Author: Johnny Goodtimes

Old Philly Postcards: The Bellevue Stratford

bellevueThere is plenty of documentation on the old Bellevue-Stratford (above, in postcard I just bought), now known as Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue. According to Bellevuephiladelphia.com: The Bellevue-Stratford opened its doors in 1904 and became known worldwide as Philadelphia’s pre-eminent hotel, nicknamed “The Grande Dame of Broad Street.” Famed hotelier George C. Boldt (he also managed the Waldorf-Astoria in New York) wanted to build the best hotel of its time—and he did.

The price tag on the hotel was $8,000,000 (1904 dollars) which means that technically Samuel Dalembert is worth more than the Bellevue. The postcard I have is postmarked 1909, so the person who was staying there (Harry) was there when the place was just 5 years old. It has long been considered one of the premiere hotels in Philadelphia, if not the premiere hotel.

Famous guests include Jacob Astor, J.P. Morgan, William Jennings Bryan, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn, and the Vanderbilt family in addition to countless socialites, luminaries and heads of state. Every US President since Theodore Roosevelt has visited The Bellevue.

Here’s more cool info on the early history of the Bellevue-Stratford: With a price tag of $8 million (real money in those days), the new hotel had more than 1,000 rooms and a staff of 800, including women “whose only duty is to act as trunk packers for the women guests, and who are skilled in putting away expensive dresses without mussing them.”

The hotel also included an elegant ballroom that boasted a moveable stage, lighting fixtures designed by Thomas Edison and a spectacular grand staircase. It quickly became the place for society events. Eleanor Dorrance’s debutante ball in 1926 is still legendary. Daddy Dorrance, president of the Campbell Soup Company, shelled out $100,000, including the cost for two orchestras so the music could continue uninterrupted. (One, led by Paul Whiteman, featured Bix Biederbecke on cornet and Bing Crosby as one of the vocalists.)

And you thought the spoiled rotten brats on My Super Sweet 16 were a new development. Of course, the Bellevue is also well known in Philadelphia for the Legionnaires tragedy of 1976. The hotel briefly closed, but was soon reopened. Business was slow in the 80s, and it closed again in 1986. It reopened in 1989. It was bought by Hyatt in 1996, and they have been running it ever since. It looks now much the same as it did 100 years ago. There is much more history to be covered on the Bellevue, but I gotta get to working on questions, so I’ll write some more in the next few days.

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Old Philly Postcards: The Hotel Hanover


hotelhanoverIf you visited Philadelphia in the late 19th or early 20th century, you might have spent a night at the Hotel Hanover, located on the corner of 12th and Arch. According to an 1896 Rand McNally book, rooms at the Hanover were going for $2.50 a day. In the 1903 Rand McNally, we learn that “This is a large and well appointed hotel…and is conducted on the American plan. Although but recently opened it is already widely known for the excellence of its table and the comfort of the rooms.” Scroll down, and you can check out the best restaurants in Philly in 1903. Very cool stuff.

There is, quite frankly not much more I can find on the Hotel Hanover. Here is a photo of the hotel. Here is another shot of the Hanover. But no record I can find of contruction date or destruction date. Anyone have any more info on this place? In case you are curious, there is a picture below of what the same intersection looks like now below. Ugh. Practical, I suppose, but not nearly as attractive. 

Another interesting thing about this postcard:  The note on the back, written in 1916, starts thusly, “Dear Marty: Sup.” I did not know that “Sup” was a shortened version of “What’s up” almost 100 years ago. 

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UPDATED: A close up view of the Hanover after the jump.

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Old Postcards: Orphans of Odd Fellows

orphansThe question of the week was inspired by several old Philadelphia post cards I bought yesterday in Berlin, Md. So I’ll be posting some of those post cards on here and doing a little research on each place I post. We start with The Home for Orphans of Odd Fellows of Pennsylvania. Here’s what I’ve been able to find out so far. 

The Odd Fellows in question are a fraternal organization, one that in the 1890s had more members than the Masons. The following few sentences from a freemasons website helps explain the orphanage. 

Although heavily influenced by Freemasonry’s rituals, symbols, and tenets, a large measure of the Odd Fellows success came from its dedication to serve its members. Its three secret ritual initiations taught the “three links” of fraternity as “Friendship, Love, and Truth” and commanded its brothers to “Visit the Sick, Relieve the Distressed, Bury the Dead, Care for the Widow, and Educate the Orphan.”

If there was only one Odd Fellows Orphanage in Philadelphia, then it was located somewhere on Ontario Street near Kensington. I have found a record of all of the children and staff at the establishment in 1900. See if you have a long lost ancestor there. Do we have any descendants of Otto Wirtenborg reading this blog?