If 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. 

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

Continue reading “Old Philly Postcards: The Hotel Hanover” →

The 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?