Life, 1923-12-13 · page 27 of 36
Life — December 13, 1923 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily **advertising copy**, not satire or political commentary. It's a corporate advertisement for Statler Hotels appearing in *Life* magazine. The page promotes the Statler hotel chain's service guarantee. The key pitch: unlike personal service which "can't be trademarked," Statler claims to have standardized quality through written instructions and employee codes based on the "golden rule." The advertisement includes: - A list of Statler locations (Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Boston) - Photographs of four hotel buildings - A formal "Guarantee of Statler Service" signed by what appears to be the company founder, promising employees will treat guests as they'd wish to be treated, and that guests can escalate complaints directly to executive management **The implicit claim**: In an era before standardized hospitality chains, Statler positioned itself as innovative by claiming to apply manufacturing-style quality control to hotel service—a novel idea at the time. The guarantee's personal appeal to management suggests this was meant to distinguish Statler from competitors who offered no such formal promises. No satire is evident; this is straightforward early-20th-century corporate marketing emphasizing reliability and ethical treatment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HOTELS STATLER BUFFALO: 1100 rooms, 1100 baths. Niagara Square. The old Hotel Statler (at Washington and Swan) is now called Hotel Buffalo; and the old Iroquois Hotel is closed, not to re-open. CLEVELAND: 1000 rooms, ro0o baths. Euclid, at E. 12th. DETROIT: 1000 rooms, 1000 baths. Grand Circus Park. ST. LOUIS: 650 rooms, 650 baths. Ninth and Washington. BOSTON: Now preparing to build at Columbus Ave., Provi- HOTELS The rate per day (for one and for two people) of every Statler room is posted permanently in that room, printed in plain figures. Hotel Pennsylvania New York The largest hotel in the world —with 2200 rooms, 2200 baths. On Seventh Avenue, 32d to 33d Streets, directly opposite the Pennsylvania Railway Termi- nal. A Statler-operated hotel, with all the comforts and con- veniences of other Statlers, and with the same policies of cour- teous, intelligent and helpful dence and Arlington Sts. service by all employees. In These Hotels You Get Statler Service Personal service can’t be trade- marked, nor graded as precisely as commodities are graded. But the quality of personal serv- ice can be specified, a standard for it can be set up, and your satisfac- tion in buying it can be guaranteed. The Statler-operated hotels do all those things. The service to guests in these hotels is defined as to quality by instructions which govern every- body who gives service: Instructions to Employees: 1. You must, in all dealings with guests or fellow-employees, practice the golden rule, and treat him as you would like to be treated if your positions were reversed. 2. You must, in every case, satisfy the guest whom you are serving—or, if you cannot do so, when you have gone to the limit of your authority, you must refer the case immediately to your superior. 3. You must follow the spirit as well as the letter of your ‘detailed instructions, as contained in the Hote! Statler, BUFFALO Statler Service Codes and your other printed instructions. So, with the duties and responsi- bilities of employees defined as well and as plainly as they are in this organization, this company is un- dertaking to goa step further than it—or any hotel—has_ heretofore gone, and publish here and else- where this formal Guarantee of Statler Service: We guarantee that our employees will handle all transactions with our guests (and with each other) in the spirit of the golden rule—of treat- ing the guest as the employee would like to be treated if their positions were reversed. We guarantee that every employee will go to the limit of his authority to satisfy the guest whom he is serving; and that if he can’t satisfy you he will immediately take you to his superior. From this time on, therefore, if you have cause for complaint in any of our houses, and the management of that house fails to give you the satisfaction which this guarantee promises, the transaction should then become a personal matter between you and me. You will confer a favor upon us if you will write to me a state- ment of the case, and depend upon me to make good my promise. I can’t personally check all the work of 6,000 employees, and there is no need that I should do so; but when our promises aren't kept, I want to know it. My permanent address is Executive Offices, Hotel Statler Company, Inc., Buffalo. Hotel Statler CLEVELAND Hotel Statler DETROIT Hotel Statler ST. LOUIS Hotel Pennsylvania, NEW YORK comicbooks.com