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 7,500-mile (12,100 km) 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 32,000 miles (51,000 km) 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.
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 90,000 miles (140,000 km) 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.
In 1917, Walt Disney worked for the Van Noy Interstate Company selling products on the Pacific Railroad between Kansas City and Jefferson.
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—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)