Finding aid for the Hollenbeck Hotel registers 7127
Bo Doub -- with many of the collection's notes adapted from the seller: Johnson Rare Books & Archives
USC Libraries Special Collections
2022 April
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Hollenbeck Hotel registers
Creator:
Hollenbeck Hotel
Identifier/Call Number: 7127
Physical Description:
1.58 Linear Feet
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1895-1902
Abstract: Five ledgers from an early Los Angeles hotel, the Hollenbeck Hotel, which was active from 1884 to 1932. The collection consists
of three hotel ledgers for parts of the calendar year 1902 (April 19 to May 12; September 22 to October 19; and December 12
to December 31), a single ledger for the Hotel saloon from 1895 to 1896; and a single ledger for the Hotel restaurant from
1896. The Hollenbeck Hotel was established in 1884 by John E. Hollenbeck and his wife Elizabeth Hollenbeck. The hotel was
centrally located in downtown Los Angeles at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street. Hotel guests included political figures,
business figures -- including members of the Vanderbilt family, travelers stopping in Los Angeles, and attendees of large
meetings--such as the Stanford Club--which the hotel hosted. The three hotel registers contain about 200 pages (including
front and back) of signatures from thousands of visitors to the hotel during the year 1902. The Hotel Saloon registry is labeled
"Bar Daily" and includes 200 pages of daily tallies of goods consumed, along with the price per bottle. Popular items listed
in the Bar Daily include Humboldt Mineral Water, champagne, zinfandel, beers and ales, and Cutter whiskey. The Hotel restaurant
ledger contains about 200 pages of pre-printed lists of foods with prices and amounts used. Expensive items include beef loin,
potatoes, and coffee.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: 1
Five ledgers from an early Los Angeles hotel, the Hollenbeck Hotel, which was active from 1884 to 1932. The collection consists
of three hotel ledgers for parts of the calendar year 1902 (April 19 to May 12; September 22 to October 19; and December 12
to December 31), a single ledger for the Hotel saloon from 1895 to 1896; and a single ledger for the Hotel restaurant from
1896. The Hollenbeck Hotel was established in 1884 by John E. Hollenbeck and his wife Elizabeth Hollenbeck. The hotel was
centrally located in downtown Los Angeles at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street. Hotel guests included political figures,
business figures -- including members of the Vanderbilt family, travelers stopping in Los Angeles, and attendees of large
meetings--such as the Stanford Club--which the hotel hosted.
The three hotel registers contain about 200 pages (including front and back) of signatures of visitors over the year 1902,
listing the names of several thousand visitors. The register originally had ink blotter pages between the signature pages
containing brightly printed, and multi-colored advertisements of prominent Los Angeles businesses. Most of the blotter pages
have been removed, most probably as the pages were completed and ink had dried -- though many blotter pages still remain.
The Hotel Saloon registry is labeled "Bar Daily" and includes 200 pages of daily tallies of goods consumed, along with the
price per bottle. Popular items listed in the Bar Daily include Humboldt Mineral Water, champagne, zinfandel, beers and ales,
and Cutter whiskey. The Hotel restaurant ledger contains about 200 pages of pre-printed lists of foods with prices and amounts
used. Expensive items include beef loin, potatoes, and coffee.
The Hollenbeck hotel was built by John E. Hollenbeck and his wife in 1884. Hollenbeck was born on Ohio in 1829. He was off
to the California gold fields during the Gold Rush, but got delayed min Nicaragua, and ended up staying there with a hotel
business, which is where he met his wife Elizabeth, a German widow who was also in the Hotel business. After surviving serious
political conflicts, the Hollenbecks were back in the USA. They started buying land in Los Angeles in 1874 and moved there
by 1876. By that time, they had acquired 27 properties comprised on 6,738 acres, including land in the business district,
and large parcels just outside the business district, a gamble that was a sure-fire win. In 1884, the pair created the Hollenbeck
Block, a major and central location in the main business district of Los Angeles.
With the Hollenbeck's large real estate holdings, they were major players in Los Angeles. Hollenbeck owned the first street
rail line there, invested in the new street lines, and organized the First National Bank of Los Angeles in 1881. The hotel
was completed in 1884 as a modern two-story hotel. Within a year of opening, Hollenbeck died suddenly of a stroke. Elizabeth,
every bit as good at business as her husband, expanded the hotel to four stories, and it became the centerpiece in Los Angeles
for years to come. Indeed, the street railways that Hollenbeck controlled or invested in, flanked both sides of the Hotel
and brought visitors straight from the Los Angeles Southern Pacific and other railroad stations in Los Angeles right to the
front door.
The Hollenbeck routinely listed the new hotel arrivals in the
Los Angeles Times. Regular too, were articles of some of their visitors. As the "go-to" hotel in Los Angeles, visitors came from all over the
United States. Additionally, the hotel advertised in geographic regions that garnered many guests, such as Arizona Territory.
Guests included political figures, business figures, travelers stopping in Los Angeles going from place to place, and the
hotel hosted large meetings. Stanford University, who had an exceptionally active alumni with the Stanford Club, regularly
hosted meetings and students at the hotel. Arizona businessmen also routinely stayed at the hotel, particularly from the mining
regions of the state. Indeed, the Hollenbeck had a close tie to Arizona business, as the architect of the hotel also built
important hotels and buildings in Arizona. Important businessmen from across the country, including members of the Vanderbilt
family, also stayed at the Hollenbeck Hotel. One notable visitor to western aficionados was Death Valley Scotty in 1905.
The saloon and hotel ledgers are important as the first of the ledgers under the new ownership of Albert Bilicke. Bilicke
was the son of Chris Bilicke, owner of the well-known Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tombstone, a popular hotel during the Earp years
and the hotel where Virgil and Morgan Earp recuperated from their wounds sustained during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
At some point, Albert became manager of the Cosmopolitan, and after managing a hotel in San Francisco, he moved to Los Angeles,
became friends with the widow Hollenbeck (also from Germany) and bought the hotel. Chris Bilicke was a partner of Wyatt Earp
in a mine venture, and testified at Earp's trial. Albert died aboard the Lusitania when it was sunk by German submarines in
1915.
This note was adapted from documentation from the immediate source of this acquisition: Johnson Rare Books & Archives.
Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special
Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Hollenbeck Hotel registers, Collection no. 7127, Regional History Collection, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books & Archives, March 22, 2022.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hotel restaurants -- California -- Los Angeles -- 19th century -- Archival resources
Hotels -- California -- Los Angeles -- Accounting -- Archival resources
Hotels -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Ledgers (account books)
visitors' books
Hollenbeck Hotel -- Archives