Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company

The Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company, known today as HMSHost, was a business founded by the Van Noy Brothers of Kansas City, Missouri, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century to provide services to travelers aboard passenger trains. At a time when most passenger trains carried neither dining cars nor lounge cars, private businessmen such as the Van Noys recognized a profit opportunity by operating eating houses at railroad junction points and selling snacks and novelties aboard the trains.