THE UNOFFICIAL PALACE OF NEW YORK A TRIBUTE TO THE WALDORF-ASTORIA EDITED BY/'~, FRANK CROWNINSHIELD PUBLISHED IN NEW YORK· MCMXXXIX Copyright 1939, Hotel Waldorf-Astoria Corporation, New York DESIGN AND DECORATIONS BY WARREN CHAPPELL THIS BOOK IS PRESENTED TO THE FRIENDS OF THE WALDORF-ASTORIA, OLD AND NEW, HOPING IT MAY ADD SOMETHING TO THEIR APPRECIATION AND REGARD FOR A GREAT HOUSEHOLD PLEDGED TO THEIR SERVICE. LUCIUS BOO!vIER, President AUGUSTUS NULLE, Secretary-Treasurer FRANK A. READY, Manager fl The Unofficial, Pal,ace of New York t,,0•~' :r.1 i P·•·. (i•f;i r ;;r"":'· t' i( t,- 1; · r ·. .... ·-•tr r.r \ r : • f , i • r: •· i . • ' . ·''"S·. ,1 C t .. .•,·~-;~ :- l r'. ~~-. ·1 . - . :~--~ ~ j ~-.~.:. '.J.~- -~~*- ,_ . ,~.. "~- -,l?·-·~-- -, __ ,-r/1- ;~,,;_.. · r. ,.,.·z- ... --.:;r -·•·· '"'" r I rr . : <-;'f-_;';i;-;~~. :,,i.'t' t- . ,_-;,' ! '.;:...'·;?'::.~r- F~ r: ~ ,-v - . I. " tt_· lf.i;,~~-~---~~~~~lJ.r.. " . .' .i~ ~'.LJ.1..V~Jl ~f j:'ti.'-. "./"P• r'" . r· r [ ,~- ~f.~'r··\<-• . .-.• ~ ~=- reI"'"'..,. r ~ • ,. ► f r I' !I • 1,,;. l i !• . (f'• f1,.f·J - '"'ct..._ i . t, lt. · r .• f'i.Bf 1rr ~ tt ~ HH II H I! ~. ~ ~ i ~ Ill ' ~ r !, ~ n-~- fl!. r= ~.:: n~ tt et" _.,.. ,. ... --~- ~ Ill·•· o 4 ,._ The Wal.dorf-Astoria From an etching br Chester Price FOREWORD THE UNOFFICIAL PALACE OF NEW YORK BY FRANK CROWNINSHIELD JUST AS THE WORLD'S FAIR commemorates a landmark in American history, so this book is, with a proper degree of modesty, designed to mark an anniversary in the life of The Waldorf-_Astoria. For it v1as pre­ cisely ten years ago that ground was first broken for the new hotel, and forty-seven years ago that work was begun on its progenitor, the origi­ nal Waldo~ at 34th Street. It may be wondered why, in this souvenir-record of the Waldorf, so varied a list of contributors was needed to indicate its piace in the mosruc· of A men·can 1•r_rre. Th_ ..... e answer 1s· s1mp.a.e.· 1 ~... ue wr.•• a.1u01..1 1..1 ...r 1s• so complex and many-sided an institution, and ministers to so great a variety of social needs, that it seemed best to think of it-much as a diamond-cutter might-as a phenomenon of sixteen facets, each pre­ senting a new surface to the beholder. Again, readers may wonder at the title: The Unofficial Palace of •• Vll FOREWORD New York. It is only with the thought of clarifying it, and of explaining the hotel's long and intimate relationship to fashionable or "palatial" society in America, that this introduction can he justified. There is, first of all to remember, the rapidly growing tendency among well-to-do and fastidious people, to rid themselves of their Fifth, or Park Avenue houses and apartments, and move to residential hotels -a tendency for which the Waldorf has been so largely responsible. Such people more and more desire to make easily terminable leases; to live and entertain privately, and, though in a public hotel, to he pro­ tected hy every factor making for privacy-private entrance halls, serv­ ice rooms, even a special driveway !-and to he able to enlarge or dimin­ ish their suites at will. This movement toward the hotel as a home has resulted from the mounting tide of taxes; diminished incomes; a grow­ ing aversion to making household investments, and, finally, the annoy­ ances and responsibilities of housekeeping. Another facet to emphasize is the widespread and increasing use of the Waldorf for civic purposes; that is to say, for public or semipublic entertaining, whether by City, State, Federal, or Foreign governments. Again, there is the development of the Waldorf's "group" gather­ ings, a phenomenon which h~ grown to extraordinary proportions since the World War. Leaders in different walks of American life­ harJcers, physicians, scientists, steel manufacturers, publishers, life­ insurance nresidents.. lawvers.. and others-fore-ather at the Waldorf ..L .. ., .. """" w1t11• 1 a v1.ew• to wscuss1ng1• • tc1e1r1 • conn11on proruen1s,1 1 cona1t1ons,1• • ana1 IIl.i:e.r-• ests. Many of these groups have never, in their history, met anywhere save at the Waldorf, while new and similarly minded groups are added to the roster from year to year. Mention must also be made of the increase in the international char- ••• Vlll BY FRANK CROWNINSHIELD acter of the hotel, due to the constant arrival there, from the far comers of the earth, of so many foreign visitors, European statesmen, diplo­ mats, and minor potentates, and the resultant medley of unfamiliar costumes and languages, which vaguely recall the old days at the Savoy in London, the Grand Hotel in Rome, or Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo. And, finally, there is the fact-which has