Greyhound

 This company is based in Dallas, Texas and its founders are Carl Wickman and Orville S. Caesar. Wickman and Caesar merged with other bus companies that created the then, Motor Transit Management. Motor Transit Management eventually became Greyhound Corporation in 1930 with its trademark 'running dog'. The earliest backers of Greyhound were the railroads, like Great Northern railroad and the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. 

The YouTube series, The Autobiography of Jane Eyre has Jane (Alysson Hall) at a Greyhound bus station, after she decided to leave Rochester's estate.  This is indicated when she says, "I'm at the Greyhound station now. Waiting for a bus. Whichever comes first."(0:51, "I'm Okay" Ep: 58). This statement made by Jane not only reveals the highly recognizable transportation company, Greyhound but it indirectly reveals the ease and the unease that comes with waiting for, or boarding a bus. Later in the episode, Jane gets mugged and assaulted while waiting for the bus (2:44,"I'm Okay" Ep: 58). The two views of the convenience in going on a bus and being able to get to a destination quickly is contrasted by the risks of waiting for, or riding on a bus with a mixed group of people who can take advantage someone. This risk is also featured in Livesey's The Flight of Gemma Hardy, as it parallels the scene where Gemma realizes that someone stole her purse while she was riding the bus (p.289, Livesey). In Bronte's Jane Eyre, Jane did not have to worry about boarding a bus only to be mugged, like Gemma and Hall's Jane Eyre, but she still faced inconveniences during her time in the Victorian Era. The coach, which was the only form of transporation available then, was a lot slower in getting people to where they wanted to go. The ride to one's destination was uncomfortable from the cramped quarters that one would be seated in. This meant that Jane would not only would remain uncomfortable aboard the coach, but she would have to remain that way for a longer period of time. Transportation from the Victorian Era to today had both its pros and cons. Though the advantage of having a quicker means to travel via bus was avaliable in Livesey's The Flight of Gemma Hardy andThe Autobiography of Jane Eyre, it still had disadvantages with the characters being robbed, either violently and discreetly. Despite these disadvantages, the contemporary convenience of riding a bus is a benefit that is taken for granted by today's society, since having to ride in a slow uncomfortable coach for an extended period no longer exists, as it did in the Victorian Era.

Bibliography

Hall, Alysson/Jane Eyre. The Autobiography of Jane Eyre. "I'm Okay-Ep: 58." YouTube, 21 Jan. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgmJSD3azik&list=PL3NxAiyc-89HP3wHV2y5mbwi2TidvocKZ&index=63

Livesey, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. HarperCollins, 2012.

Information Source: "Greyhound Lines, Inc." britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 5 Dec. 2014. Web. Date Accessed, 16 Oct. 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greyhound-Lines-Inc

Image Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2014/07/13/greyhound-transformation-100th-anniversary/12364103/

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

1914