OP: Waldorf Astoria Ephemera

The Waldorf Astoria name evokes glamor and wealth beyond ordinary grasp. After all, the hotel was built by a couple of Astor cousins (Waldorf being the town in Germany from which the family hails). The first location, on 5th Ave and 33rd, was demolished in 1929 to make way for the Empire State Building, and the hotel’s second iteration, which still stands on Park Ave between 49th and 50th, opened in 1931.

We’ve assembled here a collection of early- to mid-20th century ephemera from the hotel that sheds light on the high level experience the guests could expect and the degree of regimentation the staff faced. Included are: 

• The hotel directory, which, while undated, would have been in use some time between 1931 and and 1943, based on the Park Ave address and the fact that Oscar Tschirky is still listed as the banquet director (he retired in 1943); hardcover binder
• Employee Handbook (1937); paperback
• Diet at the Waldorf-Astoria (1938); staplebound paperback
• Employer-Employee Relations (1939); staplebound paperback
• Recipes from the Waldorf-Astoria Home Kitchen (1940); staplebound paperback
• Employment in the Waldorf-Astoria (1941); staplebound paperback

The directory includes handsomely illustrated fold-out maps of the hotel and its galleries of murals by Louis Rigal, Jose Maria Sert, and Victor White. And the maps prove necessary, as the following pages reveal the hotel to be a veritable city within the city. Occupying real estate within the hotel are banks, jewelers, florists, automotive accessory shops, barbers, libraries, pharmacies, laundries, tobacco shops, clothing stores, doctors, dentists, restaurants, of course, and even a dance studio. Guests needn’t leave at all!

The three employee-directed manuals lay out the standards staff were expected to meet and inform them of laws, rights, rules, and regulations. The handbook includes a fold-out diagram of the hotel’s hierarchical organization and lists executives and department heads. Though the demands of being employed at such a high end establishment are clearly rigorous, the staff could also expect paid vacations after a year, were offered reduced rates at the local YMCA or YWCA, and could attend classes offered by the hotel in hospitality-related subjects.

The diet and home kitchen recipe books show the lengths the Waldorf-Astoria’s kitchens were prepared to go in order to satisfy any customer need. The “home kitchen” at the hotel was staffed with women (as repeatedly emphasized) who are tasked with making anything upon request and trained in special dietary needs. This food is distinct from the hotel restaurants because the feminine touch ensured its comforting hominess, while the food prepared by male chefs was haute cuisine through and through.

Each of the booklets offered here is in Very Good condition, lightly worn but soundly bound. An added intrigue is that the diet book and the employee handbook both bear the ownership stamps of Count Vincent Orssich (1899–1964), a member of Austrian nobility who lived in New York, enjoying the life of a socialite. A unique collection.