often been pointed out­ that the Waldorf is a unique institution in the fabric of metropolitan life and that, because of its traditional position, it a little resembles the Metropolitan Opera, since, though they are both operated for profit, they minister in so important a way to the city's social needs. While all these points may help to explain the title of the hook, an­ other and major reason for its selection was the fact that the.hotel had so long been New York's principal arena of fashion. However, before further developing that point, a few dates had better he recalled. The original Waldorf first opened its doors in March, 1893-in the face of what was then, a little innocently, thought to he a serious finan­ cial panic-,vhile it was four years later that the Astoria was com­ pleted and joined to the Waldon. A third vital date-which marked the end of an epoch-is the autumn of 1929, when ( thirty-six years after the birth of the old hotel) its great buildings were demolished in order to make way for the Empire State Building. During all those thirty-six years The Waldorf-Astoria played a wholly unique role in the activities NP-w C!I'\~;~"" nf..,_._ - • '-' 11 Vnrlr.-.,....,A...._ IJV'-'.L"'l,,1 • The last dates to high-light are November, 1929, when the projec­ tors of the new Waldorf-Astoria-during what we now know was a panic, indeed, and with a courage perhaps unparalleled in the annals of American building-completed their plans to erect its present tower­ ing structure on Park Avenue; and also October, 1931, when the new • IX FOREWORD Waldorf made its initial how to the world as a functioning hotel. It is amusing to look hack to the early nineties and remember that, before the creation of the old Waldorf had been decided on-at the beginning of 1891-there was, in all America, no such thing as a motorcar, a golf course, a radio, an airplane, a wireless telegraph, a moving-picture theater, a fashionable cabaret, or a game of bridge. Nor were cocktails ever seen in private houses; nor did women ever smoke ( indeed, Lady Essex had almost been ostracized in London for trying to introduce the custom there as late as 1899). Divorces were un­ known. Tiffany's was on Union Square. Park Avenue was a grimy, noisy, and unfashionable street. There were only eight theaters that could he patronized by well-bred people. Cotillions, the lancers, and even an occasional quadrille were features of most of the smart halls. But-and this is the really significant matter to remember-the best hotels of that period, those with which the Waldorf was so soon to do battle (, the Camhrid2e'-" .. ,, the Albemarle.. , the Fifth Avenue ... the Vic- toria, the Holland House, the Brunswick, the Buckingham and the Windsor-which burnt down on Saint Patrick's Day, 1899, with a loss of nearly fifty lives) were nev~r thought of as social centers at all. They were merely convenient and orderly places in which to eat and find lodgings. There was never a question of giving fashionable dinner pa..rties in any of them; nor were suppers ever orrleredj dances ~r­ ranged, or receptions held in them. But the promoters of the original Waldorf somehow guessed that the nineties were ushering in a wholly new social era; that an extraor­ dinary growth would take place in the ranks of society; that a quicker tempo would infect the life of the city; that the two smart clubs in New York-the Knickerbocker, at 32d Street, and the Union, at 21st Street X BY FRANK CROWNINSHIELD -would soon he challenged by three or four rivals. The Opera, too, was suddenly to take on an added social importance, with the appear­ ance there of such miraculous figures as Melba, Calve, Eames, Schal­ chi, Nordica, Plangon, LaSalle, and the two De Reszkes. Footmen, in knee-breeches, were soon to appear on the scene, along with gold dinner-plates, tigers in livery, golf links, coaching parades, and a goodly group of new theaters, jewelers, art galleries, private cars, and country clubs. Furthermore, the rich were already springing up, in the East and West alike, like mushrooms after a rain. By the end of 1896, or just before the Astoria had opened, the Waldorf had become the smartest hotel in America. The most impor­ tant people in New York dined and wined there. It housed a great vari­ ety of distinguished visitors, dignitaries, foreign artists, and assorted moguls. It had also become the accepted scene of a great variety of concerts, dances, suppers, and theatrical entertainments. To accomplish all that, the Waldorf had been forced to break down many prejudices against hotels in general, particularly as desirable places for lunching, dining, dancing, and entertaining.