Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 264: Hotel History: Palmer House (1871), Chicago, Illinois

Stanley Turkel | April 20, 2022

by Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Palmer House, Chicago, IL (1,639 rooms) The original Palmer House was built in 1871 by Potter Palmer who began his career as a bank clerk in upstate New York. He later became a dry-goods store owner in Chicago where he revolutionized the retail trade. He was the first to make big window displays, to use big advertising spaces, to send goods on approval to homes and to hold bargain sales. He became a brilliant hotel man as he applied his successful department store methods to the operation of his hotel. He saw no reason why clerks, chefs and head waiters should not be subject to the same discipline...