GUIDE
TO
HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING
BY
MARY E. PALMER
1908
Copyrighted 1908,
BY
MARY E. PALMER
THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO.
Charleston. W. Va.
CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD.
The greater part of the contents of this book was published,in instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago.
A Foreword.
My chief purpose in writing this book was to placea few guide-posts along the route of hotel housekeepersto warn them against certain errors common to womenengaged in the arduous and difficult occupation of keepinghouse for hotels.
If anything that I have set forth herein shall make thework of hotel housekeepers easier, more inviting, or moreefficient, thereby contributing to the satisfaction of proprietorsand to the comfort of patrons, I shall feelamply repaid for writing this book.
Mary E. Palmer.
Hotel Ruffner,
Charleston, West Va.
March 1, 1908.
The Manager and the Help.
The average hotel manager is only too prone to complainof the incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel"help."
It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, forthere is no sort of institution that trains men and womenfor the different kinds of hotel work. Each hotel musttrain its own help, or obtain them from other hotels.
Thus there is no uniform and generally acceptedstandard of excellence in the different departments ofhotel-keeping.
A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-Americangirls, who constitute a majority of the laundryhelp, waitresses, and chambermaids in Americanhotels to-day.
With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicappedby poverty, they find employment, at a veryearly age, in hotels, and perform menial duties in amanner that is greatly to their credit.
The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remainingin one place for years until they either marry or leave[Pg 8]to fill better positions, which is the privilege of everyone living under the "Stars and Stripes."
Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fittingthemselves to become stenographers and bookkeepers.Some adopt the stage as a profession, one instancebeing that of Clara Morris, who takes delight in tellingof the days when she washed silver in a hotel.
An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes.
Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the timewhen he peeled potatoes in a hotel.
The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on themanager. He should possess patience, forbearance, andamiability. He should know that the best results areobtained from his help by kindness, and that good foodand good beds mean better service.
The manager should realize that the working force ofa hotel is like the mechanism of a clock: it has to bewound occasionally and set going. No novice can operatethis wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires askilled mechanic.
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