Chicago [Palmer House Stationary]

Lowering prices at Chicago’s Palmer House, “one of the finest and largest hotels in the world.”

This interesting piece of custom stationery is dated April 1st, 1891, and is addressed anonymously to ‘Dear Sir’ from Copeland Townsend, Manager of the Palmer House Hotel. After burning in the 1871 Great Fire of Chicago, the Palmer House was rebuilt in 1875 as one of the city’s finest accommodations. The form letter is advertising new lower rates, as cheap as $3.00/night, and special accommodations for families that include staff “whose especial duty it is to look after the wants of our family patrons so that they may not suffer the lack of attention which is so often experienced in large hotels.”

The top third of the sheet is occupied by a wonderful view of Chicago, looking east towards Lake Michigan. The verso is occupied by a “World’s Fair Map, Chicago, 1893” that shows the air-line distances between the Windy City and various points across the U.S. and Canada.

The map was copywritten in 1890 by Charles D. Stone & Company, shortly after the city was awarded the privilege of hosting a World’s Fair to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival. The subsequent event, hosted in 1893, would be known as the Columbian Exposition and see over 25 million visitors – many of whom undoubtedly stayed at the Palmer House.