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| Ah, slumbering Chessie |
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad still exists, but you can no longer sleep on a C & O car, since the line no longer has passenger cars. But in days past the railroad advertised you could “sleep like a kitten” on C & O trains, and the railroad’s logo was an adorable tabby kitten, Chessie, snuggled under a sheet with its head and one paw showing.
Chessie was taken from a picture made by the artist Guido Gruenwald that was purchased by a C & O executive. C & O ran its first ad with Chessie in 1934, and the company was flooded with requests for copies of the image.
The railroad knew a good thing when they saw it and started marketing the Chessie image on clothing, bags, playing cards and other consumables. The tiny kitten was, at that time, the best-known cat in America.
