VINTAGE HOTEL SILVER
HISTORY OF HOTEL SILVER SOLDERED - SILVER PLATE
WHY COLLECT HOTEL SILVER?
Hotel Silver, along with the Railroad, Steamship, and even
Restaurant Silver, has become a very popular area of collecting and interest.
Historical hotel silver artifacts represent some of the finest artifacts of a
particular hotel.
Having a piece of the "hotel's finest silver" is not only a
wonderful artifact from that hotel, but depending on its condition, it also may
be well suited for actual functional usage. Due to it's almost virtual
indestructibility, but also stunning appearance, actual usage of "quality" hotel
silver has become very popular, not only for entertaining, but also for everyday
usage for many people.
Hotel silver was made to last the ages. And it's virtual
indestructibility its durable copper composition with a heavy plate of silver
soldered - nickel silver made the piece not only durable to last several years,
but also exquisite in its appearance.
Today, many of America's hotels of the past are still
standing, which some have been completely restored and many are still in
operation. What better way to have a window to the past than to actually be able
to have a completely authentic piece of the hotel's silver in your collection?
One might also imagine the countless persons that enjoyed the dining ambience
and experience in the years past from the exact same piece that you now own in
your collection.
CLICK HERE FOR PAGE 1 RAILROAD SILVER
Hotels of Today
Even though many of these once grand hotels both large and
small are now forever gone, several still live on in the United States and
continue to operate today completely restored to their original grandeur. Some
of these magnificent hotels include the "The Plaza", Hotel Pennsylvania, The
Commodore in New York City. The many Biltmore Hotels, the Stevens and Palmer
House Hotels in Chicago, the Grand Hotel at Mackinaw Island, the Henry Flagler -
Florida East Coast Hotels, and countless other hotels that canvassed not only
the largest cities but even the smallest towns and cities.
MANUFACTURING OF HOTEL TYPE SILVER
Even the smallest hotels could have marked silver plate, which
included their name or logo on the side or top, or an item may have just been
marked with the hotel's name on the bottom. This is also one of the
characteristics that make hotel silver so dynamic. Constantly, new hotel names
on silver serving pieces and flatware are being discovered. Given the vast
numbers of hotels that once operated in the United States and Canada, there will
continue to be new discoveries of pieces for the years to come. Many of the
silver plate manufacturer's records of what hotels, restaurants, lunch counters,
etc., ordered marked silver plate are forever lost. Therefore, the
responsibility of discovery now rests with the collectors and researchers of
hotel silver to rediscover these the lost hotel history. In the late 19th to
middle part of the 20th Century, hotel silver was expensive, but considered a
necessity for doing such hostelry business. Today, it would be almost impossible
and cost prohibitive for a hotel to have the intricate and highly craftsman type
silver plate that once graced the tables of most American hotels that was
commonplace for every table setting.
MANUFACTURES
The who's who list of Hotel Silver manufacturers is quite
extensive, which includes the largest of the manufactures down to the even the
smallest silver smith shops. Gotham, R. Wallace, Meridian - Britannia, Gorham,
International Silver, Reed & Barton, Rogers Bros., and many others. Most
hotel silver was marked with the hotel's logo, name, or markings by the
manufacture. However, some hotels did elect to have unmarked silver plate that
did not have their name or crest upon a piece, and even some would have their
local jeweler or engraver individually mark their pieces. If this process was
elected, most of the time it was the smaller hotels that only utilized a small
inventory of hotel silver in their commissary that followed this
practice.
VINTAGE HOTEL SILVER
Online Library of Hotel
Silver Serving Items
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z
CONTACT US
To immediately send us information on the items that you would like to
sell, please send an email to uniondepothotel@yahoo.com.
Email is checked daily and we will respond to requests as soon as possible. If
possible (but not necessary) include as an attachment some scanned images of
your piece(s) when replying by email. If you need to send actual
photographs by postal mail, you may request our mailing address by emailing
first.
Hotel Silver
