Glacier Park Hotel Company (Great Northern Railway) Waitress Uniform (bodice, skirt, blouse, hat, and apron)

This costume, worn by waitresses employed by the Great Northern Railway, is representative of the company's "See American First" promotional campaign.

The campaign was orchestrated by the company to attract passengers to their trains and guests to their grand hotels and backcountry chalets in Glacier National Park. The rustic Swiss-themed architecture and decor of the hotels and chalets were designed to lure well-heeled travelers to an American national park experience rather than a conventional grand tour of the European Alps.

Images of charming waitresses dressed in Old World outfits serving elegant multiple-course meals were complemented by those of colorful cowboys leading horseback rides and dashing young men driving bright red touring busses through the spectacular landscape of towering mountains and glacial-blue lakes.

Elements of this successful campaign became synonymous with the Glacier National Park experience and remain iconic symbols of the park and its rich history.