Life, 1898-02-24 · page 3 of 20
Life — February 24, 1898 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Hotel Hope" Satire This page from *Life* magazine satirizes expensive hotels that charge exorbitant rates while providing poor service. The illustration shows well-dressed guests at a formal hotel, accompanied by dialogue mocking the premise that a daughter's beauty could make someone "climb the fence"—a crude reference to social climbing or impropriety. The poem "The Hotel Hope" critiques the business model: guests pay inflated prices ("extortion," "rob you every day") for mediocre accommodations and views. The final line—"I'm filing now in Hope's"—suggests the speaker is filing a legal complaint, implying guests feel cheated. The satire targets the contrast between hotels' pretensions and their actual service quality, a common complaint in early 20th-century American consumer culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“1 AUST OVERHEARD YOU SAYING, MR. GRAY, THAT MY DAUGHTER'S PACE WOULD MAKE A MAN CLIMB THE FENCE.” ST MEANT IP HE WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PENCE.” TT iE Motel Hope quite plainly Upon a hill is set, And no one ever vainly Admittance sought to get. They set a meagre table To everyone that comes; For in this modern Babel The only course is crumbs. The Hotel Hope. This house, to all fourth-raters Would not compare so well; ‘The guests are all the waiters They have at this hotel. ‘The charges are extortion; They rob you every day, And out of all proportion To what you get, you pay, And yet the guests, tho’ paying Big sums for only air, Insist on ever staying— The view ’s so fine up there, Each one you meet, not whiling His time away in mopes, Will say, his face all smiling: “I'm living now in Hope's.” Tum Maxson,