Hotel Portland - Portland, Oregon

This wasn't exactly a request, but Beth commented on yesterday's card and mentioned that her grandmother worked at the Hotel Portland. So, I thought I'd post a card of the hotel in all its splendor. You just have to use your imagination to fill in the finery of the elegant guests and the parties. In its heyday, this was the place to see and be seen. The Hotel Portland opened in 1890. It closed in 1950 and was demolished shortly thereafter to make way for a parking lot for the Meier and Frank department store. Thirty years later it was replaced with Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's living room. The square is lively and hosts many great events, so if the Hotel Portland had to be replaced with something, this was actually a good outcome. The card was sent in November, 1906. It reads:

Portland Nov 9 -

This is a little better than the Columbine both in grub and furnishings. Regards   JM

Will see you all soon.

Although Portland lost the Hotel Portland, it is very fortunate to have retained a number of its old hotels, including the Heathman Hotel, the Benson Hotel, and the Hotel Multnomah (now an Embassy Suites.) I still have fond memories of a visit to Portland when I stayed at the Imperial Hotel (now the Hotel Lucia.)

Hotel Albert-New York

The original 12-story building of the Hotel Albert was designed in 1881 by Henry Hardenbergh, who also designed the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota. The postcard probably dates from the early 1920s.

This card has a lot to tell. It is not a postcard to be mailed, but rather a letter of introduction. For a woman traveling alone, a letter of introduction  was very important. Without it, hotels might wonder if you were a prostitute and deny you a room. The letter of introduction is from The Margaret Louisa at the New York YWCA, which itself offered rooms for single women. The women would receive room and board for $6 a day in exchange for helping with cooking and cleaning. There was often a long waiting list at the Margaret Louisa, which may explain why Mrs. Hoagland was referred to the Albert.

The Hotel Albert later fell on hard times until it was renovated into a co-op apartment building in 1985. Some of the apartments in the building currently sell for around $2.5 million.

Here's another card of the Hotel Albert.

Tetrazzini in San Francisco

This card states that 100,000 people gathered on Christmas Eve, 1910 to hear Luisa Tetrazzini sing at Lotta's Fountain in San Francisco. Other sources report that as many as 300,000 people showed up. Luisa Tetrazzini was a famous opera singer with an extraordinary voice. Legal difficulties temporarily prevented her from performing in New York. At this point she declared, "I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing there in the streets, for I know the streets of San Francisco are free." Tetrazzini lived in San Francisco for some time and it is thought that the dish "Turkey Tetrazzini" was named after her.