolph B. a venue in which to entertain friends and business partners while traveling. The cars furnishings were exquisite but quite typical for multi-millionaires of the Gilded Age.

From: Palace on Wheels,” Cortland Evening Standard, November 8, 1898, 2

Beginning in the mid-1860s, travelling was a permanent part of Claus Spreckels’ entrepreneurial activities. During the last three decades of his life, Claus Spreckels and his wife spent more time at their Aptos ranch, in Hawaii, on the East Coast, and in Europe than at their homes in San Francisco. While travel from the West Coast had been very arduous at the beginning, transcontinental railroad lines and transatlantic steamship connections made travelling a more comfortable and even a pleasant experience by the 1880s. Private train cars were regularly leased from the railroad companies by the rich, while some of the exponents of the leisure classes, for instance the Californian railroad king Leland Stanford, bought their own private cars beginning in the 1880s. Spreckels’ decision to purchase his own car was not only a concession to his age but also reflected his engagement in railroad business. In addition, it gave him and his sons John D. and Adolph B. a venue in which to entertain friends and business partners while traveling. The cars furnishings were exquisite but quite typical for multi-millionaires of the Gilded Age.